BEVS

Is this serious? If so, from what you have written this agent needs to be reported for incompetence & have the license revoked immediately whilst they retrain in the basics.

Your family is free to holiday in New Zealand for 6 months if you wish. The UK is a visa waiver country so there is no requirement to prove funds to remain.

.....and it gets worse. No, no and no again.
As has been explained, it is a job offer first and then one applies for a work visa ( permit if from with NZ) .

Any employer wishing to offer him a job needs to prove there is no NZ resident or citizen that can take up that work UNLESS it is an NZIS accredited employer. You can look through that list for yourselves and approach accredited employers for yourselves. Fonterra is one such company that employs drivers.
I caution that this occupation is not in shortage. Many drivers have found themselves made redundant in the past couple of years and with no job so no visa have had to leave the country.

Yes, if he gains a job offer and so a temporary work visa, then you would uplift an open work visa under the family stream. Your child would either be on a visitor visa or a student visa ,age depending.

Nothing at all to stop him giving you a reference. It will still be a UK job reference about work in the UK.
I also note that you wrote PA and not legal secretary. In which occupation do you have the relevant qualifications and experience? As that must match any job offer.

What he cannot and must not do is to create or have someone create a job around you. That is illegal and in any case as Legal Secs are not in any form of shortage such an offer would not pass the labour market test.

As already written, your best route is to also look to accredited employers who are free to offer an overseas person a position. Local council authorities are often NZIS accredited . However you will still be up against home growns that already have what NZ employers are looking for.

For the both of you, start doing the hard yards by contacting all and any accredited employer you can find in your occupations.

You go where you can get the work. However if you are to remain in New Zealand with residency it will be you that will need to find the Legal Secretary permanent position. All would hinge on that.

Now go and bin whoever gave you the incredibly faulty and bad advice.
If you must employ an immigration consultant use one that is properly listed.

One that I know is tried and tested is Peter Croxson

Link HERE

Timmy Chch

Legal secretary and PA is on the skilled list? http://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/legal-secretary/
Truck driver is on the Canterbury list (temp visa). So it's possible but unlikely without a job offer. Be good if you could take a 6 month holiday, travel round a bit, of course you won't be looking for work or visiting agents now that would be naughty ha! No luck after 6 months head home

BEVS

Yes . Both on the list of occupations seen as skilled but neither are on any shortages list.

.

Oh yes. Good point.

Not seen as skilled so no PR through that BUT if the partner with a skilled occupation can find work in her field , it might be possible.
Her qualifications and work exp must match the job offer though .

Huge gamble but perhaps this is the way forward if wiling to go the all or nothing route .

OH gains a job offer in Christchurch.
Temp work visa with open work visa for her and a student visa for the child if school age.

Herself starts the search for a firm long term permanent job offer as a legal secretary or a PA , whichever her UK qualifications and work experience actually fit.

If manages to secure a bona fide job offer which NZIS will accept , go straight for residency.

Until a work visa is in place the cats would have to remain in the UK. Once in place send for the cats and also any container of worldly household goods if applicable.

Care would be needed at border control over entry as visitors as it is not kosher to enter the country with intention to look for work and not to return.

Sparkleydiva

I think there are very many accurate posts on here regarding jobs and nz experience is often a pre-requisite which makes it difficult. Also i have a colleague who's husband is an hgv driver and has been out of work for the past year and he isnz born and bred.


Do be really careful, it is very expensive here and maybe not as idillyic as often portrayed.

Also i wouldnt recommend an agent, it is easy to do yourself and saves $$$$$

BEVS

One word ----

NO

Who is this 'agent' . He needs reporting.

I have given you a quality recommendation for a tried and tested immigration consultant. I strongly suggest you contact him.

I am not being a downer but really whoever you have contacged is leading you by the nose and smells yur $$$$ if he is using phrases such as 'advanced driving skills' . This is not , no way, in shortage here. He will not be considered advanced. He will simply be considered as available & maybe at a lesser rate.

If you are set on chancing it , then contact Canstaff in Christchurch and have a chat about employment for an overseas HGV driver with no NZ experience.
Coverstaff and other recruiters can be contacted direct.

What you do not do is use someone that offers visas + recruitment. Do not do that.

Yes. You can buy expensive open ended return tickets for your family but I thought you wrote you have a budget of $15K plus wishing to bring pusscats.

Notwithstanding that NZ border control might well wonder about your plans if you are not coming to family.

