[jodel]

Hi,

I got a job-offer at a hospital in NZ (starting September) and am planning to move there with my husband and baby in mid July - to give us some time for househunting and getting settled.

Unfortunately I can't start the application process before I have qualifications accepted by the NZ medical board - a process that can't be started earlier than 6 months before the position starts and takes about one month.

This means we have to start lodging our application in April.

1.) We'd like to try immediately for the permanent residency, since it would save us time, money and trouble. Is it realistic to get the pr in 2 months time (April-June)? Doesn't seem likely....
2.) Is it possible to apply for both the permanent residency and a work visa at the same time? This way at least we would save some money on not having to do the medicals again once we get to NZ.
3.) I am living in Finland, and acc. to the NZIS website I would need to lodge an application for a work visa in The Hague, and an application for permanent residency in London. Is it even possible to lodge two applications at the same time (and at two different embassies?)?

If we could start applying for both (so that we at least have the work visa ready to move to NZ in time)... can we then move our started PR application to NZ and continue the process there? Or would we have to start over? Can we get the permanent residence-visa in our passport in NZ, or does that have to happen in Europe?

Thanks for your help! As you know, this can be a bit confusing....

Sanni

[emotony]

Hi,

Went through MCNZ it took a couple of weeks and did a work permit and PR app at same time, not sure if we ended up saving any money, we got the work permit straight away which allowed us to travel and work here but PR is still yet to materialise 4 months down the line, but my app was not very straightforward and they need more checks, they can't say how long it will take?? not sure about 2 different embassies ours all went through London branch!! Good luck with everything, we certainly love it here and to me personally NZ hospital medicine is fun and not so pressured like UK so it still feels like a lovely holiday of sorts!! :-)

[Potato]

Hi,

I got a job-offer at a hospital in NZ (starting September) and am planning to move there with my husband and baby in mid July - to give us some time for househunting and getting settled.

Unfortunately I can't start the application process before I have qualifications accepted by the NZ medical board - a process that can't be started earlier than 6 months before the position starts and takes about one month.

This means we have to start lodging our application in April.

1.) We'd like to try immediately for the permanent residency, since it would save us time, money and trouble. Is it realistic to get the pr in 2 months time (April-June)? Doesn't seem likely....
2.) Is it possible to apply for both the permanent residency and a work visa at the same time? This way at least we would save some money on not having to do the medicals again once we get to NZ.
3.) I am living in Finland, and acc. to the NZIS website I would need to lodge an application for a work visa in The Hague, and an application for permanent residency in London. Is it even possible to lodge two applications at the same time (and at two different embassies?)?

If we could start applying for both (so that we at least have the work visa ready to move to NZ in time)... can we then move our started PR application to NZ and continue the process there? Or would we have to start over? Can we get the permanent residence-visa in our passport in NZ, or does that have to happen in Europe?

Thanks for your help! As you know, this can be a bit confusing....

Sanni

1) Probably not, but it's not impossible.
2) Yes.....

Problem with this is that medicals are valid for only 3 months. I am slightly confused on your situation.....have you submitted an EOI (Expression of Interest)?
If you haven't done so, then the problem is that you could get your medicals, apply for (and get) a work visa, apply for an EOI but find that they take so long to send you your ITA (Invitation to Apply) that your medicals are no longer valid by the time you submit your full application. For those with job offers, I think ITAs are normally about 1 month after your EOI has been selected from the pool. However, this is not set in stone.
Given the fact that you need your qualifications assessed, it seems likely to me that you won't be able to submit both a work visa application and an ITA within 3 months of each other. At least, that's how I see it.
If you already *have* your ITA then it might well work out, but I still think it's cutting it fairly close, since the NZQA thing takes at least a month.

Also, remember to get your police certificates ready, you don't want to be waiting on them whilst the clock is ticking :)

I don't know if you can transfer a residency application from one branch to another. Best check with NZIS for this (their preferred contact is by email - on their site - takes about 3 days to get a response).

I also had to do a balancing act with being in different countries, submitting a work visa and PR concurrently. It was logistically not much fun, but it worked out in the end, although I bit the bullet and had two sets of medicals.

Hope I have understood your situation adequately.