20 July 2023
Ref: DOIA 2223-2858
Matthew Walker
Email
: [FYI request #22700 email]
Tēnā koe Matthew
Thank you for your email of 8 June 2023 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE)
requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), the following information:
“… my original request required you to provide a copy of the information or resources
that MBIE provides to its migrant workers holding an Accredited Employer Work Visa to
help them settle into life in New Zealand.
Please provide a copy of such information/resources as requested. Alternatively, please
confirm MBIE does not provide settlement information or provide support to its
migrant workers, and therefore such information/resources do not exist.”
We acknowledge that you received a response on 2 June 2023 to your original request, which was initially
received by MBIE on 6 May 2023. While the information provided in that response letter was accurate,
we apologise for the misunderstanding of your original request. Because of MBIE’s size and breadth of
services, and staff’s identification of the Accredited Employer Work Visa as the primary subject matter,
this case was originally allocated to MBIE’s Immigration New Zealand business group; following your
query of the response, it was rehomed to a separate area of MBIE (our People and Culture branch) for
response.
Thank you for your patience as we worked to get a response to you. Our response to your request is
outlined below.
Response MBIE has an agreement with a third-party service provider, Crown Worldwide NZ Ltd (Crown), to offer
settlement information and provide support to MBIE’s migrant workers. Support is given through emails,
an online portal, and a support programme before and upon arrival into New Zealand.
Because the support service is provided end-to-end by a third party, MBIE does not itself hold the
relevant information and/or resources that are provided to its migrant workers under the Accredited
Employer Work Visa. To help us with our response to your OIA request, we therefore reached out to
Crown to obtain the relevant information.
Under section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA, we have decided to withhold material which is used to support
MBIE’s migrant staff and which is created by our third party provider, Crown, in order to protect
information where the making available of that information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the
commercial position of the person who supplied the information. A schedule of the withheld information
can be found at the end of this letter.
MBIE1376631
In accordance with section 9(1) of the OIA, we do not consider these commercial concerns to be
outweighed by public interest considerations in favour of disclosure.
Among Crown-created material provided to migrants, Crown provides them with New Zealand Transport
Agency Waka Kotahi’s Factsheet 72 on converting overseas driver licences to a New Zealand driver
licence
(www.nzta.govt.nz/resources/factsheets/72) and links to publicly available information on New
Zealand Government websites to assist with employment and immigration.
In lieu of providing the material itself, an explanation of the support process available to MBIE’s migrant
staff is outlined on Crown’s website here:
www.crownrelo.co.nz/worldmobility/destination-services/. The
support differs from person to person according to their self-described needs. Crown has agreed to allow
MBIE to give you the below overview of some material that is used to connect with MBIE’s new staff and
assist in the support process.
Initial email
• Upon a successful migrant candidate’s acceptance of a role, MBIE contacts Crown to reach out to
the new staff member.
• Crown emails the new staff member, explaining that MBIE has asked them to get in touch to help
support them in their settlement in New Zealand. The support covers areas such as area
orientation, assistance with setting up bank accounts, tax registration, finding networking
opportunities, etc.
• The staff member is asked to fill out a questionnaire to enable Crown to tailor the support
programme to suit that person’s needs and assign them a Crown consultant.
• The staff member is also advised what to expect in terms of ongoing communication from Crown,
as well as next steps.
Online portal The staff member is asked to create a log-in to an online portal which has a number of features/modules
designed to assist the new staff member with their arrival and settlement. In line with the withholding
ground stated earlier in this response, the details of this online portal are withheld as part of the Crown-
created material under section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA to protect information where the making available of
that information would be likely to unreasonably prejudice the commercial position of the person who
supplied the information.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further assistance,
please contac
t [email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information
about how to make a complaint is availab
le at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.
Nāku noa, nā
Jennifer Nathan
Chief People Officer
Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement
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Document schedule
Information withheld
Description
OIA Application
Crown letter template to migrant (confirmation of services provided)
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
Crown Tips – Banking & Finances
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
Crown Education Guide New Zealand
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
Crown Questionnaire
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
Crown Consent Form
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
Online portal material (e.g. log-in access or screenshots)
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
Crown email templates to migrants using the service, including tailored
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
advice and websites, including but not limited to those that directly
address the INZ accreditation compliance requirements
Voyager – comprehensive on-line country guide
Section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA
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