Plans advanced for new skilled migrant visa policy

An announcement of partner work rights was expected in the next week and a new skilled migrant visa policy was "the next cab off the rank''. That would deal with categories of staff who could not get residence because their salary was not 1.5 of the median wage, they did not have a degree, or they were not in a registered occupation.

The immigration list had been used as "a dumping ground proxy" for those outside the criteria, she said.

"I am worried, though, that the time that [new policy] will take will mean we might lose people. So it may well have to be, in the meantime, that we do have to use that green list as a bit of a proxy. It's not ideaI but I will, because I know that where there are skilled people that we don't want to lose, and we're at risk of losing them."

An announcement on that was expected by the end of the year. So too, work on encouraging more international students and a replacement for the investor visa: "We had the golden goose, and now we've got the lame duck," she said of the visa used to attract wealthy investors.

Work on a manifesto pledge to introduce a renewable parent visa will start next year, she added.

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