Research Consultant (Labour Pathways and Immigration and Border Governance)

1. Duty Station of the Consultancy: Home-based with possibilities to travel to Samoa, Palau and the Solomon Islands.

2. Duration of Consultancy: 87 days spanning over 11 months from 10 March 2025 – 9 February 2026.

3. Nature of the consultancy: Consultancy services on immigration and border management policies and practices to facilitate labour pathways for the Pacific countries with 3 case study countries: Samoa, Palau and Solomon Islands.

4. Project Context and Scope:

The consultancy is part of the research project titled “Contributing to Regular Labour Pathways in Target Pacific Island Countries Through Enhanced Immigration and Border Management Practices”, jointly designed and implemented by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Samoa Office and the Pacific Immigration Development Community (PIDC).

Labour migration makes a substantial contribution to the economies of many Pacific Island countries and remains a key strategy to improve livelihoods for Pacific islanders. Remittances play a crucial role in the economies of Pacific Island countries, supporting education, healthcare, and overall well-being of many families.

In recent years, labour migration flows from/to the Pacific have become increasingly diverse. Historically, labour migration flows in the Pacific have mostly consisted of migration to the Pacific Rim, including Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Since the reopening of borders after COVID-19 in mid-2022, there has been a substantial increase in Pacific labour migration flows to Australia and New Zealand.

There has been a small but consistent flows of Pacific islanders to other non traditional destinations such as Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Intra-regional labour migration is also on the rise, with Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Palau, the Cook Islands and American Samoa receiving a number of Pacific Islander labour migrants every year.

As a result of rapidly expanding labour mobility schemes and arrangements between governments, the Pacific region is experiencing severe shortage of skilled and unskilled workers. As such, there is an increasing need to accept foreign workers to fill the labour shortages, but currently the Pacific Island countries are largely restrictive to the movement of foreign labour migrants into the Pacific to fill the gap.

Access to labour pathways is often dependent upon immigration and border management practices. This includes immigration and border management policies covering topics such as proof of legal identity, civil registration, travel document issuance, identity management and verification processes.

In light of rapidly changing regional labour mobility landscape which Pacific countries need to continuously adjust, the proposed research will look into how the Pacific Immigration and border management policies and practices are facilitating and/or limiting access to Pacific regular labour pathways. This will include providing practical recommendations to ensure effective, robust, and internationally compliant immigration and border management processes, enabling safe orderly and regular labour migration.

5. Organizational Department / Unit to which the Consultant is contributing: The consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Programme Manager based in IOM Samoa in close coordination with the Pacific Immigration Development Community (PIDC) Secretariat in Samoa, IOM Country offices in Palau and Solomon Islands, and Regional Thematic Specialist based in Bangkok.

6. Tangible and measurable outputs of the work assignment

The consultant is expected to deliver 4 research papers (1 overall, 1 per country) and 4 policy briefs (1 overall, 1 per country) with support from IOM country offices.

Inception Report

• Initial stakeholder consultations with Immigration (online)
• Desktop analysis
• Literature review
• Design, development and finalization of the research methodology
• Development of field research plans and research protocols, including a list of stakeholders to be interviewed
• Development of the outlines of the final reports and policy briefs

Field Survey in Samoa, Palau and Solomon Islands and Progress Report

• National consultation meetings
• Interviews with relevant stakeholders (Key Informant Interviews, Focus Group Discussions, etc)
• Data collection
• Submission of the progress report

Development of Research Papers and Policy Briefs

• Development and presentation of the first draft including policy brief summaries
• Revisions based on feedback and additional information to be received
• Development and presentation of the second draft including draft policy briefs
• Revisions based on feedback and additional information to be received
• Development and presentation of all final drafts (to be validated by stakeholders)

Preliminary list of stakeholders to be interviewed in each country (to be updated during the inception phase):

• Ministries, Agencies, Departments and other entities working in the areas of: immigration, labour migration, visa and travel document issuance, civil registration, custom, foreign affairs, police, and women/gender.
• Migrants, local community stakeholders and CSO representatives
• Visa Application Centers
• International and regional organizations including: Pacific Immigration Development Community (PIDC), Pacer Plus, Pacific Community (SPC), UN agencies working on Civil registration and Vital Statistics and Legal Identity Agenda
• Diplomatic missions

