What should we do in advance of heading to NZ....
 

Hi there - we leave for NZ on Sept 8th. OUr house is on the market and we have handed in our notice so all set.

We (like Sky) are heading over hoping to secure work and change our vistor visa and working hol visa into a work visa.

I am getting my stuff together to get my qualifications assessed before going over but wondered whether getting medical/police checks beforehand now would help or be a waste of time.
Wasnt sure if there was a timescale on their validity?

We were thinking if we could get work and get a 2yr work visa then we could start to apply for residency after about 12 mths.
Someone posted that more changes were due next year by NZIS - so getting a bit worried, in case we get turfed out 18mths down the line!!

Any tips from anyone who has been there done that?

Cheers!

Re: What should we do in advance of heading to NZ....
 

Hi Miller,
Haven't been there or even done that, but I'll give my opinion anyway!

The medical is only valid for 3mths & police check for 6mths.

What category of PR would you be applying for? Is it the work to res? Are you on the POL? Would you not make the current points with job offers?.....sorry, I seem to be asking loads of questions, but just wondering if you could apply for PR as soon as you have job offers & hopefully beat the changes. It's hard to know what they'll do in the next couple of years, and it would be a bummer to be turfed out!

Cheers, Gra..

Police checks nearer the time might be a good idea. However the medicals can be done by any GP in NZ and will be much cheaper and easier to arrange.

We're off in September too. Where are you going now Millertime, still fancy Christchurch?

Roger

Quite a few people on the site have talked about "future changes" to the Immigration laws over here but i've not seen any reference to it in the press over here.

NZIS has the habit of keeping proposed changes to themselves until they announce them to avoid being innundated with applications.

The general feeling is that the Immigration requirements evolve to meet the demands of the country.

For New Zealand to continue to prosper they need skilled people. Defining "skilled" is the key challenge as they need to liasie with the business community to identify what skills are required.

I can't see any major changes to the general skills category in the next 12 months but you never know.

My advice would be to get over here quickly, get a job and get PR as soon as you can.

Re: What should we do in advance of heading to NZ....
 

Might be a good idea to email some prospective employers before you get here. Most employers in NZ will not entertain employing anyone without a face to face. However NZ employers would be more than eager to meet you if you have the right criteria they are looking for. There seems to be lots of work here for skilled manual trades. ie Machinists (called fitter & turner in NZ), welders, joiners etc.
If you get as far as Blenheim leave a message here and we'll have a drink.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by smithone
Quite a few people on the site have talked about "future changes" to the Immigration laws over here but i've not seen any reference to it in the press over here.

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Understandably the recent NZIS changes are fresh in people's minds on this site. Call it paranoia, call it sensible caution - whatever, once bitten twice shy.

There is not much info out there in the public domain on what future changes will be. I'm sure that is deliberate, if changes were signposted to much, then everyone would try to beat the changes and guess what, the NZIS would be swamped yet again.

What is I think clear is that they are looking closely at the business stream of immigration (that was mentioned in the early July press release).

Presumably they think they have got the skilled migrant stream sorted out with the big changes just announced, and presumably the details will be announced closer to the date they become fully effective.
In theory I think the changes they are proposing will work as they propose, but in practice it may not work as desired and they may have to change it again at a later date. That was the view of at least one immigration consultant on this forum.

I would support others views - if you think you can easily get in now, and there is no significant reason to wait - then just get in and do it. You would kick yourself if a change did come along.

As a general comment, even though NZIS policy may remain unchanged over any particular time period, the criteria they use to assess applications will always be tinkered with. eg. what skills are in demand, what destinations are in demand, etc. I expect for example that there will always be a demand for nurses, but can the same be said of the trades - who knows. If the current NZ building boom dries up, then so do the jobs.

Deliberately NZIS have given themselves more discretion in who they invite to apply for residency in the future.

Cheers everyone....
 

After your advice will leave the police and medical checks as I think they will be out of date before we go through the process!

I am a Dental Nurse and have been informed by an immigration advocate in Christchurch that this occupation is a shortage but is currently being campaigned to get on the POL. Therefore I am unable to apply for the work to res visa.

My option is to get a job offer once we are there and then go to the local office with job offer letter and get a 2yr work visa. This how our family did it. But ideally the work to residence visa would be the best option!

I called some practices in the area a few weeks ago and got a very positive response, but it just seemed a bit too early. Thought i would do the rounds again towards the end of this month.

We are heading to Christchurch initially for a week but will then head north to Tauranga area. An agency I have been in contact with has good connections/prospects in that area. So fingers crossed.

And as a lot of you have said we gotta get in there quick! 7 and a half weeks to go!!!!

Thanks again all!

Re: Cheers everyone....
 

Hi,
If you get the 2yr work visa how will you apply for PR? Would you qualify under the current points system?

Gra...

Re: What should we do in advance of heading to NZ....
 

Don't forget to make sure your mobile phone is NOT network locked. Then get a new sim card when you arrive. When I used my mobile on o2 network they charged me 150p a min for people to phone me, even in NZ ie from NZ to NZ. Much easier and cheaper to get a sim card here at $35 including a few mins credit. If your mobile is network locked don't listen to your network provider take it to your local dodgy backstreet mobile phone repairer and they'll unlock it for a tenner or so.