[Tony&Kat]

Hi all,

We are new to this forum and are finding it very useful. We have learnt so much more in the past day of reading this forum than we have in the laast 2 months of reading the NZ immigration website. Just a little confusted - how come that you can fill in an EOI and get either a work to residence or a permanent residence, what decides if you gete permanent residency immediately? Me and my girlfriend are hoping to come over permanently next year, i can get 110 points on my EOI without a job offer providing my qualification is verifed. We are unsure of what the best option is, would we be able to qualify for a work to residence permit without a job offer? Any info would be very much appreciated.

Keep living the dream, thanks

Tony

[jess]

Going down the skilled migrant route, we were given Permanent Residence visas without a job offer. Sometimes instead of PR they will grant a Work to Residence visa at the end of the process - usually if you work in a field where you will need to be registered in NZ before working. Or occassionally if they have reservations about someone's ability to settle. As NZIS says:6. Residence and Work to Residence visas and permits

If you meet our criteria, and we believe you will settle successfully and contribute to New Zealand, we will offer you a residence visa or permit.

If we think you have potential, but want to see how you settle, we will give you a work to residence visa or permit, which you can use to help obtain an offer of skilled employment in New Zealand for up to nine months. If you obtain skilled employment in this time you will have shown your ability to settle and contribute, and your residence application will be approved.

Full text online here (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/skilledmigrant/overview/default.htm).
It gets a little confusing, because there's also another use of the phrase 'Work to Residence'. You can apply under a different Work to Residence catagory (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/worktoresidence/) for a talent visa or a work to residence visa through an accredited employer, which is not exactly the same process as applying for PR under the Skilled Migrant Category.

[Tony&Kat]

Thanks Jess, if we were to submit an EOi would we need to be skilled migrants or could we secure employment in another field once in NZ. I will have approx 110 point with my qualification but my job isnt on the long term shortage list.

Thanks

Tony

[jess]

If they go far enough down in the EOIs to pull applications of 110 points with no job offer during the 3 months you're in the pool, and if they then verify that you calculated your 110 points correctly, they'll give you a "Decision Successful" and send you the ITA. If they grant you full PR after that, you can then apply for work in whatever field you choose once here.

I don't believe it matters whether you get to 110 points through your qualifications or through being in a long term shortage category as long as the points are calculated correctly. The bigger concern is whether they fill their quota by acccepting higher points and people with job offers so that they don't get down to looking at EOIs with 110 in the three months you have.

[Tony&Kat]

"I don't believe it matters whether you get to 110 points through your qualifications or through being in a long term shortage category as long as the points are calculated correctly. The bigger concern is whether they fill their quota by acccepting higher points and people with job offers so that they don't get down to looking at EOIs with 110 in the three months you have."[/QUOTE]


Thanks a lot for the help, its helped clear a few of my questions, i'll submit my qualification to the NZQA and hope for the best. I understand its always a bit of a gamble - i'm also going to try and look into the work permit option. The last resort would be to go there on a working holiday and look for work but that would be a big gamble and probably work out more expensive in the long run - do you know of anyone who has gone down the working holiday route before?

Thanks

Tony