[timeanzbound]

Hi everyone,

I just joined the forum, and have been reading a lot of posts in the last several months but could not find the answer to this.

I am trying to apply for skilled migration as a massage therapist, still waiting for a job offer. I was self employed in the USA for most of my career (about 4yrs) and I only have tax records as proof of employment. Since I was a mobile massage therapist, I don't have contracts with anyone, I only advertised for the first year and rest of my clients were referrals and word of mouth. I lost any paperwork I had for those years in the Katrina hurricane 2 years ago. :(

Since I owned my own business and had no one working for me, what evidence can I show? Would IRS papers for the years worked stating that I was self employed and maybe references from clients I massaged weekly be enough? I can probably call old banks and have them send me copies of my checking account. I'm really lost!:confused:

How can I prove how many hours I worked and would my income be enough?

I would love to hear from anyone that has any idea what I can do! :)

[dusk]

Hello,

sorry I can't help, I can't recall seeing any similar posts recently either, but hopefully someone here will have some useful advice for you :)

[migratory birds]

Welcome to the forum!

I am self-employed and as I recall I submitted:

- Letter stating self-employment (needed to be notarized)
- Reference letters from 2 early clients who've been working with me professionally since the early days (nearly 10 yrs ago for me)
- Letter from my accountant stating verifying length of time in business and projected income for the next year out

As I recall, no tax forms were requested.

If/when you get your ITA, there'll be instructions on what to submit - complete only what's requested and, after submitting your ITA packet the case officer will let you know of any additional/specific-to-your-situation verification of employment that she/he needs.

Don't second guess what they'll need or provide them with what you think they might need based on my experience or others experiences (because it seems to me that everyone's application is looked at slightly differently based on the applicant and the case officer assigned).

Good luck!

[timeanzbound]

Thank you migratory birds! That makes me feel so much better that it was ok to submit only those things. I can definitely submit those.

[james the mechanic]

I’ve no wish to disagree or spoil your fun but, I was under the distinct impression that work experience for the skilled migrant category is only valid if employed. I’m sure that there is a note in policy that self employed should not apply under this category.
I’m sure the only exception is for ‘contractors’ in certain industries with a proven track record in contracting, I don’t think you probably fall into this category, but I could be wrong.
I’m sure there is a way round this; if it’s a limited company you were probably an employee (who simply neglected to mention that they were also the MD). I’m sure someone who good at navigating policy will be along to give you a definitive answer shortly.
Best wishes:nice1
James

[timeanzbound]

James, I remember reading about the self employment thing you mentioned, and here is what NZ immigraion says:

This is under the Work experience page for skilled migration:

You may be able to claim points for your previous work experience. However, your experience must be relevant. This means your experience is in the same field as:

* your recognised qualification, or
* your current employment in New Zealand/your offer of skilled employment in New Zealand.

This is on the bottom of the skilled employment page:

You cannot claim points for skilled employment if the position is self-employed. If you are, or will be, self-employed and wish to gain residence, you may be eligible under one of our business categories.

To me, this means that if the position that you are applying for or have a job offer in is self employment...not experience. Am I not reading this right?

Migratory birds above posted a reply and he/she was self employed and got the visa.

[marcia]

My hubby was self employed - we had a rather differnet case as he didn't have any 'relevant' qualifications - but had a job offer in the field he had been self employed in.

We had to supply prrof of his work experience when he worked for our local council (thats was 12 years prior to our application!0 - they did a letter stating how long he had been employed and what his duties were with him, we also supplied a character refernce from a company Kev dealt with on a regular basis. We had to get a letter from our accountant stating how long he had been self employed and provide all our annual accounts for them to see.
We also supplied Kev's old P60's (proof od tax paid) from when he was employed by the council even though they didn't specifically ask for them, but it was just a bit of extra evidence to back up what we were claiming.

Good luck with application and hope this helps a bit! :cheers

NB - sorry for huge amount of errors got a terror pulling on my arm to feed him!

[migratory birds]

My initial application was 28 mos ago so requirements may (or may not) have changed with regard to self-employment.

I applied and was PR approved under "Skilled Migrant" with an occupation on the the short- and long-term skills shortage lists BUT worked as an INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR (which in the US is still considered 'self-employed') for an organization who dashed off a service-based paycheck every 2 weeks...

A portion of my years of experience included another profession ALSO on the skills shortage list that WAS an employed position (so I had experience and the capability to work in two areas of skills shortage)...

These two considerations may have been the key difference.

'Timeanzbound' you wrote: "If you are, or will be, self-employed and wish to gain residence, you may be eligible under one of our business categories.

To me, this means that if the position that you are applying for or have a job offer in is self employment...not experience. Am I not reading this right?"

You may not be reading that right - sounds to me that they're saying that if you ARE or will be self-employed, that you may need to apply under a different catagory...but if massage therapist is on the skills-shortage list, there may be another catagory you can apply under (i.e. WTR).

As I said above though: "...seems to me that everyone's application is looked at slightly differently based on the applicant and the case officer assigned"

[Potato]

Plenty of people on this forum have successfully claimed work experience from periods of self-employment.

The only issue with self-employment is as mentioned above- you cannot claim that you have a SKILLED JOB OFFER if you just intend to set up shop in NZ and be self-employed. For that, you would need some sort of business visa I believe. However, from what I can tell, once you are resident there's nothing stopping you from going it alone then. The only potential issue is if they restrict you under Section 18A (must stay in same job for 12 months), in which case you would have to wait a year in your job for it to clear and then you can think about self-employment again.

You mentioned waiting for a job offer in your initial post so you are obviously on the right track. If you can get one of these, and it meets the criteria that NZIS lay out for such a position (see the ANZSCO list) then you can claim points on it.

I know nothing about the specifics of what you need to provide for evidence of self-employment, but I can't see anything in what you're saying that suggests you're heading completely down the wrong road.

[marcia]

The only potential issue is if they restrict you under Section 18A (must stay in same job for 12 months), in which case you would have to wait a year in your job for it to clear and then you can think about self-employment again.




We had a section 18a condition - but only had to do 3 months in the job! But whatever - if it means 3 months or a year to get your PR and be where you want to be its not a huge sacrifice to make IMHO. :o

[timeanzbound]

Thank you for all the additional info. I am planning on being employed by a massage place...only my previous experience is self employed.