Immigration Agents / Lawyers
 

Planning to relocte (somehow!!) in the second half of 2009. Went to the Birmingham NZ expo in March (very poor) and was introduced to head of a NZ law firm (not immigration agents) who specialize in immigration.

They seem to be very useful and are making very good noises about completing all visa / PR documentation via SMC when in NZ after getting skilled job offer.

I appreciate that job offers won't be easy to come by in the current climate, but wondered if anyone had experience of using law firms in this way?

Would appreciate any comments about potential job market especially in general accounting management / FC / etc and the employability of Brits in the current climate.

Cheers

Re: Immigration Agents / Lawyers
 

Hello and welcome,
First of all the one thing people will tell you on here is that is it very easy to fill in the forms and apply for PR under the SMC yourself rather than pay for someone else to do it.
As far as finding a job in this day and age is concerned it probably does depend on what you do and how in demand you would be. Are they offering to find you a job or just help with the forms?
My experience is as follows: I applied for PR under the SMC and this was granted last year. I did not use an agent or lawyer, just applied on my own. Unless you have a difficult case then it is easy enough to do. after all you still have to hunt down the documents and go for the medicals etc:rofl:Why pay someone to fill in a form?
I found a job by sending off my CV to all the potential employers in the area I was planning to move to. A week later I had a job to come to. It does all depend on your profession as to how productive that approach would be.
I'm sorry but can't help you on the accounting management/ FC job market.

Sue:D

Re: Immigration Agents / Lawyers
 

Thanks Sue.

I don't see how I can have enough points under the SMC without a job offer, and it seems to me the chances of getting a job are very small without actually being in NZ and getting my face in front of people. The lawyers are referring to then getting temp visas sorted etc and then progressing full SMC application. I really don't fancy being sat "in the SMC pool" for months, and then not qualifying thru lack of points without a job offer. They are saying that no-one on my points (100 best) is getting picked without a job offer - any idea on this? I see 105 was the last pick.

As they are fully regulated I think they are giving us good advice, as I can't find any info about any kind of temp visas anywhere. My other alternative is to go down the WTR route, but then being limited by qualifying employers and I can see thsi shrinking as the recession bites.

Any ideas what the job market in BoP is like?

Thanks for your help.

Re: Immigration Agents / Lawyers
 

I see your point!
So is your plan to go to NZ as a visitor, do interviews, get a job offer and then apply for a work visa, then follow this up by applying for PR?
With 100 points you will have only a very small chance of being selected from the pool, see below

History of Selection Points

So you will be selected if you have >140pts or >100pts and a job offer. You have a very high chance of being selected if you have work experience or a qualification in a job on the long term skills shortage list. But anyone below this may be in the pool for a very long time and may well get to the 6m mark and end up being withdrawn depending on the number of points.

I assume you've looked at NZIS website which does tell you all you need to know about temporary work visas. It is a bit convoluted :rofl:The thing is that if your job is not on either of the essential skills in demand lists then it can be trickier getting a visa. Your potential employer needs to prove that no New Zealanders are able or willing to do the job and that they have advertised etc etc:ohmy:

My job is on the LTSSL so I did get PR without having a job offer. I did travel to NZ last year as my partner was here and I wanted to come over to look for jobs at the same time. I was taking some time off to see the world at the time so it was all part of the big trip:) So I was here to have face to face interviews and I do a job where I would not have been happy to accept a job offer without seeing the premises and the setup. My employer was willing to wait 4m for me to return to NZ:thumbup:My situation is quite different.

You can always put in an EOI at the same time as applying for a work visa. You may get a job offer from an employer who is willing to wait for your PR to come through negating the need for the temp visa.
Hopefully someone else will come along and help you as far as applying for jobs is concerned. Are the lawyers arranging interviews and so on for you? If they are not looking for jobs for you then consider whether you need them to do the visa application, most on here have done it all themselves. NZIS do not give priority to those coming from agents or lawyers. I'm not in the BoP so can't help with the job situation there and it does depend on what your job is anyway:)

Sue:D