Longitudinal Immigration Study of New Zealand

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.

The survey involves a longitudinal design where the same migrants are interviewed three times over a period of three years. Individual migrants (as opposed to household units), are used for the selection of the LisNZ sample, the collection of data, and the analysis of the results from the survey.

The survey was designed to produce estimates for several subpopulations defined by immigration approval category and region of origin. It was estimated that 5,000 completed interviews in wave 3 would produce estimates of the required accuracy. A large initial sample was required to achieve this target and a stratified systematic random design was used to achieve this.

A sample of 12,202 migrants was randomly selected to participate in the survey. The migrants that were interviewed at wave 1 were then followed up for interview in wave 2 and 3.

Data collection method The sample of migrants (both onshore and offshore) was selected from 1 November 2004 to 31 October 2005. As offshore migrants can arrive in New Zealand at any time up to 12 months after residence approval, the offshore arrival period is from 1 November 2004 to 31 October 2006. Consequently, the wave 1 interviews occurred between 1 May 2005 and 30 April 2007. Wave 2 interviews occured 12 months after the first interview, between 1 May 2006 and 30 April 2008.

The LisNZ was conducted using computer-assisted face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire was translated into each of the designated survey languages.