[Linx]

Hi Guys

Been browzing this forum for a few weeks. A truly great forum with a wealth of knowledge.
I am interested in obtaing a work permit to get to NZ. I have had some correspondence with TEAM MIGRATION NZ. I have not taken the plunge yet:ie
resigning from current work etc. Can any of guys vouch for TEAM MIGRATION NZ. A speedy reply would be appreciated.

Linx Pillay
South Africa

[ourquest]

Hey Linx, welcome. Have you read through the current thread about migration agents? It gives you some general opinion and advice. No experience of the company you refer to, but others may have some.
There is a lot you can do up front regarding finding out your eligibility, likelyhood of getting work etc. Have you done all this as yet?

[Linx]

Hey Linx, welcome. Have you read through the current thread about migration agents? It gives you some general opinion and advice. No experience of the company you refer to, but others may have some.
There is a lot you can do up front regarding finding out your eligibility, likelyhood of getting work etc. Have you done all this as yet?

I have applied for various jobs on SEEK and they all advise me to be in NZ to apply. They seem impressed with my CV, and one of the employent agencies suggested TEAM MIGRATION. I just want to know if they are on the level.


Linx

[ourquest]

Sounds like you are on track. Have you considered going to NZ for a visit, applying for a job while you are there and then getting a work permit on the basis of a job offer?
I know this isn't what you are asking in this thread; so, is this company based in SA? How much are they going to charge you for their services? What have they suggested as a route for you to get a work permit? Are they making statements like "we'll guarantee you'll get PR status in NZ" without you having gone for your medicals, or applied for other documentation?
Why don't you ask them for a reference, ie someone who they have relocated recently that you can contact and find out their experiences?
Lots of questions, I know. Perhaps not really knowing the answer I answer with a question?;) But ultimately it is their (the company concerned's) responses to these questions which might give some indication of their competence.

[Linx]

Sounds like you are on track. Have you considered going to NZ for a visit, applying for a job while you are there and then getting a work permit on the basis of a job offer?
I know this isn't what you are asking in this thread; so, is this company based in SA? How much are they going to charge you for their services? What have they suggested as a route for you to get a work permit? Are they making statements like "we'll guarantee you'll get PR status in NZ" without you having gone for your medicals, or applied for other documentation?
Why don't you ask them for a reference, ie someone who they have relocated recently that you can contact and find out their experiences?
Lots of questions, I know. Perhaps not really knowing the answer I answer with a question?;) But ultimately it is their (the company concerned's) responses to these questions which might give some indication of their competence.

Thanks for reply.
Iam gonna paste their email reply to me. They did state that all depends on police clearance and medical.
Here is the email correspondence:
newest reply on top

--------------------------------------
Our fee is $8000 NZD to find you a job.

Applying for your own work permit is at an additional charge of $1500 NZD. An additional fee of $500 will be charged for your family’s visa to NZ when they are ready to move. Altogether it will cost you $10,000 NZD.

All offers we provide are with genuine employers. You will also need to be ready for a telephone interview or a teleconference with the employer.

If you are thinking of making the move in April, we will need to start looking for a job around the 1st of January..... latest.

We won’t be able to help you before April as we have a contract period of 4 months to find jobs for International clients. It is a difficult task especially when you are not in the country.
We are also closed over the Xmas period from the 21st of Dec 07 to the 14th of Jan 08.

Documentation required includes your cv, additional references from your work etc but before we find a job, we also need to be convinced that you will be an asset to our employer.

We have established good working relationships with employers and we don’t want that tarnished by any means.

You will also need to provide Police reports from your home country and a have a medical done. It will take approximately 45-60 days to get your work permit approved.
Hope this clarify’s issues further.

Rgds

Reshmi




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Pillay, Linx [mailto:Linx.Pillay@unilever.com]
Sent: Saturday, 15 December 2007 12:20 a.m.
To: reshmi
Subject: RE: Immigration advice and Help-FORGOT TO ATTACH CV



Hi Reshmi



Thanks for quick response. Please advise on fees and what documents you need. I also need to know whether the offer is genuine.

How long will this take? I am looking at early March to late April.



Linx




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: reshmi [mailto:iotp@xtra.co.nz]
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2007 1:04 PM
To: Pillay, Linx
Subject: RE: Immigration advice and Help-FORGOT TO ATTACH CV

Thanks for your return email.



We can certainly look at getting you a job in NZ and also a work permit but you will have issues applying for Permanent Residency in NZ since you don’t have any formal qualifications.