Deliverables

Inception Report: 10 March 2025 – 4 April 2025 (10 days)

Field Survey and Progress Report: 7 April 2025 – 13 June 2025 (30 days)

Development of the first draft: 16 June 2025 – 29 August 2025 (24 days)

Development of the second draft: 1 September 2025 – 10 October 2025 (14 days)

Development of the final draft: 13 October 2025 – 12 December 2025 (9 days)

Response to clarification requests by professional editors if any: 15 December 2025 – 9 February 2026

Total: 87 days

Presentation of Papers and Policy Briefs

The consultant is expected to make an online presentation and lead discussions on the implementation of the study recommendations during the national dissemination meetings to be held in each country (March – April 2026) and the PIDC Regular Annual Meeting (June 2026) respectively. A new or extended contract will be issued to pay for 3 additional days to carry out the tasks upon successful completion of the research phase.

Deliverables

Presentation and facilitation: 2 March 2026 – 30 June 2026 (3 days)

7. Performance indicators for the evaluation of results

• Timely submission of deliverables according to the specified deadlines.
• High quality of work aligned with the research objective
• Innovative, context specific and practical recommendations for both technical (immigration) and non technical stakeholders.
• Engagement and collaboration with key stakeholders in the case study countries.
• High level of satisfaction with the research outcomes from the PIDC and the member countries.

8. Education, Experience and/or skills required.

• Advanced degree in Migration Studies, Public Policy, International Relations, Border Security, or related fields.
• At least 10 years of relevant experience in border management, immigration policy, identity management, and/or migration management.
• Proven experience and records in conducting multi-country case studies and working with governmental and international organizations.
• Experience in developing policy recommendation papers
• Strong understanding of Pacific Island countries’ labour mobility dynamics and immigration frameworks
• Experience in gender based data analysis
• Excellent analytical and strategic thinking skills
• High degree of fluency in English and presenting ability
• Strong understanding/experiences in demonstrating values and practices of the diverse Pacific cultures especially Palau, Solomon Islands and Samoa.

9. Travel required:

• Travel to Palau, Samoa, and Solomon Islands to conduct field research and stakeholder consultations as necessary

10. Others

• The consultant must complete several mandatory online trainings prior to onboarding.
• Appointment will be subject to certification that the candidate is medically fit for appointment.
• This consultancy is expected to contract an individual consultant. A team of individual consultants with different expertise may be considered, but the total number of consultancy remain 87 days or less.
• There will be a number of online meetings. The consultant is responsible for arranging internet and related necessary equipment.
• The consultant must adhere to the IOM Data Protection Principles and maintain confidentiality.
• The consultant will be responsible to follow IOM writing guidelines and latest glossaries in all given assignments for accurate translation.
• The consultant should be available for clarifications during the editing process if necessary.

11. Payment

• First instalment: 20% upon submission and approval of the Inception Report.
• Second instalment: 40% upon submission and approval of the first draft.
• Final Payment: 40% upon completion of the final research papers and policy briefs to the satisfaction of the IOM and PIDC.

12. Competencies

Values

• Inclusion and respect for diversity respects and promotes individual and cultural differences. Encourages diversity and inclusion.
• Integrity and transparency: maintains high ethical standards and acts in a manner consistent with organizational principles/rules and standards of conduct.
• Professionalism: demonstrates ability to work in a composed, competent and committed manner and exercises careful judgment in meeting day-to-day challenges.
• Courage: demonstrates willingness to take a stand on issues of importance.
• Empathy: shows compassion for others, makes people feel safe, respected and fairly treated.

Core Competencies – behavioural indicators.

• Teamwork: develops and promotes effective collaboration within and across units to achieve shared goals and optimizes results.
• Delivering results produces and delivers quality results in a service-oriented and timely manner. Is action oriented and committed to achieving agreed outcomes.
• Managing and sharing knowledge continuously seeks to learn, share knowledge and innovate.
• Accountability: takes ownership for achieving the Organization’s priorities and assumes responsibility for own actions and delegated work.
• Communication: encourages and contributes to clear and open communication. Explains complex matters in an informative, inspiring and motivational way.