Copperben

Hi all

I am in the process of applying for my residency (general Skills) I have a job and am living in NZ (On a WHV) - my WHV expires in November 2003, I have just got off the phone from NZIS and they are saying I have to now apply for a general work visa.

Problem is 1) it can take up to 60 days to process which will take me over my expiry date.

2) they want my employer to state that he has tried looking for NZ people to do my job. He hasn't done this and has offered me a permanent position based on my qualifications and the fact that I have been working for the company for 10 months now.

Has anybody been in the same situation? How did you get around the employer thing

Is there any other way of getting a permit seeing that I am "being processed" at the moment and have my points, it just seems to be duplicating what I have already sent them ie job offer, work experience, qualifications.

What happens if I haven't been granted a permit before my visa runs out (the lady on the phone said it would be fine because it is in for processing) but on the form it has got in bold that quote "If your permit does expire, your application for a further permit does not make your stay in NZ lawful or give you the right to remain in NZ while your application is being considered""If your permit does expire, your application for a further permit does not make your stay in NZ lawful or give you the right to remain in NZ while your application is being considered" - was she lying to me?

Can you go to NZIS office in Auckland and get a permit on the same day?

Sorry to bombard you with questions but I am getting a bit worried - I don't want to be deported!!!

Oh and another thing they are asking on the form when I plan to leave NZ - I don't thats the whole point!!!

newkiwi

I dont have all the answers, but have u looked at the NZIS website http://www.immigration.govt.nz

If you say that you are in the process of applying for general skills PR, have you submitted this application yet. PR Applications lodged in NZ are taking a long timne, 9-12 months by all accounts.

So you will need to lodge a Work Permit application as well, if you want to have it finalised prior to Nov. Family of ours got a work permit in NZ is 2 to 3 weeks, but Im not sure what the employer said regarding looking for NZ workers. Point being that you can get a work permit in NZ quite quickly.

The reason they ask you when u are planning to leave NZ is that Work Permits are only issued for 2 or 3 years. For 2 years u dont need Police Clearances or Medicals, for 3 years u do. If u dont have these already, you may want to apply for a 2-year Work Permit initially, thats why they ask you on the form. In the meanwhile you can still apply for PR if you have enough points and a job offer, which you do have.

You may wantr to look at the "Work to Residence" scheme on NZIS website. This is how I got my Work Permit, it doesnt require your employer to state he couldnt find NZ workers.

Not sure if this helps at all..

Copperben

Thanks for your reply

Yes I have applied for NZ residency back in July - I have received all my docs back and am just waiting for a decision and I've been quoted 9-12 months.

I'm glad to hear that it only takes a short while to get a work permit - I am going to go to the Auckland office and queue up - see if that gets it going any quicker.

I just am a bit miffed that I have to do a whole new application to work - even though I have been working here for 10 months and have my residency papers in and a case officer!

I suppose that is red tape for you!

I have looked at the work to residency scheme but I do not qualify for that - at least with general skills I have the points and a job - so fingers crossed I should get it?!

flygirl

Strangely enough I was in exactly the same position a year ago - working here on a WHV, waiting for my residency while my WHV was about to run out any day..! It does now all seem like a distance memory though so best of luck.

Here's what I found:

1. residency only actually took 4 months to come through - but then I do live in little old nelson so docs get processed in quiet christchurch not busy old auckland. they tell you 9-12 months as matter of course but if you are in a job (ie of use to the tiny nz economy) they do make your application a priority.

2. i applied for a work visa/permit in the meantime. got my boss to sign a great letter saying how fantastic i am, how they advertised but didnt find anyone else etc. and attached a couple of incoives from the local people as 'evidence of adverts placed' (can send you a copy of the letter if that helps). i understand that immigration also carry out a bit of a survey with Winz and local recruitment agencies to find out what the local job market is like ie whether your employer shouldve been able to find a local. again being in little nelson worked in my favour here.

3. you dont need to go and join that god awful queue in auckland - i did and it was a wast of time. they are very unlikely to issue anything to you there and then cos they will want to do the aforementioned survey.

4. they were adamant that if my work permit ran out while they were processing my application for my next work permit then that was fine cos i'd done my bit and the fact i didnt have a permit was due to their lack of resources.

as for getting the general skills residency thing - if you've got the points then you wont believe how easy it all is!



ps this is my first post to this site (seemingly a bit belated as i've lived here for 2 years now!) so hello all.

Watt Dabney

Hi

We were/are in a similar situation. We lodged our residence app in Christchurch on 31/5/03 but they were busy and it went to Sydney and we are still waiting. In the meantime hubby changed jobs. He went to Christchurch immigration office and got a 12mth work visa over the counter and we had to fax the new job details to our case officer. Now as for your emplyer proving he has tried to employ Kiwis, we didn't need to do this as hubbys job is on the Occupational shortages list, have you looked there? Also I filled the forms in at home (I'm the official form filler in our house) and gave them to hubby to take in. I didn't answer the bit about leaving NZ and told hubby he would have to ask the immig officer about it. He did and she said 'oh don't worry about that'. So you should be alright, just leave it blank and ask them.
Its a long wait isn't it, I've taken to stalking the postie

Paula

Kiwipaul

Welcome flygirl
OP Well you had a luck escape if thats the case cos I went down to the infamous que in Auckland about 8 years ago, got their at 07:00 and joined the already large que. Didn't get seen till lunchtime and they resolved my probelm (cannot remember why I went now) and never had to go again thank goodness.
What a bleeding awfull way of doing things. I hear it's even WORSE NOW.

flygirl

is dire.

last time i was in akld (thankully a wee while ago now) the queue was round the block by 6.00am. not being an early bird i got there about 8am and got seen just after lunch.

they've tightened the residency categories up a bit since then so it may have got a bit better....

Copperben

I did queue to put in my residency papers got there about 7.30am by 9am they told us all to go as they would not see anybody else!!! So if I go this time I will get there about 6am

The wait is awful, half of me thinks yeah I'm going to be ok have got all that is required and the other half thinks - god what if they say no and I have to go back to England!

I suppose this is half the fun of emmigrating and like you say flygirl will be a distant memory if/when i get accepted!