A Whangārei beauty salon owner says her business may face trouble if she cannot find a way to keep her siblings in the country.

Anna Vu owns AV Beauty Spa, and has worked in the city for 12 years.

She said she had always struggled to find suitably skilled nail technicians and beauty staff and so had recruited her three siblings to work with her, from Vietnam.

Vu said they came from a poor family and her mother died while they were young. The siblings were separated growing up because their father could not care for them all. Vu said they left school early because the family did not have enough money to pursue their education.

Their father died in 2017 and the siblings reunited in 2018 to mark the first anniversary. "One of my greatest wishes was that somehow we could be together again after spending so much of our lives apart. I also hoped that one day my family might be able to help me with the business I had built, particularly during periods when my health meant I needed to slow down or rest."

Vu suffers from lupus nephritis.

She said her older sister had become a New Zealand resident through the 2021 resident visa pathway. But her two younger siblings arrived on work visas that are set to expire in early December next year and they face a much more difficult process.

Vu has written to her local MP, Shane Reti, asking for help. "After spending so many years separated from my siblings, having the opportunity to finally work together as a family has meant more to me than I can properly put into words," she wrote to him.

She said her business would not be able to carry on in its current form without her siblings. She had recently invested in new, larger premises with room for 10 staff. Including her siblings, she had eight.

"From a purely business perspective, losing several experienced staff members within a short period would place enormous pressure on the salon. I am therefore trying to prepare early and do everything correctly rather than waiting until it is too late."

She had been advertising for staff but said it seemed most trained nail technicians and beauty therapists wanted to set up their own businesses, rather than work for someone else.

She said her siblings were all paying tax on their earnings, being paid good wages, and were willing to work the busy late nights, weekends and public holidays that some local staff did not want to cover.

"My concern is that I am being asked to replace people who are already trained, trusted, productive and fully integrated into our business with workers whom I simply cannot find locally."

Reti's office suggested she seek advice from an immigration adviser or immigration lawyer.

Immigration adviser Katy Armstrong, of Into NZ Immigration, said the English requirement might only be one part of the family's problem.

"The only person that can waive English language requirements is the minister and I think they would do that quire reluctantly."

She said, beyond that, nail technicians were a difficult industry to bring people into the country in. They are on Immigration New Zealand's new "red list" of six roles that are considered high risk. Nail technicians, beauty therapists, hair or beauty salon managers, hairdressers, hospitality, retail and service managers, massage therapists and general retail managers are not eligible for the skilled work experience pathway or the trades and technician pathway to residence.

"She sounds totally legitimate and I completely get her plight but unfortunately she's in an area of work that is associated with high-risk businesses and poor employment practices and exploitative behaviour so they've appeared on the red list.

"It doesn't mean a nail technician cannot go to residence but they need to be degree-qualified, not necessarily in beauty, they could have a degree in anything."

She said English language requirements were designed to protect people from potential exploitation. There used to be a sibling category for family reunification but that was no longer possible, she said.

"She's in the eye of the storm. Vietnam is consider high risk, beauty therapists are on the high-risk list."

She said Vu might need to apply for residency and then be prepared to appeal the decision to turn it down, but this could be an expensive process.