emma.barra

Hi everyone,

Great forum - have found a lot of interesting information on here and finally decided to take the plunge, sign up and post!

I will keep our story short and would greatly appreciate your advice/opinions.

We are a professional couple planning to relocate to NZ in a month or so - I am 27 years old from UK, my partner is 26 and Brazilian. I have a background in metals trading and will go to NZ on a Working Holiday Visa (WHV). I am fairly confident about my situation - I have been fortunate in receiving some very positive replies from a number of NZ companies and have set up some meetings when I arrive (although to be honest if it takes a while to find a longer term solution I am happy to wait tables/pull pints etc). My plan is to submit my EOI once I have spent a few months working on a temporary contract with one of these companies (obviously fingers crossed that one of them makes me an offer!).

My partner is in a more worrying situation - as a Brazilian he cannot qualify for a WHV - there is only a very small quota per year of WHVs for Brazilians and it does not open until October. He speaks very good english and is a Software Developer with a Bachelor´s Degree in Computer Science. He is great in his area - he recently made it to the final 12 in Latin America in Microsoft´s selection process. However, he has spent a lot of time studying (a Bachelor´s degree here takes 5 years) and only has 2 years work experience (this was in Poland and Estonia) - many NZ employers seem to ask for more years experience than this.

He has submitted his EOI however only has a points score of 110, without a job offer he is very unlikely to get selected and all the email enquiries he is sending are receiving the same response - companies will only consider applicants already in NZ.

So, in the light of this he has decided (although we are still very nervous) to come on a tourist visa and approach as many companies as possible. I understand that many will not consider somebody who does not yet have legal right to work in NZ and to obtain this he will require a job offer - so we face a Catch 22. However, I have also heard that whilst difficult it is not impossible to find a company willing to help so that you can achieve a Temporary Work Visa, and also bump up your EOI points substantially.

We would really appreciate any thoughts/wisdom/experiences related to this Catch 22 problem. Unfortunately we have not lived together long enough to complete a joint EOI. We don´t have any family or other connections to NZ that could help.

Also, if anybody has any info on the current job market for software developers/IT professionals that would be fantastic.

Thank you all so much in advance for your help!

Kind regards

Emma

Catchafire

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/20594.htm

Is the list of jobs that are considered 'skilled' and as such NZIS would consider issuing a work permit.

263111 Computer Network and Systems Engineer

Is one of the categories recognised as such. Make sure that the job he applies for fits into this description.

He will need to have his paperwork in order and any qualifications, references, police and medical checks not in English, will have to be translated by an approved translator. Everything must also be originals (ie his degree certificate), photocopies will not be accepted.

Please be aware that entering into NZ on a vistiors visa to look for work is a bit of a grey area. You are supposed to declare this on your entry card, up to you if you do, but be prepared for a some hard questions if you do.

I came over in 2004 on a vistors visa and scored a job offer, then a work permit, all within five weeks. It was fairly strightforward.

Good luck!

MrsFychan

what part of NZ are you thinking about?
when my husband was looking for work in the IT field he was told the best places to look where either Auckland or Wellington. He decided on Wellington as apparently you get some points if you are not going to Auckland. He came over to visit friends and was lucky to get talking to the right people at the right time, seems that's a good tactic when it comes to job hunting.

emma.barra

Thanks for the responses guys!

Yes, we are looking at Auckland or Wellington - both seem like great cities.

If anyone has any recent experience of how easy it is to overcome the Catch 22 situation and schedule interviews with employers willing to sponsor the Temporary Work Visa that would be greatly appreciated. Yes, my partner will only be looking at jobs which fall under the NZIS skilled list and are therefore much easier to obtain a Temp Work Permit - however we will still need a company to make him an offer before he can apply for this. He is very worried that he won´t even get in the door to interview anywhere, despite the fact that he is a high quality candidate.

Thanks guys

Emma

MrsFychan

my husband attempted to get work from the UK, applying to agencies who were advertising jobs on the web the agents stating that they had put him forward for them but it turns out they hadn't. Apparently they have to get permission from him to submit his CV after explaining exactly who the company was before they forward the details to the company.
After finding that out, 3mth down the line of applying and getting no where, he came over to show that he was serious about the move, gained an offer of a job a week after arriving, got the Works Visa in an hour and started the following day. We unfortunately got no money help from the company but they have been very helpful in making sure that the descriptions on the job offer were exactly what NZ needed and have responded immediately to further requests from NZ.

From an IT side of things I think the old nugget of "boots on the ground" adds hugely to the success rate of job offers. Not to say some people haven't managed to get a job being outside NZ its just in our situation it was getting us no where to be so far away.

Catchafire

Of course there are no guarantee's that your partner will get a job, but it sounds like he has the right credentials.

NZ is a country that relies on immigration, so there is no real "catch 22". Most IT providers will be well used to waiting for employees to score a work permit etc.

Just make sure he has all his paperwork in order (I really can't stress this enough).

BEVS

Link to Recruitit website

Unlimited Potential Wellington

and welcome to this NZ forum.

I've moved this to the main NZ forum because of the IT job aspect of the post. Hopefully those in IT may know how things stand at present here in NZ

Emmaandchris2012

Hey Emma.

We have just moved here and I can kind of understand how you feel.

It was my hubby who applied for a residents visa but we did not have enough points to get us there, the only way around it was for my hubby to find a job before we moved, it was a long search but he found one on a site called Trademe. It's a bit like eBay?
Anyway the point is don't give up, get your partner to have a look on this site for jobs and if he finds something get him to email, the people here are so friendly they will be happy to help, this is said by expierance. It's not the end of the road.
We are on the north shore of Auclkand and it's beautiful.

If you need anymore help feel free to email me.
Good luck.
Emma x