Your work permit can be extended continuously and my advice to you would be to study for a formal qualification part-time while you are in paid employment in NZ. Once you have a NZ qualification + your extensive work experience, you shouldn’t have any issues with PR. Qualifications range from a Certificate, Diplomas or Bachelors in Accounting.



And the best time to get a job in NZ is between Jan-April, especially the Accounting jobs.



It is better that you know these facts before you start spending money with any consultant.



Please also note that we take our fee upfront for international clients. .

There is no negotiation with this as some International clients have engaged us in the past and after we have found them jobs, they have changed their mind about making the move to NZ.

If payments are made upfront, clients are as committed as we are.



Please have a think about this at your leisure as this is a big decision for you and your family.



Kind regards

Reshmi




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Pillay, Linx [mailto:Linx.Pillay@unilever.com]
Sent: Thursday, 13 December 2007 7:18 p.m.
To: reshmi
Subject: RE: Immigration advice and Help-FORGOT TO ATTACH CV



Hi Reshmi



1. I need help finding a job and applying for a work permit.

2. I am married with one child.

3. I would like to come to NZ asap but on my own at first.



I would initially like to come alone at first as we have stuff to sort out in South Africa.

My aim is within 3 months to be in NZ. I am currently working for Unilever HPC South Africa.

I have been with Unilever for the past 16 years.



My currect role is Asst Accountant (Directs). I had started my Bcom Degree (info Systems) but had to put thios on hold due to financial constraints.

Also Please find attached my CV.

I am currently looking for Office Admin/clerks positions



Lingum Pillay






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: reshmi [mailto:iotp@xtra.co.nz]
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 11:50 PM
To: Pillay, Linx
Subject: RE: Immigration advice and Help

Hello Lingum,

Thanks for your email.



Could you please clarify if;

you have a job here already and just need help with a work permit
or you need help finding a job in NZ and applying for a work permit.


Either way, we will need to know a bit about your background and what you specialize in. ie: what sort of job are you interested in.

And if you have a family who will accompany you to NZ or you are coming alone initially etc etc.



We will also need a copy of your cv so could you please email me one.

Could you also advise when you wish to make a move to NZ as this will help us open communications with our employers to acquire you a position.



Regards

Reshmi – CEO

Team Migration NZ.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Pillay, Linx [mailto:Linx.Pillay@unilever.com]
Sent: Wednesday, 12 December 2007 7:59 p.m.
To: iotp@xtra.co.nz
Subject: Immigration advice and Help



Hi



I am currently residing in South Africa. I would appreciate any help/info in acquiring a work permit for New Zealand.

Michael Glausiuss advised me to check with Russel at Team Immigration. Please advise what you need from me to speed up the process.



I am currently working for one of the top multinationals in South Africa.

It is a wonderful company with a lot of prospects for employees. I am looking for a change both professionaly and personally.



Michael at Graham Consulting has my CV if you need that. I am looking at permanent citizenship in NZ eventually



Lingum Pillay (Linx)

[ourquest]

Linx,
Lots to look through there which I have done. A few concerns come to mind which I will air here, whether or not they are justified.
As this is a service purely to find employment for you, it appears to be both extremely expensive and the terms (ie payment in advance) are not satisfactory. I say this because employers should be paying part of a consultants fee, since it is employers who need employees. This is, as I understand it, how employment agencies usually earn their income? So to sell you their service for an upfront amount of 8000K, (R40000!) with probably no guarantee of the quality of the job that they need to find is a bit heavy. Particularly as the rate of unemployment in NZ is only 3.5% and jobs are not difficult to come by. And bear in mind that their task is only to find you a job, and not to find you a job which would get you points enough to apply for residence. If it was the latter they might actually have to do something, but otherwise I think you would be better off without them.
You can fly emirates for under R10000 and on a SA passport you can be in NZ for at least 3 months, renewable up to 9 months if you have enough money to support yourself. This is surely enough time to find a suitable job, once you have a job offer you can then apply for a work permit. The complication is that for a job not on the skills shortage list (accounting I think is, but you might need a qualification with it to qualify) then the employer has to satisfy NZIS of having searched for a New Zealander to fill the position and been unsuccessful.
Please don't rush into anything. I do not feel my answer is complete but I will absorb what I have read and add more later. But this fee concern is a big one; not just in the cost but in that it seems (in my opinion with limited knowledge) unethical.

