Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

Hi All
I have successfully secured a job in Tauranga and on the 1st Oct my EOI was selected from the pool with 215pts, Yesterday I got my ITA but looking at whats needed for the skilled visa I am really concerned that I will not be able to get a visa in time.

My new employers have given me a start date of 12th Jan. I have all the documentation for the position, however the biggest issue seems to be the NZQA assessment. If I fasttrack it, and without any complications I assume I would only be able to submit the ITA around the end of Nov. I was wondering has anyone had a visa granted in Dec? or has anyone had a visa granted within a month? I am worried that with it being xmas not only do I lose a few days bit it is cutting it very fine to get the visa in time.
I have emailed Immigration NZ london office (who granted the ITA) and asked them. I really do not want to miss this opportunity as we have beein gtrying so hard to migrate and thought the job offer side of things would be the hardest bit lol. I was wondering about getting a working visa but do not think my family can come if i get that. its very stressful, as I am also on a 3mth notice period, so have to hand my notice in at work as well so I am worried that I could be in a tricky position if the visa falls through

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

we submitted our ITA 28th Oct and we did not get our visa's in our passports until 14th Feb. it did take an extra two weeks for us as we submitted in UK and then moved over in January so when they approved us end January we had the file transferred to NZ for the stamps to be put in the passports. Our CO only worked 4 days and then of course you have the long shut down over Christmas. My OH got a temp visa to cover the time between getting the ITA approval and his start date and myself and the kids came over on a visitors visa (needed to have return flights but as we always intended to go back in the June for my eldest 21st it worked out ok).
ITA approvals do state 3 mths if everything goes well so you would be pushing it to get a full ITA sorted before then. see my signature for our time line. OH was over in NZ when he got the job offer and they wanted him to start that day practically so he got a temp visa within a few hours from Wellington Immigration office.

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

Hi
You've sure got a busy couple of months!!
We secured our visa very quickly just recently.
My wife secured a job while we were on holiday visiting family in August. Our key dates were:
EOI submitted on 6th August
EOI picked out on 20th August
Visa application submitted 9th September
Visa approved on 24th September
Fly out 27th December
Job starts on 5th January

The NZ Immigration Officer praised us for sending a complete file, therefore avoiding any chasing up with queries. My wife had skin cancer when she was younger, so we requested her medical notes and sent them in with our visa application (again to anticipate any requests as a result of the medical). This meant they also didn't need to refer to their on medical officer.
So if you're organised and want to get it done you'll be able to.
Where there's a will there's a way!
Good luck

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

sorry but this is not going to be a time line for an ITA visa application. what visa you might of got was a WTR visa? this gives you a visa for a certain amount of time then you need to apply for a further visa to be able to remain in NZ

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

We've got a skilled migrant visa - I showed the timeline as I was trying to emphasise that it may not take as long as is feared!

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

so you got a CO allocated to your ITA all your documents checked and the secondary check completed in 2 weeks?

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

Yes - our experience with NZ immigration has been positive as initially we thought it would be a struggle to leave in December.

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

wow then that is impressive as even the website states a minimum of a month

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

thanks for all the replies.
Wow two weeks thats really impressive. Its a very good point about the documentation, I will make sure i add everything i think they will possibly question.

its gonna be a busy time, but hopefully worth it in the end

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

I also expect it depends on the CO, their work load and how other applications they are dealing with are going. If something is queried the whole process seems to stop until that one item is sorted, Our CO sent back husbands work contract 3 times until she was happy with it and would move on.

Re: Do you think i can get a Skilled Visa by Xmas?
 

Just make sure that all the paperwork that they ask for is there, all the evidence that you can muster and hopefully it won't give any excuse for the process to grind to a halt. A work visa is also an option in the intervening time as I believe they would also issue open visa's for your family whilst PR is in train.