New work visas under India FTA 'cosmetic at best', lawyer says

New work visas under the India trade deal are "cosmetic at best" and completely undermine Winston Peters' warnings of "open slather immigration", an immigration lawyer says.

The two new pathways secured under the agreement opened last Tuesday, allowing up to 5000 skilled Indian professionals to work in New Zealand at any one time for up to three years.

Alastair McClymont told RNZ the newly published conditions showed the visas offered a worse deal than other options already available and would attract "very few, if any" extra migrants.

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For example, workers had no right to bring their partners or children with them, and their work here would not count towards the experience needed to qualify to live in New Zealand permanently.

McClymont said other work visas - which Indian citizens could still apply for - remain "significantly more attractive", offering both family rights and a route to settling here.

He accused New Zealand First of employing "incredibly dangerous" populism, and fuelling racism and abuse towards Indians through false warnings of mass migration and a "butter chicken tsunami".

"There's really nothing in here."

'Confusing' - NZ First leader Winston Peters

Asked for his response, Peters said the new work visa requirements actually proved him right on a different complaint - Indian workers would be treated worse than people coming here under similar trade deals.

"That was precisely my allegation," he told RNZ. "How can we justify that?"

In June, Peters dropped a bombshell in Parliament, accusing National of "covertly" changing course to adopt more "discriminatory" migration settings for Indians.

He also claimed officials wanted to keep the changes quiet for fear of India's reaction.

Peters told RNZ the whole situation had been "very, very confusing", with National Party ministers claiming one thing and Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi claiming another.

"The only way to remove that misunderstanding is to release the documents," he said.

RNZ's initial request for documentation under the Official Information Act was refused on the basis the decision-making process was "ongoing". RNZ has lodged a fresh request now that the deal is in force.

Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told RNZ she had always been clear the new entry visas were extra options on top of all the other work visas Indian citizens could apply for.

"All work visas are designed for different purposes, and have different requirements and settings."

Asked why the rules differed from those in the China and South Korea trade deals, she said: "Each agreement is negotiated individually."

She said the immigration settings met New Zealand's commitments under the India trade deal.

'Storm in a teacup'

McClymont told RNZ his main concern was the number of people who believed claims the deal was opening the door to mass migration, and the racism and abuse toward the Indian community as a result.

He said the actual rules published on Tuesday showed claims otherwise were wrong, calling it a "storm in a teacup".

He said Indians applying under the Accredited Employer Work Visa, which had been around for a while, were able to use their work experience in New Zealand for a pathway to residency and bring their family into New Zealand while they worked.

"None of these things are being offered to the Indian citizens under these new visa categories announced as part of the Indian Free Trade Agreement and therefore are very unlikely to be attractive to many Indian citizens."

McClymont said he couldn't see the point of any of the provisions: "It's cosmetic at best."

As well, he said there was a real risk that these categories would be sold to Indian citizens as some "marvellous new opportunity" to come here by "unlicensed or unscrupulous" immigration advisers, who would then take advantage of those workers, risking an increase in fraud and exploitation in the system.