[Linx]

Linx,
Lots to look through there which I have done. A few concerns come to mind which I will air here, whether or not they are justified.
As this is a service purely to find employment for you, it appears to be both extremely expensive and the terms (ie payment in advance) are not satisfactory. I say this because employers should be paying part of a consultants fee, since it is employers who need employees. This is, as I understand it, how employment agencies usually earn their income? So to sell you their service for an upfront amount of 8000K, (R40000!) with probably no guarantee of the quality of the job that they need to find is a bit heavy. Particularly as the rate of unemployment in NZ is only 3.5% and jobs are not difficult to come by. And bear in mind that their task is only to find you a job, and not to find you a job which would get you points enough to apply for residence. If it was the latter they might actually have to do something, but otherwise I think you would be better off without them.
You can fly emirates for under R10000 and on a SA passport you can be in NZ for at least 3 months, renewable up to 9 months if you have enough money to support yourself. This is surely enough time to find a suitable job, once you have a job offer you can then apply for a work permit. The complication is that for a job not on the skills shortage list (accounting I think is, but you might need a qualification with it to qualify) then the employer has to satisfy NZIS of having searched for a New Zealander to fill the position and been unsuccessful.
Please don't rush into anything. I do not feel my answer is complete but I will absorb what I have read and add more later. But this fee concern is a big one; not just in the cost but in that it seems (in my opinion with limited knowledge) unethical.

I am gonna ask them for breakdown of $8000

[Linx]

Linx,
Lots to look through there which I have done. A few concerns come to mind which I will air here, whether or not they are justified.
As this is a service purely to find employment for you, it appears to be both extremely expensive and the terms (ie payment in advance) are not satisfactory. I say this because employers should be paying part of a consultants fee, since it is employers who need employees. This is, as I understand it, how employment agencies usually earn their income? So to sell you their service for an upfront amount of 8000K, (R40000!) with probably no guarantee of the quality of the job that they need to find is a bit heavy. Particularly as the rate of unemployment in NZ is only 3.5% and jobs are not difficult to come by. And bear in mind that their task is only to find you a job, and not to find you a job which would get you points enough to apply for residence. If it was the latter they might actually have to do something, but otherwise I think you would be better off without them.
You can fly emirates for under R10000 and on a SA passport you can be in NZ for at least 3 months, renewable up to 9 months if you have enough money to support yourself. This is surely enough time to find a suitable job, once you have a job offer you can then apply for a work permit. The complication is that for a job not on the skills shortage list (accounting I think is, but you might need a qualification with it to qualify) then the employer has to satisfy NZIS of having searched for a New Zealander to fill the position and been unsuccessful.
Please don't rush into anything. I do not feel my answer is complete but I will absorb what I have read and add more later. But this fee concern is a big one; not just in the cost but in that it seems (in my opinion with limited knowledge) unethical.

Hi Ourquest

Thanks for spending the time to read ll that.:nice1
It would be difficult for me financilaly to come there. I need to resign , pay off all my debts, house, car. Was looking at Work Permit and then getting PR
Please help....

Linx Pillay

[Ricky]

Hi Lynx

If I was you I would be very carefull using agents like TEAM MIGRATION NZ as they make a lot of money but don't do much :mad: . Further most of the work you still have to do yourself like NZQA , medicals, police reports if you want PR at a later stage. Why don't you do like me, I am applying as a skilled migrant for PR and if approved I will find a job when I arrive in NZ. Off course I have send my CV to certain recruitment agencies so they can get me interviews as soon as I arrive ;) . This will be much cheaper and you are in charge what is going on. PLEASE read this forum about these agencies and then make your mind up :confused: .

Good Luck Ricky

[Nick88]

WOW!! $10 000 is an incredible fee, mate. If you are qualified and healthy you don't need to spend this much to get a job and a visa. I think that money would be better spent finishing the degree.

I agree with Ourquest and Ricky (especially Ricky), treat these agents with caution. The vast majority of participants on this forum didn't use agents, the system is not all that difficult, it is just slow and fussy about the info you give and how you give it. The agents do not have a fast-track for their customers. I really don't see where they can give $10 000 worth of value.

[eternalkiwi]

Accounting related work is one area where NZ experience is usually highly valued by employers, though as there is a shortage for experienced finance and administration staff you may be lucky and find an employer that will go through the immigration process needed to offer you a work visa.

Possibly contacting recruitment agents in NZ who have ties to South Africa could help you secure a work permit.

