techno

Hi Chris

You might be able to advise me, we have been here over two years on a LTBV and want to apply for permanent residency, having downloaded the forms it seems they ask a lot of questions like how has your business benefitted New Zealand?
We are in the holiday accommodation industry, cottages not Motel having bought 25% of an exsisting trading company.
Just how strict are they when it comes to seeing how well youve stuck to your business plan, ours has not ticked every box that we thought it would but is close.Do they want to see two years accounts and must this be from a charted accountant, must we have employed a newzealander I really need to know what to expect your advice would be welcome
do they expect you to have made a big profit as well as drawing the agreed salary and how long did it take you to get PR after applying

Thanks Ray

chris the property man

Hi Ray

I will try to answer your questions as best as I can - keep in mind that I got PR back in 2009 so things might have changed...I haven't tried to keep up with NZIS - I was just glad to have got through to the other side of the whole visa/PR process, to be honest.

So, a little about what I did to get in....

I arrived in Auckland in November 2006 on a LTBV. I had bought a vending machine franchise with Provender NZ Ltd and had no plans to employ anybody. I had worked out that to meet NZIS criteria of being of 'benefit' to NZ, the only way was to improve on the business that I had bought by increasing turnover, investing in more machinery bought in NZ, buy more product to sell, again from NZ suppliers. I had looked at the other criteria and knew that this was the only one I could satisfy.

So, for two years I worked my socks off, increased the turnover by around 65%, invested in machinery and then submitted my PR application. I did send in two years accounts compiled by a Chartered Accountant and I believe that is what is needed.

It took around 6 months, but the answer was YES - we got our PR!!

So, to answer the questions you have raised;

1. I did not stick to my business plan as such as it was a lot of guesswork. However, I did what I intended and that was to benefit NZ by improving the company that I bought and investing in NZ suppliers od the machines and stock that I used. I would suggest that as long as you have come close to the business plan, and you got your LTBV on the strength of that business plan, then you should be fine.

2. I believe they do want two (full) years accounts, compiled by a Chartered Accountant. I ended up having three sets done as my first only covered November up to 31st March - end of the tax year. Then I had a full set done and was going to get another part set done to make up two full years. But they wanted two only so I had to pay my Accountant to re-jig them to suit. Cost another $2,500 but it did the job, so, hey..it was worth it.

3. If you do employ a Kiwi then that will be a massive help. I never, as I said, so it's not a MUST. But you do need to prove that your business has benefitted NZ in some tangible way.

4. After taking my drawings out of the business it did make a profit in the second year but nothing huge. They were happy to see that it was profitable and likely to carry on being profitable (had I kept it going - which I did for a further 18 months).

I found the staff at NZIS quite accommodating and helpful. I suggest that you find out who is dealing with your application and writ/email/ring them with some questions, similar to those above. My guy was only too pleased to give me advice -I think it made him feel important..it worked, anyway.

If I can be of any more help, don't hesitate to ask.

Good luck.

Chris

techno

Hi Chris

having completed my 2 years LTBV and applied for the entrepreneur category i have just read on the immigration website that due to xmas, new year and a load of people being processed under the entrepreneur category, that I will not be given a decision for up to 5 months,
well my LTBV runs out early March so what do i do about that.
I haven't yet been given a case officer even though i applied over 6 weeks ago so I don't know who to ask about extending my current LTBV till they get round to me, can you help??

Thanks Ray

chris the property man

Hi Ray

I will try to help, but I'm no expert. However, I can relay to you what my experiences were and hopefully that will help.

Firstly, I would suggest that you contact the Immigration Office and explain your situation. I think that they will quite happily extend your visa so that you can continue to run your business until they have had time to process the application for PR. I wouldn't worry about not having a Case Officer yet - that will probably only happen once your file has reached the top of the pile. He will then contact you with his details and an update as to how long it will take.

In my experience, the staff at NZIS were in the main very helpful. It wouldn't do any harm to ring them and speak to someone about your worries. Other people can give you their advice and experiences but nothing will replace actually dealing with NZIS yourself. Once you have been assigned a Case Officer I would suggest that you speak to them in person and try to get on with them. We had quite a good relationship with ours and he emailed us with 'congratulations' when he had given us the YES decision over the PR application. Don't be scared of them - they are only normal people. Getting on well with them can only help. Saying that, don't pester them. Put yourself in their shoes and treat them how you would want to be treated.

Hope that helps. Good luck.

Chris

techno

hi Chris

Thanks for your input it helps and i will contact NZIS soon as i can.

