[Eve & Paul]

Hi everyone,

Happily, Paul received a job offer while we were on holiday in NZ a couple of weeks ago. The job offer has now been confirmed in writing and Paul's future employers are beginning the steps necessary to get us over. (I will be joining him on a partner's visa)

As the job offer is not for a role on the recognised skills shortage list, we are instead going the route of a temporary (2 year) general work visa. Just wondered if any of you out there had experience with this route and could give us any advice as to things we can do to ensure our application is as complete as possible and therefore successful.

In particular, we'd be interested in clarification on what Paul's future employer needs to do - i.e. length of time they need to advertise, does a formal contract need to be issued with the Employer Supplementary Form, any other items that would be helpful in passing the labour market test, etc.

All other guidance, advice and or details of your experiences would be appreciated! :)

Many thanks,

Eve & Paul

[Lara Croft]

Hi Eve & Paul.
Sorry, can't offer any advice, just wanted to say Well Done on the job offer!

Good luck with the paperwork,
J

[KelvinAng]

Hi Eve & Paul,

I can't help in this but I'm interested to know as well. Just today I was speaking to a recruitment agent in Christchurch and he mentioned something along the line of having the necessary proof of job being advertised but no suitable candidates found with regards to my PR application should I be offered the job. He even suggest that he could stand in line with me at Immigration to "push this through". I've never thought of this before but from the way he puts it it does seem to suggest there are some (unofficial?) requirements for offering a job to someone without rights to work in NZ.

Would love to hear from someone who knows what's going on...

Kelvin

[ricktee]

I think NZ government prefer to let local kiwi's get the advertised job first before the skilled migrants.

[Eve & Paul]

Hi Kelvin,

Sorry for taking so long to reply - work has forced me to pull myself away from these forums for a bit. :)

I'll do my best to explain the process as we understand it...

To clarify our situation, neither of us would be likely to be successful in lodging PR or WTR applications as our jobs are not in the skills shortage lists. There is an option of a temporary general work visa for those that have a job offer and do not qualify for the other visa forms - which is what we are applying for. The drawback to this type of visa is that it is only for a maximum of 24 months and does not guarantee residency. So we'll have to apply to extend the visa in 2 years - though I believe we'll be able to apply for residency after living in NZ for 2 years anyway...

What we have been told is that Paul's prospective, er ... FUTURE, (gotta think positively!) employer needs to demonstrate that they have advertised the role and made reasonable attempts to recruit a Kiwi. We haven't been able to clarify how long they need to advertise for but believe it is either 2 or 6 weeks (we plan to contact NZIS to clarify and will let you know).

Once they have advertised, they need to complete the Employer Supplementary Form which asks them to detail what they have done to recruit a Kiwi and other actions they have taken to satisfy the 'labour market test'. They then need to send us this completed form, along with;

- copies of adverts inc receipts
- written job offer/contract
- job spec

Paul will then submit this form along with his documentation in his visa application. Once his visa is approved, they will then review my partner application. (Fingers crossed on both!)

You may find the NZIS 'Guide for Employers' helpful as it has a lot of detail as to what prospective employers need to do under the various visa categories to satisfy the 'labour market test'. Here is a link:

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/B0CFAB36-6547-46D5-AE09-60FD21AD8FD5/0/1031.pdf

Hope that makes sense and is of help. Don't hesitate to ask if anything is unclear! Alternatively, if any of you have a different understanding of the process or know that we are incorrect about something, please let us know! :)

Eve

[KelvinAng]

Hi Eve,

Thanks very much for that info. That should be come in handy. I went for a second round of interviews today with a prospective employer and received a very positive feedback - what's left now to discuss is just the exact terms in the contract. However he's concerned with the immigration process and time until I get any work permit or PR (he needs someone ASAP).

All the best to your applications!