Shawn

[Linx]

Guys

Thanks for all your replies.
I am currently working for Unilever South Africa. I have been the Asst Accountant for last few years. 16 years in finance for one company.

Al lot of the recruitment agencies have been impressed with my Cv and want to meet me. I need to get a working Visa to go for interviews though.

WHere do i get these? The search function on my page does not seem to be working. How does sponsorship work?

Once again, thanks for all the replies.
Linx

[eternalkiwi]

As others have mentioned, it is more practical to find work if you are physically in NZ. Would there be possible opportunities through Unilever in NZ for you? Maybe even for a contract/project?

The best approach is to contact as many recruitment companies as possible and demonstrate the depth and range of your skills; What tasks you have done, what you were responsible for, what computer systems you have used, whether you have trained others, or been involved in projects etc.

Perseverance and properly marketing yourself to potential employers and agencies are 2 keys to successful job hunting.

Shawn

[Linx]

As others have mentioned, it is more practical to find work if you are physically in NZ. Would there be possible opportunities through Unilever in NZ for you? Maybe even for a contract/project?

The best approach is to contact as many recruitment companies as possible and demonstrate the depth and range of your skills; What tasks you have done, what you were responsible for, what computer systems you have used, whether you have trained others, or been involved in projects etc.

Perseverance and properly marketing yourself to potential employers and agencies are 2 keys to successful job hunting.

Shawn

Hi Shawn

Know about the marketing your self bit.
Will definitely decide on plan of action.

[BkyMonster]

Well, first off that is far too much money in my opinion.
Secondly you do not need a work permit to go for a job interview. You will need a visitor permit as you will not be working while you are there--just interviewing.

You need to go to http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ to see what you need to do for a visitor visa. Once there you can also find the fees for work permits and other things where you can see for yourself that what the recruitment company is proposing to charge you is exorbitant.

Based on what you have said here is what I would do:
Plan a trip to New Zealand. Possibly alone.
Contact as many recruitment agencies and prospective employers as possible and tell them when you will be available for an in person interview.
Once you have secured a job offer you can then apply for a work permit or provisional residence via the EOI. Probably both. A work permit will get you and your family to NZ and working quicker while you work on the other stuff needed for PR. (Of course there are many more things to talk about at this stage, but cross that bridge when you come to it :) )

I think you will find that you will spend less money this way while achieving the same result.

Hope that helps.

[Nick88]

I agree.

[ourquest]

Secondly you do not need a work permit to go for a job interview. You will need a visitor permit as you will not be working while you are there--just interviewing.


Funny one this, it keeps coming up. In the FAQ section of NZIS they say that coming for the purpose of "looking for work" is not being a bona fide tourist and they therefore do not consider it a valid reason to enter NZ on a visitor's visa, and yet they are absolutely clear elsewhere that you can negotiate business for up to 3 months on exactly that visa! To date, this is still the only contradiction I have found in NZIS's policy. Bottom line is I probably wouldn't say anything at immigration at the airport, after all, it will essentially be a holiday anyway.
I agree with bkymonster also, except I remember you felt that financially you couldn't make such a trip (because of your work commitments in SA, house payments etc). But if you could compress your trip into maybe 3 weeks, taking leave from work if you have it available, then you would be giving yourself a good chance of landing a job (at least as good a chance as this company would have on your behalf) and you could return to sort everything out, work your notice period etc.
I certainly think that would be money well spent. You can even less afford to pay this company by the sound of it.
Something else I thought you could do: start a new thread and title it "has anyone heard of "team migration nz"", that way you will get some specific feedback from those who may not have sat through these posts.

[BkyMonster]

Yes it is a bit fuzzy on going on a visitors visa and then looking for work. It seems they don't officially want you to be doing that...:roll
The NZIS site does seem to have lots of provisions for people coming as a visitor and then changing the visa type.
I agree, don't say you are looking for a job if asked at the airport.
Otherwise this seems quite a common thing to do. If you can get enough interviews scheduled 3 weeks should be plenty of time. Good luck. :)

[barryp]

Most of the migrants I've met here in NZ (including those coming from .za) came over as visitors first, and spent much of their first visit looking for work. It's very common and not at all frowned upon.

It's easy to comply with those visa terms - make sure you spend time seeing some beautiful sights and exploring the country a bit. It's a holiday with the additional twist of 'would I like to work here if I choose to pursue that later?'

You might well decide that you wouldn't, in which case you've had a good experience and two long flights. If you would... you're ahead of the game.