mattandlaura

Hi all,

Long time lurker first time poster here!

To give you some background my wife and I visited NZ for a couple of months Dec 2010-Jan 2011. It was actually for a wedding and initally stayed with friends in Auckland for a week before travelling down and spending the main duration of our stay on the South Island.

I popped the question whilst we were out there and have since got married in May this year. We are both 27 years old.
Ever since returning to the UK we decided that it was somewhere we wanted to live, and thought the feeling would eventually wane however it didn't and 18months on we are now looking at the possibility with much more seriousness. (We always said we wanted to be married in the UK so just sat on the idea until now.)

I currently work as an engineer for the local electricity board near Birmingham in the Midlands. My role is rather specialist in that my personal area of expertise is finding underground cable faults (when you have a power cut basically!) although I also do other work of installing new substations, and replacement of old cables and equipment up to 33,000 volts.

Our preferred choice of a move is Chch, and even with everything that has happened there since we left this is still the case. In fact I kind of see the whole thing as an opportunity to be honest, I am confident with my experience (I started as an apprentice at 16 and have never done anything else!) I will be able to secure a job offer but this is where my questions begin.....

My wife and I are looking to move Septemberish, (we're flexible) and intailly we weren't sure of the best way to start the ball rolling I have more than enough points to qualify and my job seems to be on the LTSS list however the description is rather vague, so is it a case of securing a job offer first then going down the visa route or vice versa? It would be ideal (although maybe unrealistic?) to find a company that would sponsor me and sort much of the visa out is this a real possibility or too good to be true!?

There are three major companies I have been looking at, these are Orion Energy, Connectics and Transpower (who I believe are the 'National Grid' of NZ). Is overseas employee sponsorship still much of an option or is it company dependant?

Also, my wife is a medical secretary working in heart surgery at Birmingham Childrens Hospital and although her job is not on the skills shortage list there are several jobs advertised externally on ChCh hospital website, however would these be for NZ citizens only?

I understand this is my first post and there are a lot of questions but this is not a decision my wife and I have taken lightly and I am not just hoping to get information on a whim it's something we both want to make a reality!

Thanks a bunch for reading guys!!

Matt

snaps

Hi Matt, good luck with the move. I'm not in a position to answer your questions but for a starter, the SEEK job site is pretty useful and is easy to use. Selection criteria and location are great. No, I'm not a SEEK employee or paid by them either.

BEVS

Hi and welcome.

How many points do you have? LINK HERE

What is the occupation per the LTSSL? Electrician (General) (341111) ?
I agree this description is rather vague for what you do. Can you find something closer HERE ?

Whether or not a company would help you with a visa is up to the company. Sponsorship isn't really the way it works for here. That's more Oz.

I can't find any of the 3 companies you mentioned on ,what is called , the accredited employers list. This means that if any of them were to offer you a position they would need to show there is no NZ citizen or resident that could do that work.

If you haven't enough points for a skilled migrant application then , yes, you would be looking for a job offer. It would be job offer first before any visa.

Whatever you are eventually granted visa wise, your wife will gain the same on the back of your application.

Your occupation needs NZ registration.
EWRB of NZ

Tom1983

Hi Matt

First of all, I don't think none of the electrical power companies are on the accredited employers list so I believe you'd have to be the stand out applicant and that they've searched long and hard for Kiwis first.

Regarding your other half, if she's on a partner sponsored visa, she can work anywhere she wants. My wife after a month here got herself a job working at Burwood hospital. If you want Christchurch, then avoid applications for hospitals at Akaroa and Lincoln in particular unless you don't mind commuting.

I believe Orion are the main power supplier in Christchurch, they'd be your best bet.

I see you're from Birmingham, just to give you a heads up that the Kiwis in Christchurch (well certainly patients at Burwood) like the brummie accent. The wife is from Walsall and many of times she's come home informing me how people are saying what a lovely accent she's got.

Woodlea

Hello Matt,
I work at Connetics in Chch. I know we're not on the accredited list but we've just employed a Filipino guy who got his work visa based on our job offer. I haven't asked him but I guess he must be doing WTR as he is not a sparks and quite old and we're employing him as an estimator. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.
Oh and welcome to the forum.
Cheers

BEVS

Brilliant and I think I love you as always.

For a WTR he needs to be earning $55K pa on a full time permanent contract.

For anything else it will be a temporary work visa/permit which is renewable.

mattandlaura

Hello all,

Thank you all very much for your replies, you've all been very helpful, and woodlea you will definitely be getting a pm!

As for the points system, I currently have 125 points as it stands, if I was to get a job offer this would rise to 185.

Would it be a good idea to complete the EOI form? I cannot see what benefit it gives!

I may start looking for jobs online and emailing my cv off to the companies mentioned, although I am sure I'll just get a generic reply, one may bite!

It's nice to have finally posted on here, definitely becoming more real now, even though actually getting on that plane seems to be soooo far away right now!

Still, everyone has to start sometime!

Thanks again,

Matt

Woodlea

I stand corrected - we are on the accredited list - it's the search function that doesn't work, you have to go 'next page' a few times to find us!

Woodlea

mattandlaura

A ha.....

I'm guessing this may make a difference!

Woodlea - you have PM!

sparkie down under

you'll be a lineee over here, Don't go telling the EWRB that you are an engineer as that's a totally different category. It's a very small field and quite well paid, but you'll be doing some live line stuff, scary if you've never do it before. Best of luck