Caz8NZ

I just tried to post this but I don’t think it worked – please forgive me as this is my first time on this forum.

So my story is I’m in NZ on a Work to Residency Visa which ties me to only working for my current employer.

Ideally I would like to be able to do some additional casual work from time to time to get some extra cash. Obviously my current visa doesn’t allow that. Cash in hand options such as dog walking and baby sitting aren’t for me).

A friend told me about a site called elance.com. Its basically freelancing and you get your work through this website. Its international/worldwide, so you could be completing work for a company in the USA and you are based elsewhere in the world. I looked initially and dismissed it as you are a self employed contractor who has to invoice to get paid and I figured that wouldn’t work with the IRD over here either.

I thought today though that if this is an international company – what do you think of using my UK information to invoice for the work and getting paid in the UK. I know that there may be some tax implications – but in theory – I’m not working for anyone else in New Zealand – so would this effect my NZ visa status?

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Caz8NZ

As crazy as it seems, after I posted here I thought I would have the bright idea of ringing up immigration and asking them directly – thought I would reply back to my own thread in case anyone was interested in the response. Basically I think it’s a loophole. You can’t be employed by anyone other than the employer on your visa in NZ, but immigration have no objections to you earning income in other parts of the world. I didn’t tell them EXACTLY what I wanted to do but basically asked – am I breaking my visa conditions by earning money from other sources outside of NZ – and the answer is no!