
Immigration New Zealand’s recent announcement that all medical doctors would be included on the straight-to-residence pathway doesn’t quite give the full picture. In fact, “all” only includes those doctors who can have their medical registration approved before coming to New Zealand.
For many foreign-trained doctors already living here, the obstacle preventing them from working isn’t immigration – it’s medical licensing. If more is not done to streamline and speed up the licensing process, New Zealand risks losing prospective doctors to countries that make the process easier.