The Longitudinal Immigration Survey: New Zealand (LisNZ) was designed to collect longitudinal data in order to understand how well migrants settle over their first three years as residents in New Zealand. The survey interviews migrants at around 6 months (wave 1), 18 months (wave 2), and 36 months (wave 3) after their residence uptake. The aim is to achieve a sample of around 5,000 migrants at the third interview, allowing for non-response rates and attrition rates.

The findings from the LisNZ will be used to inform broad immigration policy, particularly in the areas of immigration selection and settlement policies. In addition, the findings will assist a variety of agencies and community groups in developing services for migrants. More detailed analysis will be carried out and reported by the Department of Labour at a later date. The survey sample was selected from migrants aged 16 years and over (excluding refugees) who were approved for permanent residence in New Zealand from 1 November 2004 to 31 October 2005. Wave 1 interviews were conducted between 1 May 2005 and 30 April 2007, and wave 2 interviews between 1 May 2006 and 30 April 2008. The number of interviewed respondents (both onshore and offshore applicants) totalled 7,137 and 6,156 for wave 1 and wave 2, respectively. This release reports on the 6,156 longitudinal respondents (interviewed at both waves). For wave and longitudinal respondent definitions, refer to the technical notes of this release. Along with a description of the immigration approval categories used in this Hot Off The Press, this release focuses on changes in aspects of migrants’ settlement experiences in New Zealand and on their outcomes in the labour market since their first interview.