Alastair McClymont - Immigration Law Specialist

09/10/2026

Immigration New Zealand matters can become complicated when compliance concerns, visa conditions or employer accreditation issues arise.

In one challenging case, an employer faced revoked accreditation, financial penalties and a stand-down period. Securing fresh accreditation required detailed legal submissions, extensive supporting documentation and practical compliance safeguards.

Righteous Law helped the employer address these challenges, and fresh accreditation was approved.

Led by Alastair McClymont, Immigration Principal with nearly 30 years of experience, our team works through complex immigration matters with careful preparation and a clear legal strategy.

Need guidance on a complex New Zealand immigration matter? Get in touch with Righteous Law.

11/09/2026

There is something conspicuously missing from the immigration advisers’ comments in this article.

We hear about “the benefits the migrants bring in their contributions”, that migrants “help the economy to grow”, and that “actually to run the country you need migrants.” The discussion is overwhelmingly about what migrants can do for New Zealand.

What we hear much less about is what New Zealand owes migrants in return.

Immigration advisers see every day the human consequences of immigration policy: families separated, people living with years of uncertainty, and people who have worked, paid taxes, raised children and established their lives here while remaining dependent on the next immigration decision.

New Zealand actively recruits migrants because we need them. They staff our hospitals and aged care, pick the fruit we export and work on our farms. That dependence creates a reciprocal obligation. The relationship cannot simply be about the contribution migrants make to us.

At a time when politicians increasingly talk about immigration in terms of risks, costs and harms, I think those of us who represent migrants can add something important to this debate. Alongside the economic case for immigration, we should be talking about migrants as people, and about the obligations that arise when a country has invited people here, relied upon their labour and allowed them to establish their lives here.

Otherwise the immigration debate remains trapped in the question of what migrants are worth to New Zealand, rather than also asking what responsibilities New Zealand has towards them.

Immigration advisors say the policy settings are important to New Zealand and are calling for stability no matter who comes into power in the upcoming general election.

11/09/2026

As it’s been a week of immigration policy announcements I would like to promote the Migrant Workers Association own policy announcement.
If I had to identify one difference between the coalition governments policy announcements and the Migrant Workers Association announcement it is that I like government policies, this policy treats migrants as actual human beings. Ones that have hopes and dreams, have families and have real connections to the community.
The coalition government announcements on the other hand treat migrants solely as economic units to be used, abused and recycled solely for financial gain.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DmBrwj5pJ/

11/09/2026

NZ First has called its latest announcement an immigration policy. I see something very different: a politics that portrays migrants as a threat, a burden and a harm to be managed. I take that personally.

Indian migrants in particular should be concerned about where this rhetoric is leading. When voting on 7 November, they should consider not only which parties promote this politics of division, but which parties may enable it by giving NZ First power in the next government.

My latest blog explains why this is not a genuine immigration policy, but a politics of division and hate.

New Zealand immigration policy and NZ First’s proposals on migrants, residence, citizenship and international students.

11/09/2026

At Righteous Law, we not only fight for the rights of our clients, but the rights of all migrants. Three years ago, we began a campaign to restore birthright citizenship for those born in New Zealand who have lived here for 10 years. The Greens adopted my policy proposal almost immediately, and today Phil Twyford, Labour Party Immigration Spokesperson, announced that they too will adopt my proposal if they become the government on 7th November.
I have no words to express the gratitude and admiration I have for the bravery of our clients who fronted the media with me despite constant threats of deportation, especially you Daman Kumar. It's people like you and the bravery of politicians to stand up for what's right that make me proud of this country, on a day when the racists at NZ First made me feel so ashamed that some want to take us down the Trump path of hatred and division towards migrants.

03/09/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DWRW9GX49/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Instead of addressing structural problems, we are getting proposals increasingly concerned with distinguishing between us and them.

28/08/2026

I was recently asked by a political party what a serious, long-term policy might look like for addressing New Zealand’s dependence on low- and semi-skilled temporary migrant workers.

The question deserves more than another argument about whether the immigration tap should be turned on or off.

Labour opened the door too widely through the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme, without adequate verification, monitoring or enforcement. The result was a market in job offers, recruitment debt and exploitation on an unprecedented scale.

The current National-led Government has responded with tighter eligibility, higher wage thresholds and considerable resources directed towards declining applications and removing migrants who entered through that open door.

These approaches appear different, but neither addresses the entrenched problem.

Both continue to treat migrant numbers as the variable that must be adjusted, while leaving untouched the industries and employment structures that have become dependent on a permanently replenished supply of insecure temporary workers.

Worse still, both approaches create opportunities for exploitation.

Labour’s settings allowed access to jobs and visas to be sold. National’s increasingly difficult residence requirements raise the value of apparent compliance. Where residence depends on meeting an unrealistic wage threshold, the result may be wage recycling, artificial payroll arrangements or other methods of making a worker appear eligible on paper.

The more precarious a migrant’s position becomes, the less likely that worker is to report exploitation. Reporting an employer may mean losing the job required to retain a visa or qualify for residence.

A policy intended to prevent abuse can therefore strengthen the employer’s control over the worker.

The real policy question is not simply how many migrants New Zealand should admit during the next economic cycle. It is how we dismantle business models that rely on permanently temporary workers without punishing the migrants whom New Zealand has already recruited.

My proposed approach is to restrict the continual reproduction of temporary status—not the people who already possess it.

In this article, I examine:

• how temporary labour shortages become structural dependencies;

• why neither Labour nor National has solved the underlying problem;

• how both approaches create new opportunities for exploitation;

• why wage thresholds, labour-market tests and shortage lists are inadequate; and

• what a managed five-to-ten-year transition could look like.

Read the full article here:

Explore a long-term policy response to New Zealand’s dependence on temporary migrant labour and the need for sustainable workforce reform.

14/08/2026

As immigration becomes an increasingly prominent election issue, politicians are again talking about the need for migrants to assimilate, integrate and contribute to “social cohesion”. But what does social cohesion actually mean, and what should it reasonably require of migrants and the wider community? This article considers social cohesion as a combination of shared civic values, participation in public life and ordinary relationships across communities—without requiring migrants to surrender their cultural identity. It also asks whether aspects of our current immigration regime, together with rising anti-migrant rhetoric, may marginalise migrants and make the cohesion we seek more difficult to achieve.

Read the full article here:

Explore social cohesion in New Zealand, migrant integration, assimilation, cultural identity and immigration policy.

07/08/2026

In this week’s blog I examine Winston Peters’ recent comments through the lens of history and democratic principles. I discuss why political rhetoric matters, the lessons we can draw from 250 years of democratic development, and the importance of protecting respectful public discourse.

Read more in the link below.

Explore how New Zealand Democracy and Free Speech relate to symbolic political protest and the Winston Peters guillotine debate.

03/08/2026

In this week’s blog I explore whether New Zealand’s current immigration and border screening processes are sufficient when it comes to former IDF soldiers entering the country. I consider the legal issues involved, the importance of due diligence, and how international obligations should inform decision-making.

Read more in the link below.

Should New Zealand Immigration Character Requirements apply to former IDF soldiers? Explore the legal framework.