Natalie1303

Hello All,

I am new to the site but finding it very useful. My husband and I are currently living in the Lake Districy (UK) and are trying to decide if we should apply to Australia or New Zealand.

My husband is an experienced stone mason and although this is on the 'occupations in demand' for Aus we cant seem to find it on the NZ list!

Anyway, what I was wanting to ask is: What is the time scale from first putting your EOI in to actually being able to go and live in Nz?? I know for Aus it's approx 12 months but I'm struggling to get an answer for Nz.

I would be really really grateful if someone could help.
We're hoping to do the application ourselves without an agent - has anyone else done this? How have they found it?

Thank you in advance,

Natalie

BEVS

Kia Ora from New Zealand and welcome to this little NZ forum.

Stonemason - ANZSCO code 331112.

A stonemason is seen as a skilled occupation in New Zealand. If you wanted to emigrate to New Zealand , you would be able to do so under what is called the Skilled Migrant policy. This policy is all about points.

You start by doing the points indicator to see how many points you could have. ( click the bold type) You need at least 100 but 140 is better. The more points the better.

Once you have decided you have enough points , you would fill in an Expression of Interest . All the expressions of interest go into a pool and some are selected from this pool once a fortnight. You can see the criteria for which are selected from the pool at the top of this Immy forum.

Stonemason is not on either the long term shortage list or the immediate shortage list , so the skill isn't seen as particularly needed in New Zealand.

When you do the points indicator , you will not be able to claim bonus points for a skill in absolute shortage.

However, stone-masonry is seen as a skilled occupation, so if you have enough points there would be nothing to stop you submitting an expression of interest to the New Zealand immigration service. If picked, they may not offer you permanent residency straight off. That is because your skill is not on the wanted lists. They may, instead, offer you a work to residence visa. This would mean you would have a set amount of time to get yourselves to NZ and for your husband to find work.

In order to increase your points and to make your application more appealing to NZIS - Immigration service - you could look for a stone-masonry job offer first before applying for residency in New Zealand. As the trade is not on the shortages list any NZ employer wanting to offer your husband a job would have to prove to immigration that there is no other NZ resident for that work. The employer would need to obtain an Approval In Principle from immigration. It is not as hard as it may sound. They just show advertising and training prgs etc. They fill in a form for immigration.

If you found a job offer, then you could possibly look to come to NZ to start working at the trade. When you put in an EOI finally for residency, this would give you a few more points to further strengthen your application.

The NZIS forms are not hard though like all forms they can seem a bit confusing. Many folks do it themselves.

When it comes to how long do applications take, to be honest, there is no sure way of knowing. It depends on several factors.

Maybe some of those currently going through the process can help with currrent wait times. We did ours over 4 years ago now and ours took around 5 months. However, we were already living and working in NZ by then on temporary work permits & my husbands trade was & still is on the absolute shortages list.

Some folk actually put their timelines under their signatures. That may help a little.

Good luck with whichever country you settle on.

Tigerkizzy

Hi Natalie,

I submitted my EOI in May 2008 and within 2 weeks was Invited to apply for residency, I had 195 points. I submitted my ITA on 12 Aug 2008 and received my approval 12 Sept. I am planning to fly out on 21st Oct. I do have a job to go to as a teacher in Auckland, I completed all the forms myself it is quite straight forward and if you aren't timebound to start a job should be relatively stress free. I had to have qualifications approved and registration to teach in NZ, which was complicated to coordinate but I have still achieved it in 4 months with a job offer. If I can help further please don't hesitate to contact me.

Jacqui

teebrown

Hello and welcome,

As you can see from my timeline at the bottom it was quick for us too.

All the best

Stoof

we've only just got our ITA and not submitted yet, but timeline below might give you an idea up to this stage.... we're in cumbria too!

R0b

the case officers are quite flexible I think. If you are healthy and have a job waiting for you then you could be out there in under two months. See below

Natalie1303

Thank you all very much for your replies it's a great help! Hello Stoof in lovely Cumbria!