Whether to use an Agent or not (NZ)?
 

My husband is the main applicant in a PR application for NZ.

We are not sure that we are a completely straight forward case as he has had two careers which we feel are related but to claim the 12 years experience we need to convince NZIS of this fact.

We have his NZQA assessment back which gives him 10 points but says to deduct 3 years from any relevant work experience as training. We assume that NZIS will take this off his 12 yrs experience (if we can convince them of 12 years) which when all our points are added up will give us 23 points instead of the 25 that we thought we would have (ie no deduction for training), which is enough for a 6 month work permit.

The agent we used for NZQA has not been completely helpful with this and we are not feeling very comfortable to use him for the PR as were not sure that he's comitted to our cause.

We have heard that NZIS are very helpful, approachable and understanding and we are now wondering whether to directly apply to them or to use the agent. If we do use the agent NZIS will not comunicate directly with the applicants you have to always go through the agent and we have found that getting the information then from him is like getting blood from a stone, but of course we want to have the best chance of success as possible so we dont know what route to take.

Can any one give any advice to us as we just dont know what to do?

Does anyone have any similar experiences either with an agent or not?

There must be loads of people who try to prove their work experience is relevant if they have had a deviation in career, i cant believe that this is an unusual situation.

Thanks for your help

Pippa & Nick xx

Re: Whether to use an Agent or not (NZ)?
 

Your case sounds quite straightforward - though I sympathise with you re: your worry about whether the full work experience will count. I don't think your agent will be of much use in persuading NZIS to give you more points as NZIS work to the operational manual, and are not swayed by agents over matters like yours (my opinion). If you had a much trickier application (eg child custody problem; serious criminal conviction etc) I would pobably say that a good agent would be of some help - but not really in your case.

NZIS London case officers are very friendly and helpful, plus they give you a direct phone number for queries like these (ie not just impersonal email), so if I were you I would talk to your CO for advice. From personal experience, NZIS appreciates that careers do progress and cover different fields, and won't go lopping off points like a mad axeman.

Re: Whether to use an Agent or not (NZ)?
 

Thank you for your advice its encouraging to hear.

We cant believe we are so unusual as lots of people must diversify from their original training etc.

Nicks case is that he trained as a Carpenter and Joiner but diversified into Consulting Structural Engineering following the necessary training courses etc so now he designs buildings etc where as before he was actually building them. So we hope we have a good case for proving that his career has naturally progressed still within the construction industry.

What do you think?

Have you already been through PR or are you doing it now?

Was your case similar?

Did you/are you using an agent yourselves?

Thanks

Pippa & Nick xx

Re: Whether to use an Agent or not (NZ)?
 

Hi Pippa,

My own opinion of Immigration consultants is that they are a waste of money, how can a consultant have any extra clout in the decision making process - as the other poster says they (NZIS) work from the operations manual (which by the way is actually available on the NZIS website, you might find it useful to take a look at this). By submitting your application yourself you are removing the middle man, saving a sometimes considerable sum of money & can contact NZIS directly if you need to.

You are absolutely right about NZIS being friendly and approachable, my own experiences with them were in London before I came over (to get a working holiday visa) and the Auckland office when I applied for a work permit, then a work visa & finally residency. In both offices they were very helpful - the one comment that sticks out was made by one of the officers at the auckland office, she said that the decisions are made based on the paperwork you submit - ie as they don't know you personally (your history, experience, skills etc) the more supporting documentation you submit such as references, details of training, courses attended, industry memberships, details of major projects you have been involved in which may seem irrelevant to you could just swing things your way when they make a decision.

Don't forget that because your husband retrained this actually makes him more desirable as he has a wider skill set, the construction industry in NZ is nowhere near as large as it is in the UK so people with extra skills and work experience are sought after. Again, getting this across to NZIS is the key thing, maybe you could put a few paragraphs in a covering letter with your application stating the reasons behind his career change and that you think Nicks skills would be an asset to NZ.

As for my own case, I was slightly out of the norm as I don't have a degree & went through the IT specialists scheme (providing you have some industry training/experience & have a job offer in your field, you get 10 points instead of a degree). I never once thought of using a consultant, I've heard too many horror stories of people being ripped off/applications taking ages etc here in Auckland (plus didn't want to spend any more than I had to!).

All the best,
Russell

Re: Whether to use an Agent or not (NZ)?
 

The advice on London is good, they were v. helpful. We came on work visa (due to time
constraints) but had the quals for points. You WILL get work, so the job offer will
get you five points. If Pippa has quals you may get an extra point or two (my memory
on the process is fading). Take the WV option and get in, because you can apply for
PR from here and get in - every now and then they actively encourage this.

"Pippa" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > Thank you for your advice its encouraging to hear.
    > We cant believe we are so unusual as lots of people must diversify from their
    > original training etc.
    > Nicks case is that he trained as a Carpenter and Joiner but diversified into
    > Consulting Structural Engineering following the necessary training courses etc so
    > now he designs buildings etc where as before he was actually building them. So we
    > hope we have a good case for proving that his career has naturally progressed still
    > within the construction industry.
    > What do you think?
    > Have you already been through PR or are you doing it now?
    > Was your case similar?
    > Did you/are you using an agent yourselves?
    > Thanks
    > Pippa & Nick xx
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Re: Whether to use an Agent or not (NZ)?
 

Currently 8 points for a job offer if memory seres me right.

Re: Whether to use an Agent or not (NZ)?
 

There is nothing to be gained using an immigration consultant, you either qualify or
you don't. The NZIS has improved - a bit - and I think they are making an effort to
be user friendly - but their by line 'NZ the right choice' does bring a bit of a wry
smile when you have stood in a queue for an hour !

If you haven't got the time or inclination to do battle with the NZIS then use a
lawyer, they are cheaper, but I still doubt whether it gains any thing, more of a
convenience thing, you know how much PR costs - so the rest is the lawyers fee.
(check out law firms on the net)

If you know someone here they can go to the MP to prod things along if they
get silly.

Good luck... your pounds will go a long way against the 'south pacific peso' ;-)



Pippa wrote:

    > My husband is the main applicant in a PR application for NZ.
    > We are not sure that we are a completely straight forward case as he has had two
    > careers which we feel are related but to claim the 12 years experience we need to
    > convince NZIS of this fact.
    > We have his NZQA assessment back which gives him 10 points but says to deduct 3
    > years from any relevant work experience as training. We assume that NZIS will
    > take this off his 12 yrs experience (if we can convince them of 12 years) which
    > when all our points are added up will give us 23 points instead of the 25 that we
    > thought we would have (ie no deduction for training), which is enough for a 6
    > month work permit.
    > The agent we used for NZQA has not been completely helpful with this and we are not
    > feeling very comfortable to use him for the PR as were not sure that he's comitted
    > to our cause.
    > We have heard that NZIS are very helpful, approachable and understanding and we are
    > now wondering whether to directly apply to them or to use the agent. If we do use
    > the agent NZIS will not comunicate directly with the applicants you have to always
    > go through the agent and we have found that getting the information then from him
    > is like getting blood from a stone, but of course we want to have the best chance
    > of success as possible so we dont know what route to take.
    > Can any one give any advice to us as we just dont know what to do?
    > Does anyone have any similar experiences either with an agent or not?
    > There must be loads of people who try to prove their work experience is relevant if
    > they have had a deviation in career, i cant believe that this is an unusual
    > situation.
    > Thanks for your help
    > Pippa & Nick xx
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com