Immigration New Zealand's strategy to help settle new arrivals must move quickly to determine whether its programmes are actually helping immigrants, the auditor-general says.
The report, which follows a performance audit in 2013, said Immigration is progressing well to fill in gaps in current services and strengthen its regional approach.
But the outcomes of the new strategy on immigrants, particularly on temporary work visa holders and relatives of skilled migrants, is unclear.
It says work visa holders are now paying into an immigration levy but not necessarily being allowed to access settlement services, such as English language tuition.
Last year, principal skilled migrants in Auckland were most commonly offered jobs as chefs, computer technicians and programmers.