The falling pass-mark for the Skilled Migrant Category has been accompanied by rumblings of discontent from New Zealand's two main opposition parties.
Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, and Tony Ryall, immigration spokesman for the National Party, have both voiced concerns.
Mr Peters is a maverick but influential politician in New Zealand.
Despite government denials, his anti-Asian immigration campaigning is believed by many to have played a part in recent immigration policy changes. In particular, work-experience from China and India no longer counts for Skilled Migration to New Zealand unless accompanied by a job-offer from a New Zealand employer.
Mr Peters now claims that the Government is "cynically manipulating" the immigration points system to bring in an extra 20,000 immigrants who will be given residency without having confirmed jobs to go to.
"This morning the Minister did not deny that immigrants could arrive here and get residency without a confirmed job, or even the prospect of a job. This means that the Government has decided to open the floodgates to boost the economy in an election year."
"It is obvious that the points system has been lowered to cater for more non-English speaking immigrants who will congregate in Auckland, creating an extra burden on housing, transport, education and social services there."
"New Zealand does not need an extra 20,000 immigrants without real jobs to go."
Referring to recent newspaper stories of Asian migrants being exploited by Asian businesses in New Zealand, Mr Peters added,
"Surely there are not that many takeaway bars in Auckland needing slave labour."
Meanwhile, in a similar vein, National's Immigration spokesman Tony Ryall said;
"The Government's Mickey Mouse immigration policy will see more and more migrants coming to New Zealand without job offers."
"Six months ago applicants needed a masters degree, 10 years work experience, a job offer and a healthy bank balance but now they don't even need a job. The whole point of the earlier policy overhaul was to allow us to target skilled migrants, but the confused policy has left us having to take what we can get."
So there you have the thoughts of our two main opposition parties.
Mr Peters' fears about the arrival of large numbers of non-English speaking migrants seem overdone.
The reality is that very high scores in English language tests are now mandatory for skilled-migrants.
This should ensure the "floodgates" do not open for non-English speakers, who certainly would have enormous problems finding employment.
Otherwise, Mr Peters and Ryall do have a point.
At the beginning of 2004, when the pass-mark was very high, the vast majority of Skilled Migrants needed a job-offer to reach the pass-mark.
Migrant arrivals were definitely alleviating skill-shortages. The fear now is that if people arrive without pre-arranged work we will return to the "nuclear-engineer drives a taxi" problem.
It is to be hoped that the NZIS will only invite people whose skills are useful in New Zealand to apply for residence, regardless of how many points they can score. This would avoid much disappointment after these migrants arrive - disappointment we have seen in previous years.
A More Postive Note
On a much more positive note, the reduced pass-mark allows migrants who have in-demand skills to conquer the Catch-22 situation many have complained about this year.
The Catch-22 many experienced was you could not score enough points for permanent residence without a work-permit. And you could not get a work-permit without a job. And many employers won't offer you a job unless you already have residency or a work permit!
The situation now is that if you can score 100 points without a job-offer and are accepted as a Skilled Migrant, you will be issued with a work-permit when you arrive in New Zealand.
You can then go job-hunting, work-permit in hand, certain of a warmer welcome from even the most hesitant of employers.
