Majority of new immigrants want to get New Zealand citizenship

New Zealand, 30th September: Nearly 78.4 percent of immigrants in New Zealand had either gained or wished to make application for New Zealand citizenship nearly three after getting PR (permanent residence).

This was revealed by the latest findings of the LisNZ (Longitudinal Immigration Survey-New Zealand) conducted by Statistics New Zealand.

Among the new immigrants in New Zealand who have either already gained New Zealand citizenship or want to become New Zealand citizens hail from the Pacific (93.0 percent), South Africa (93.3 percent) and South Asia (86.5 percent).

The survey is carried out by Statistics New Zealand in collaboration with Department of Labor.

The survey interviews a large number of immigrants in New Zealand at intervals of six months, 18 months and 36 months respectively after they have gained PR in New Zealand.

The aim of such survey findings is to provide information to the New Zealand immigration policy in the areas of settlement and selection of New Zealand immigration.

The survey findings were based on interviews of nearly 5000 immigrants. The findings maintain that out of the total immigrants in New Zealand, around 75.7 percent got jobs in New Zealand within a period of three years after gaining permanent residency while 72.1 percent got jobs in New Zealand within six months of getting PR in New Zealand.

The number of immigrants getting jobs as skilled workers was 69.8 percent and 84.9 percent of the interviewees during the survey expressed their satisfaction with their jobs in New Zealand. The salary of immigrants saw an increase to $23.49(median hourly wage) after a period of three years as compared to $20.35 per hour after a period of six months.

Nearly nine out of ten immigrants in New Zealand expressed satisfaction about their lives in this nation.

Auckland became the home of nearly 49.3 percent of immigrants. The number of immigrants owning a house in New Zealand after a period of three years was 51.9 percent.

After living for a period of six months in New Zealand, the percentage of immigrants feeling safe or very safe in this nation was 85.5 percent while the percentage of immigrants feeling safe in New Zealand after living there for three yeas declined to 76 percent.