Karen

Altough I was planning on Oz I've started looking at New Zealand (the
houses and standard of living looks fantastic!!).
I'm trying to get my head around the best way to get over there. My
Husband and I do not have a job offer, and currently get 24 points.
the NZIS website says we could apply for a Job Search Visa (which I
beleive takes about 6 months - correct me if I'm wrong). We are both
in IT and are on the List of Occupational shortages and the Priority
Occupations List.
Some posts on this forum are saying the best/quickest way is to go on
a holiday Visa, get a job offer and then upgrade it to a Work Visa,
then update this to a PR Visa. Is this a reality? I can't imagine its
easy to get a job without some form of work permit (ie. the JSV)??
But at the same time, waiting 6 months before I can start looking for
work seems mad (I know I can look for work in NZ while Im here in the
UK, but I think you really need to go there to get a fair chance!).

How have other people done it? Any advice would be gratefully
received.
Cheers, Karen.

N.Finn Fan

Hello Karen, my best advice would be to post this on the general Australia New Zealand section of this site...... Good luck.

BritboyNZ

Hi Karen

You're right - for IT jobs it is best to visit NZ on a job-hunting trip. The reason being that in NZ, Australia, UK etc IT is simply no longer in demand - there is a glut of candidates. This means that it will be very difficult to obtain an IT job offer outside of NZ as employers can pick and choose. Why would an employer give a job to someone he hasnt met/may have to sponsor for work permits etc when he can phone up an IT recruitment agency and have the CV's of 10 candidates on his desk who could all start tomorrow? If you have very specialised skills (eg Cisco CCIE) it is different, because those skills Are in short supply. I imagine that a CCIE could almost certainly get a job offer 'out of NZ' and name his/her price. It is the same for other occupations where there is a shortage - Electricians is one such area. I was talking to the boss of an electrical installations firm last week, who would give a job to a qualified/experienced sparkie tomorrow as they are so busy/understaffed.

I would suggest you phone a few employers in NZ, speak to IT managers to get a 'feel' of the job situation in your area of specialisation. If they are positive, great. If not and the general response is 'sorry we have x no of people with your skills' then it might be best to visit NZ. You would then be in a position to go to interviews, IT recruitment agencies would take an interest (as you are in the country).

As for which permit to apply for - this depends on how quickly you want to get to NZ. If you are in no particular hurry (maybe have a house to sell?) then applying for residence with the intention of getting a JSV may be the way to go. However, as you say, the waiting time for a JSV seems to be >6 months. You would also be at the whim of NZIS - any changes to residence/JSV policy could very well affect you. When NZIS made changes to the JSV policy & IELTS score last November, they were introduced immediately, and were retrospective, affecting applications already in the system. Even if you lodged your PR application tomorrow (you have to lodge a PR application and then are invited by NZIS to apply for a JSV) anything could happen in 6 months.

On the other hand, if you were prepared to visit NZ, and were successful in getting a job offer, the way to go would be to get a work permit (as once you have a job offer, getting a work permit is pretty easy - sometimes even same day) and then submit your residence application. This the best way IMO to do things as you could start work immediately, and then have plenty of time to gather paperwork, get medicals done etc. Yes you could just submit your residence application straight away (ie dont bother with a work permit) however you would then have to wait until your PR application was approved before you could start work, which could take weeks or months (because even though you have lodged a PR application, until that application is decided, you would still be on a visitors permit which does not allow employment).

A slight variation of the above is to get a working holiday visa if you are eligible for one (need to be under 31 when you apply for it) this gives you a whole year in NZ, rather than the 6 months you are allowed as a visitor. Also allows you to do contract work, but not permanent employment.

Hope that helps, all the best

Russ

Don

Hey Russ! (Haven't got it in for you and your advice is nearly always sound as a pound!) Just diasagree on the quote above. YES, the change to JSV was 'retrospective' in one sense, ie PR visa applicants who submitted expecting to have to be failed and then applicants apply for a JSV were given a shock, ie the JSV rules changed while their PR app was being processed. Without being part of the govt, I would argue that a JSV is a different visa to a PR, therefore it wasn't retrospective. It was a new and different visa application (JSV vs PR) subsequent to the changes announced. PR visa app was separate.

IELTS was just simply not retrospective, any apps lodged before the change was announced in IELTS requirements were judged on the anterior IELTS framework.

Cheers - Don

Karen

Hi Russ,
Thanks for the advice! After what you have said, I'm now thinking
about applying for the JSV, and while I'm waiting for that, go there
on holiday anyway and see how far we get. If they don't want to know
because I don't yet have a Visa, I can come home and wait for the JSV.
I wont have any problems getting a holiday visa while I'm waiting for
a JSV will I?
Unfortunatly the Work Permit is out of the question as my husband (the
one who I'm going to ship off at the airport to get a job!) is 34.

Thanks again.

Karen.