It didnt make sense that my work visa runs out in two months but i might have to leave my business because of the length of time it will take to process my PR.
im nervous anyway that they will find things that i might not have done correctly, that i wont have made enough money, that all ive written about how i benefit NZ wont be good enough etc etc.
Can you give me some idea on how close to the business plan you turned out to be, what profit you are expected to make and if you had any nz staff.
If it were to fail then would they grant an extension to give me even longer to run my business as two years isnt long enough really

appreciate your help

Thanks Ray

chris the property man

Hi Ray

As I have previously mentioned, I didn't stick to my business plan very well at all. Firstly, the figures that I supplied were all pure guesswork so it would be unrealistic to expect me to actually achieve these targets. I never turned over as much nor made as much profit as my business plan forecast. I put this down to the general downturn in the world economy, and as I still made a profit, NZIS were happy with that. I don't think that they have any set profit that they expect you to make, but they just want to know that you are not running at a loss and if they grant PR that you are not likely to run the business into the ground soon after. Pointless exercise, as far as NZ is concerned, if that was the case.

I did not employ any staff. As I previously mentioned, my way of benefitting NZ was to improve on the business that I bought therefore increasing the stock and machinery that I bought from mainly NZ companies.

I am sure that a lot of LTBV applicants need to extend their visa in order to have their PR application processed. I was also told that if I was not successful on my first PR application then I could request an extension of the visa in order to run the business for a further 12 months to see if that did the trick. As it turned out, I didn't need to.

All up, my best advice would be not to be too worried about NZIS. They are not there to find reasons to kick you out of the country, but they do have to stick to the current rules for PR..mainly that you are benefitting NZ in some way. They would not have given you the LTBV in the first place if they did not think that it was likely to succeed, would they? Whatever you do, don't bury your head in the sand and just hope that things will turn out okay...take the bull by the horns, contact them and state your case. See if your accountant has any advice to offer - he may have been through this with other clients before. Back yourself that you are a good option to become a permanent resident of NZ and don't let anyone tell you different. Be confident, but not arrogant and I am sure you will get the result that you so obviously want.

Ring them tomorrow!

Regards.

Chris

chris the property man

Hi Ray

Any progress yet?

techno

Hi Chris

as you suggested I rang them and explained that my visa expires early march and though helpful the person I spoke to thought that they would extend till my application had been looked at but he personally couldnt say for sure and told me to email the same questions to an email address he gave me for the dol which I did but 5 days later i have heard nothing or been alocated a case officer, its a bit frustrating that I ring and email them but get no reply any thoughts on this?

Thanks Ray

chris the property man

Hi Ray

Seems like that was a receptionist-type person that you spoke to. I would have thought that they would have put you through to the right department and someone there would be able to answer your question straight off. I wonder if it is the time of year - not fully staffed again yet, after Xmas.

Emails always do seem to take ages to be replied to by any government department in NZ. I think I would be ringing again and asking to speak to someone that can answer the question.

Sorry I can't be of more help there. It will be better once you have been assigned a Case Officer, but in the meantime, pestering might do the trick!

Good luck.

Chris

techno

Hi Chris

I rang immigration again and although i have to wait for a case officer I did speak to someone else from wellington business processing dept who said due to a lot of work overload on their part they would not come to a decision about me for approx 5 months which takes me way over my work visa expiring on 8th March.
here is where i get all the idiots at cross purposes with each other.
wellington told me i would need a tempory work visa and to contact my local branch in Palmerston North to see how to go about it.
I got a nice but unhelpful woman who said download form 1058 and send it with passport, this turned out to be the LTBV that i was already on.
I rang wellington back they said download work visa form and fill it in and send back with covering letter and passport to palmerston north, so why not back to wellington palmy is nothing to do with business visas.
I look at the form and there is nothing on there that applies to tempory visa for those with LTBV finishing and now now wanting residency processed.
I dont know what to do now, its friday so no one to speak to, and because a tempory visa takes 28 days to process i am running out of time
can you help

Ray

MrsFychan

My husband got a temp work visa in a couple of hours from Wellington Immigration office last September. could you not go to Immigration Office and ask them to sort there and then?

techno

Hi

Was your husband here on LTBV?

chris the property man

Sorry for the delay replying - I've been busy moving house (or shifting as they say here!).

From the sound of it, you may well be better going into your nearest branch and sitting down with someone - you are much more likely to get something sorted face to face.

Sorry I can't be of more help - I didn't have anywhere near as many problems dealing with NZIS that you have!

Good luck.

Chris

MrsFychan

no on a visitors visa, but might be worth a pop in and have a chat face to face so they can't fob you off like they seem to be doing on the phone

chris the property man

Any news yet, Ray?

Chris