[matthew]

Now we are confused - anyone help? I'm sure we're not the first on this!

I have a job offer so..

I could apply for PR, work permit or work to residency

Qu. 1 - Any views on which is best? (I think work permit would be quickest, but we would want to get PR at some time)

Qu. 2 - My wife would work, so I presume we need to fill in separate work permit for her?

Qu. 3 - My children would be at school, so I presume I need to fill in student permit forms for them too?

Qu. 4 Do we need to pay fees for each type of permit or only the principal one?

Qu. 5 Have we missed something?

Qu. 6 What are people finding timescale in the UK, currently?

Thanks
Matthew

[stevied20]

Cannot comment on your situation as we have just got PR without a job offer. But timescale was ita received in July and submitted on August 24th, we have just been given the nod yesterday, so 5 months turn around.

good luck

Steve:cheers

[mgf]

Matthew,

PR would most likely be best. If you need to get there sooner check with INZ maybe with job offer can get work permit. It is my understanding though if you are not there on PR or WTR you have to pay international fees for your children to attend school. I may be wrong on that. Good Luck.

[matthew]

oh... school fees don't like the sound of that! Must be expensive?

[wilson182]

Now we are confused - anyone help? I'm sure we're not the first on this!

I have a job offer so..

I could apply for PR, work permit or work to residency

Qu. 1 - Any views on which is best? (I think work permit would be quickest, but we would want to get PR at some time)
A work permit probably would be quickest. If you get a long term permit (which I believe is over 12 months) you would have to have Police Checks and Medicals - then when you appy for PR you would have to pay for them again. It might be worth checking to see if you can get a work permit for under 12 months and apply for PR straight away (technically, if you are here and working your PR should be much quicker, but I think that depends on whereabouts in NZ you are applying).

Qu. 2 - My wife would work, so I presume we need to fill in separate work permit for her?
Yes you would have to fill in and pay for a seperate work permit for her, but unlike yours (which will be tied to your job offer) hers will be an open one - allowing her to look around for an appropriate position.

Qu. 3 - My children would be at school, so I presume I need to fill in student permit forms for them too?
Yes, you would have to apply (and pay for:o ) student permits too

Qu. 4 Do we need to pay fees for each type of permit or only the principal one?
See above LOL

Qu. 5 Have we missed something?

Qu. 6 What are people finding timescale in the UK, currently?

Thanks
Matthew

I know that if you are on a long term Work Permit you will not have to pay international school fees for your children (Is this the same for a shorter term work permit?) - but you will have to pay the "School Donation" will varies from school to school and everyone has to pay. It's also worth noting that parents have to pay for their childrens school books, pencils, pens etc...

HTH

[IanW99]

A work permit probably would be quickest. If you get a long term permit (which I believe is over 12 months) you would have to have Police Checks and Medicals - then when you appy for PR you would have to pay for them again. It might be worth checking to see if you can get a work permit for under 12 months and apply for PR straight away (technically, if you are here and working your PR should be much quicker, but I think that depends on whereabouts in NZ you are applying).

A couple of points, if your visa is less than 2 years then you will not be covered by NZ medical care so would definitely advise on getting some insurance (or a visa for 2 years or more).

Police checks are valid for 6 months and medicals are valid for 3 months so if you apply for a WTR and then a PR very quickly thereafter then you can use the existing ones.

When we applied for PR whilst on a WTR it took over 6 months so don't rely on it being quick in NZ (seems to take approx 2 months on average).

One final point which I don't think is of concern for the OP, is that the student permit is only valid for schools, if the children are going to tertiary education (university) then they will have to pay international fees unless they have a PR.

Ian

[denisesykes]

Just to give you an example of a worse case scenario, our situation went as follows

September 2005 :Applied for work visas in person in London
October 2005 :3 year work visas granted for OH (based on his job offer) , me and 3 kids.
November 2005 :Arrived in NZ
August 2006 : Submitted EOI
December 2006: Recieved ITA
January 2007 : Submitted ITA
January 2008(!) : PR approved in principle.

We applied through Wellington so I would recommend a different branch as we went through 3 different case officers, they lost 2 sets of Xrays and the service was generally inefficient and slow.

As some one has said before if you go down this route you may have to pay for 2 sets of medicals and police checks and remember if the medicals throw something up that needs to be checked here in NZ you will have to pay for all the additional stuff whereas in UK it would all be free! (We speak from experience!)

Good luck!

Denise