Batty

Hi Georgina

Slightly different for us as well as hubby's a Kiwi but I came over on a vistor's visa. The agencies won't deal with you without a work permit. No exceptions I found. Even on SEEK it states that you must be entitled to work in NZ to apply for a job. So you'd have to get a job directly from a company. We arrived on a Wednesday which is the big day for jobs in the Herald and I scoured the paper that evening and applied for one. I got an interview straight away and at the interview I told them all I needed was a contract and I'd get my permit. I didn't need a letter from them, the contract was sufficient. I had my police check already and got my medical done here and applied for PR AND a work permit at the same time. I had the permit 4 days later and the PR nine months later (they're a bit slow when it's a partnership application).

There should be no difficulty in getting an admin job once you're here - there are soooo many on offer all the time. One company you might try (before you get here) is BECCA - they have a lot of overseas staff and are used to dealing with work permits etc. They're an engineering firm. Fletcher is another one that might be useful to approach. I'd definitely say to come over on a six month visa and give it a shot. Good luck.

Batty

I can't edit it but that should say Beca, not Becca