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As a New Zealander, I'd say we're unashamed in trying to balance the welfare of our citizens with growth opportunities from new immigrants.

If you're likely to be a drain on the public healthcare system, then you're not likely to get permission to live here. Why? It's not fair to those people who have already paid into the system, to subsidise someone who hasn't.

And we are picky. There's no visa lottery here. A points-based system with high thresholds. And that's OK. Same as Australia. Same as Canada.

You are picky because NZ is likely the trendiest place to immigrate to in the last 30-40 years. It would be silly + unfair to current NZ citizens if you guys weren't picky.

In France we have a special health insurance policy dedicated for treating illegal immigrants ("AME: Aide Médicale d'État"). Yup... Too bad that many people will call you a racist if you ever start to say it is unfair for people who already paid into the system.

Why is it unfair? France is a democracy, presumably this law that established this policy was decided by elected officials.

You can easily not like it, but it is certainly "fair." Unless you believe it is illegal?

Just like people "voted" to remove net neutrality in the US

Perfect system, oh boy a true utopia! And then you guys have Peter Thiel getting citizenship after visiting for 12 days :)

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/29/new-zealand-ga...

Edit: oh sorry, he's "a great ambassador for New Zealand"

> And we are picky. There's no visa lottery here. A points-based system with high thresholds.

As a practical matter, it seems that the immigration officer you wind up with does have an impact on your application's success. I was initially turned down for a Skilled Migrant visa (which I believe is what you're referring to) because I had work experience in IT, but a degree in electrical and computer engineering, and though the points from those combined were well over the higher threshold (and both on the skills shortage lists at the time, ~2010), they weren't in the same enough field according to my assigned officer. That meant that I had to pick which one I wanted to use, but neither by itself put me over the line... An expat friend of mine had a similar experience.

I don't mean this to be a slight on Immigration NZ, just that the process can feel a bit arbitrary and bureaucratic - like a lottery. It creates a chicken-and-egg problem too: in order to get a skilled migrant visa, you really want a job offer, but you're only going to get a job offer by coming here and looking around in person...

I've thought about getting another visa too. I thought the x-ray and blood tests were pretty normal, until I talked to a friend with a German work visa, and she didn't have any type of medical exam to get her permit.

You've described pretty much every country's immigration requirements, not just NZ. I've lived in NZ, the UK, and the US. Every one will ask for proof of health (TB, HIV, etc) and if you're attempting to gain a Visa attached to a GF then you have to prove it is bonafide, often with letters, shared bills/expenses, etc. That's nothing to get upset about.

Oh, I was not upset about it. Yes, I am not that experienced immigrating, so thanks for your insight. My impression of immigration to the US was that the process is really slow and inefficient but isn't as meticulous as other countries, but perhaps I'm mistaken.

I actually don't think there's anything wrong with NZ or any country doing those things. My point is that rooting through my computer, requiring me to hand over my credentials, is where I say no. Maybe they'll end up paying the price if enough educated people decide not to bother. I don't really know.

Granted, it's been very "totalitarian" when it comes to immigration for a long time.

> We have a huge housing shortage

> get a chest X-ray to prove that I'm not just taking advantage of their socialized medicine.

We have a problem with TB. We have issues with other disease coming in too and don’t seem to screen for them, which we should.

> If NZ wants to innovate on anything or to have more movies filmed there, they'll have to do it mostly by themselves, or pay ass-loads to import skilled workers.

We do pay assloads. For some reason we subsidise the films that come here while they exploit their workers and get exemption from NZ laws. Our homegrown hero Peter Jackson had a role in that.

Your level of skepticism about NZ clearly indicates you belong here. Come back!