Sparkleydiva

good warnings - pls be careful

trafford

Haven't been on the forum since last year, and just remembered my login details and decided to "pop in". Having arrived back in NZ nearly two years ago, and with my OH working in HGV recruitment, I think I can offer some information Cindyf67 to help make an informed decision. We used to own and run our own Recruitment Business in the UK, including employing around 200 HGV drivers. After moving back to NZ (Auckland), my OH started his own, much smaller, HGV recruitment business here.

His advice would be that with your husbands experience, he would be in demand. Get references and training certificates. There is a shortage of good truck drivers here, despite warnings to the contrary. It is harder to find a good driver than a good job. If he is a hard worker and flexible, he should do well. But he must understand that being a truck driver is different here. UK drivers often struggle to adapt. He may end up disillusioned. You are expected to unload, hand ball if necessary, muck in - get your hands dirty in other words. No digicards or tachographs. The hours can also be long, just as in the UK - 50-70 hours per week. His tanker experience may be an area to look towards as it is normally better paid with shorter hours. He could expect to earn between $60k up to $100k (the higher amount is for the specialised work such as aircraft fuelling, fuel deliveries, tankers). $60-$80k is more realistic. This is less than you would expect to earn for similar work in the UK. Despite some downsides, my OH says you can always find a driving job that suits your lifestyle.

Other people have mentioned the high cost of living here, especially in Auckland. A lot of this is down to the cost of housing, and the high house prices. There are less expensive areas to live that are still nice (even in Auckland), but you will find it expensive in comparison to what you could buy outside the SE of England. Save really hard for a house deposit and be prepared to buy in an "up and coming" area.

On the plus side, while we both liked the UK and had a really good standard of living, we are much happier here in NZ. Something about the place - can't exactly explain it. Lifestyle, weather, good food, good work mates perhaps? I don't crave the escape of overseas holidays like I used to in the UK - not needing to "escape" must be a positive! And our children love it here too, despite moving as teenagers. It is great to see their childhood extended here. My kids have actually got less mature (but in a good way!) since moving here as 15 and 16 year olds.

It is exciting and scary at the same time, this drive to try living somewhere different. I wish you all the luck, but successfully emigrating is also down to patience, resilience, realistic expectations and a positive attitude, not just to information.

MrsFychan

thanks for that Trafford, the problem is getting a visa in the first place, the Canterbury one is only a temp visa and would not afford them to stay after the length of the contract. but as advised it may be possible that Cindy could uplift a PR with her skills as long as they do fit exactly the requirements of INZ and from an accredited company.

BEVS

To be clear. It is New Zealand Immigration and the NZ Dept of Labour that has decided there is no shortage.

They are the ones that decide who will be able to gain a visa or not.

If the chap goes for Canterbury then an employer is free to offer him work. If anywhere else in NZ then the employer must prove there is no NZ citizen or resident that can do or train for that job. There is a labour market test for this.
Other than that any accredited employer is free to offer work to an overseas person.

If the chap gains a long term permanent job offer from an accredited employer of $55K+ for a 40 hour week, then he could go for a work to residency.

Do you know anyone hiring like that please? Or any accredited or Canterbury firm hiring HGV on the long term? It would be of help to the OP.

I have already given a link to Fonterra in case of that.

Cindyf67

Thank you all for your replies. I am a legal sec with over 10 years experience with a global law firm so would pass the "test". But I know it's not in demand and know that my previous partner I used to work for couldn't and wouldn't ever pull strings to help if it wasn't lawful. My partner is in demand here he constantly gets mailed as he has HGV, Tanker, training HGV drivers and assessing for major firm where he used to work and now training on jetting and cctv work so hoping he's CV will get him placed - he has lots of driving certificates. I will get him to take up the links here. Perhaps he will be best placed to come over to hopefully obtain a job role first but we will have to rent for a while to do that - he mucks in and works hard. He was also a logistics manager for Royal Mail before he took redundancy. I will def get in touch with Peter Croxson he's name has come up a lot - he must be good. All your advice has been greatly appreciated. I have a niece in Wellington whom I am very close to so would be coming to see her as well. I need to sit and talk to my partner (he's never here at the mo either working hard or asleep!). We're both hard workers. We won't be doing anything silly due to the great advice and having a 3 year old to prioritise. I def wouldn't go for a top-end school we won't have lots of spare money to dish out. All your advice has been great, I will now look into it with greater care. I will of course keep you all updated to what and where we are at - if we do get there would be great to meet up with some of you who are near to where we are able to live - but a way off as yet!!