Labour is calling the government's immigration system "broken", claiming more lower-skilled workers are becoming residents.
Ministry of Business Immigration and Employment data, obtained under the Official Information Act, shows international students now make up 40 percent of applicants approved for residency.
Almost half of those students do not have degree level qualifications and Labour's Immigration spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway says that's not good enough.
"An increasing number of low-skilled students are gaining New Zealand residency and raising the risk of new migrants being exploited in insecure low-wage jobs."
Mr Lees-Galloway says between 2009/10 and 2013/14, the percentage of applicants accepted for residency who had previously held a student visa increased from 28 percent to 39 percent.
However the increase has not been made up by an increasing number of highly skilled young people instead, the number of those students who have degrees is dropping.
"At the same time the proportion of former international students who gained residency with a bachelor degree or higher tumbled from 69.4 per cent to 52.4 per cent, while those with sub-degree qualifications jumped from 41.7 per cent to 47.6 per cent."
Mr Lees-Galloway is concerned a lowering skill level across the country will have flow on effects.
"It's not just temporary migrants who are being exploited for their cheap labour, it's permanent residents as well.
"This also puts downward pressure on the wages of people already here."
He says this creates a cycle of students who "pay through their nose" for low quality education in the hope it will lead to residency.
"This is just further evidence of National's abuse of the immigration system."
Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse has been approached for comment.
Newshub.
