nomadicmike

I am thinking of applying for the EOI and have IT skills which would give me enough points, however I have run my own business for three years and would not be able to produce references or contract or employment or payslips even!

Out of desperation I am thinking of making my Sole Trader business my employer and writing out my own references and produce my own payslips.

I would even go so far to get a friend to be my 'ghost' boss!

I know this is not the best way to start off an emmigration application but I am desperate as well as a little fed up with the discriminatory way self employed people are treated by authorities, finance /mortgage companies etc! (but thats another matter and I appreciate being self employed was my choice)

I wonder how much NZ investigates whether companies are proper employers?

IngStina

Do you not have invoices, accounting records or bills relating to your company; credit cards or bank statements relating to your company with your and /or your company name on it? Can any of your customers/clients write a reference for you? Any company has a paper trail ie banking or tax forms, info etc. Good luck.Kristina

ewanainsworth

Hi there, first of all, theres no need for your desperation. DO NOT try and be deceptive in any way with regards your application to nzis. If you get caught out you will ruin your chances of moving to nz or any other country for that matter as you will have made a fraudulent claim. No other country will want to know.
There is no need for you to do these things you are considering...ghost boss etc.
You will need to prove you have the qualifacations for the job you are claiming for and proving your experience just means you will have to get references from some customers to say when you worked for them, what you did etc. If you are claiming for more years experience than your period of self employment then you will need to try and contact your old boss for a reference or statement of when you started, what you did etc.
Being self employed makes no difference whatsoever to your application.
I wish you all the best with your application and rermember not to despair too much and just ask any questions you want on here. You will be surprised how straightforward the visa process is once you get going.
Cheers, Ewan.

nomadicmike

Thanks for all the tips.

Being self employed does make a difference as I literally work for myself. I do not have contracts with any other businesses etc

I am basically an online salesman who works commission only for airlines and other travel companies. These companies don't even know me as I go through a third party. The third party have stated they cannot provide references as I do not work for them!

Its just an odd situation and I don't have faith in any immigration understanding. Even my own family don't understand what I do!

Sorry to be negative!

Rock Ape

If you are self-employed presumably you employ an accountant for your end of year accounts etc. For the ITA one is required to prove self-employment by the production of a letter form one's accountant and statement of accounts for the years in question. I imagine you could do this also.

nomadicmike

No accountant as I am a sole trader and pay my tax under self assessment, if that makes sense!

So I have no accounts, no business bank accounts.. See my predicament!

Rock Ape

I have to say that I am puzzled. I have been self-employed at a great many times during my life (and as a sole trader) - in fact I am currently self-employed, and I have always been able to produce some kind of end of year accounts or financial statement. Surely you have a business bank account or else how do you separate your personal and professional spending. You must make purchases for your commercial activity i.e. mobile phone bills, landline, fuel, stationary etc to off-set against your tax liability. Failing any of these can you not get something from the inland revenue?

BEVS

As a sole trader and even if you are sub-contracting , you will have sent in a self-assessment return to your tax office.
With your self-assessment, you will have provided an income and expenditure detail & possibly a profit and loss , depending on your turnover.

Yes. Even if you have no separate business account, you will still have used the self-assessment booklet to make your income tax returns. Following this, you will have received a statement of your account showing confirmation of the details of your income and expenditure for the tax year and , of course, the tax due . It will also give details of your NI number, your trading name [ even if it is your given name] and your tax office reference.

You can use these as proof .

I agree, they cannot give you reference for work they do not see and you do not invoice for. However, they can give you a written statement to confirm you do business through them.

In fact I am surprised that the IR do not require something from your third parties to confirm that the commission generated is correct. As the 'third parties' are paying you for a service, they would need to show this through their own accounts. Have them confirm you are a debtor & perhaps obtain copies of their statements of account for you as a debtor.

It's not impossible, it just needs a little work.

Whatever you do to resolve this, do not be dishonest with NZ immigration. They are able to check. NZ has an reciprocal tax agreement with the UK and the tax offices talk to each other.

nomadicmike

I appreciate everyones time on this and have a lot of food for thought!