New Zealand migrant work visa

DamoKen

Hi, did a search on the forum for any previous threads on this but could only find info on holiday work visas. Anyway I've just returned recently from a trip down to NZ and have to say I loved the place, so much so that I'm planning on moving down for a while and working there. However I'm over 30 so the work holiday visa no longer applies. I've had a look through the immagration site, did the points check and even without a job offer I've got more than the minimum amount, 125 without offer, 215 (I think) with it where the minimum is 100. So the questions I have are as follows:

1: How long from the the date of applying can you expect to wait before you know if firstly you are getting a visa, and secondly being actually issued with the visa.

2. Your points go up dramatically with a job offer, but all the jobs I've looked at on jobs sites there have the prerequisite that you have a valid New Zealand work visa. How can you then get a job offer to help obtain a visa when you need a visa to apply, seems like a Catch-22.

3. Ideally I'd like to be moving down by the start of September latest, if I get a visa of course. How realistic is this?

I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has either applied or knows someone who did.

Cheers

peeps78

hi,
im just back from a year working holiday in NZ.
it is v hard to work out how to go about it when ur out of the country and the immigration site isent the easiest to navigate. see if u can email them for any sort of info they can give, they might send u an info pack.(they are not always the most helpfull over the phone i got 2 different answers when i rang them, and a third when i called into their office in wellington)
i know there is a "work to residency" scheme where u get a work permit (but u have to have a job offer to get a permit) until ur application is approved.
maybe contact the embassy in london.

1. when u first apply it takes about a month till they accept ur request to apply then a couple more months before they interview u. in total it took my friends, who have gotten residency while working on a one year visa, a max of 6 months to get their residency fully approved.

2.apply for the jobs that require work permits anyway. if they are desperate enough for employees (NZ has one of the lowest unemployment rates at the moment) they might hire you anyway and help with the work permit application. u also have a higher chance of them needing you outside of auckland.
if you got 215 :eek: points u must have good qualifications, immigration are quite often more leniant for people with skills that they need. ie: nurses, doctors, engineers, electricians, carpenters etc.
contact job agencies they might be able to help.

3. its not totally unrealistic to think that u might able to head there in sept. get all the information they might require together as early as possible as this should prevent any delays. i knew a few people who applied and got residency while out of the country.

hope my ramblings help in any way, if u have any other questions u can PM me, i can always contact my friends with residency for info.
i honestly think that, even without a job offer, with 215 points your gonna walk into the country

DamoKen

Hi Peeps, cheers for the informative answer. As regards my points, I've currently (dependant on NZQA qualification equivalency) got 125 points. With a job offer that would be bumped up to 205, sorry wasn't sure if it was 215 or 205, checked it last night. Currently waiting to hear back from the NZ Qualification Framework as I don't have a qualification from one of their list of recognised authorities, i.e Trinity, UCD etc.

I'm hoping it should be ok as from looking at the levels they have in place it seems compatible with the Irish Framework where I have a level 7, in other words it should be 50 points in the bag as it's a recognised growth & skill shortage industry (IT). So with that recognised I'm up to 125 points where the minimum is 100. Anything over 140 is automatically in the pool, after that anyone with a job offer follows, it then comes down to if they need to fill the quota before anyone else is selected.

So a job offer gets me in either way as it would be an extra 80 points! I was thinking of going ahead and doing just what you said which is apply regardless of visa/permit requirements stated. There's a ton of jobs down there in my area so I suppose if I apply to them all I might get lucky. I'll just tell them I don't yet have the visa but am definitely commited to migrating there, so even if due to urgency for the role advertised I'm not suitable, maybe an offer for a future role? Just really need to find an expanding company I guess.

Would any of the mates you have over there happen to be in IT or know anyone in that area?

peeps78

u seem to have it all sussed anyway.
sorry i havent any friends in IT in NZ but there is definatly a demand in that area.
i was just talking to a friend who works as a trainee manager in a theatre in wellington and he just got is residency approved today and it took 4-5 months in total.

good luck with ur application.