[kenfrapin]

Hi guys,

I have just got an offer from Telecom NZ. Of course, final rounds are yet to be completed. I did ask most of my questions though regarding the offer.
Since I do not have my PR but ready to move at once, they said they would make me an offer, I then go on a visit visa and on arrival apply for the Work Permit. Sounds fine but some niggling doubts
1. When they say they will 'make me an offer' do they mean the job is mine?
2. They take the temp/visit visa route as its faster this way. Apparently it takes 6 weeks time to get a Work Visa of we apply once we are in NZ
3. I read about this Temp Visa route on a discussion about Expos. So has anyone taken this route and are there any glaring pitfalls?

I understand that if there has not been an interviews for the opening, they call you for a personal interview. But say all that has been done over the phone, and at the expo interviews may be face to face. If its a final offer of employment, then is it ok to take the Temp Visa route?

Our situation - Expo in Oct. Say I get an offer, I give my notice Dec end. Cant do so earlier as we have planned and paid for a holiday in Dec. Anyways, give my notice to the company mid Dec and we are ready to move in about 20 days time which is Jan end. So I can easily look at starting work from Feb 2009 in NZ. I may be a candidate for the Temp Visa and so this query

Please help!!
Thanks
Ken

[stellafella]

Hi Ken.

I have a written job offer in NZ and have only had 2 telephone interviews with the company concerned.

They have to send you a written offer and then they also have to fill in a form for immigration to say that the offer is genuine,hours of work,salary,etc and you send that with your visa application.
Temp work visa route is definitely the quickest way to get into NZ and once you are there then its easier to apply for PR which takes months otherwise rather than weeks.
My temp visa is being processed as we speak and has jumped the queue a little as the employers want me there in November if possible so tell NZIS that the employer wants you out by a certain date and that helps to fast track it a little.

There are down sides to temp visas such as not being able to join the state pension fund and your children have to pay full fees at uni etc until you get PR but at least you get into NZ quicker...and most temp visas with a job offer are specific to that employer until you get PR then you can work for anybody you like.

Hope that helps.

Darren.

[kenfrapin]

Thanks Darren, that is indeed helpful to me.
When I spoke they mentioned coming over on a Visit / Tourist visa. Once there I apply for a Work Permit. This was exactly what was told.

Now this Temp Work Visa concept - Is there a specific Temp visa that employers do give to their employees? From what I understand, this Temp Visa is similar to a Business Visa, hence no benefits like state pension etc until I go there and apply for my PR. Am I right here? So with the Temp work Visa, I apply for it in the UK and it would be quicker if the exact date is mentioned on the application. Let me know if I am on the right track here

So if Temp Visa is indeed an option, then I should request them for this rather than a tourist visa i suppose? And thanks for the info on the detailed offer letter and all the details to be mentioned. Really helpful to me :-)

Cheers
Ken

[KerryS]

The visa you need is a work visa, which can be issued for up to 3 years. You can apply for this in advance of travelling to NZ, and your employer needs to complete a supplementary application to submit with this, proving your job offer - not a letter.
The forms you needs are: NZIS 1015 and 1113. You can find all the details on the NZIS website here: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/formsandfees/formsandguides/work.htm

[stellafella]

Kerry is right there Ken.

You obtain a work visa and the permit is issued as soon as you actually arrive in NZ.

You will apply for a work visa,not a tourist visa and also the supplementary form for your employer needs sending in as well.

It will definitely be quicker if you state a date that the company want you over there and also get them to put the date they want you on their form...It can take a couple of weeks at NZIS just for a case officer to be assigned to your application let alone process it but generally I believe it takes about 4-6 weeks if all is in order.

And you are correct that tempvisas dont offer much in terms of benefits in NZ but all the perks come as soon as you get PR.

Try NZIS website as all the forms are on there as well as good info..and of course a lot of the guys on here are well informed so good luck:nice1

[Kate D]

Hi Ken,

Telecom NZ are an accredited employer which means you should be able to apply for a WTR (work to residence aka "talent visa"). Certainly when they recruited last year via the Oct expo people were going for either WTR or PR. You need medicals, police check etc for WTR but your police checks are now much faster. In parallel I submitted by ITA with the job offer which was selected from the pool. I got my WTR and then submitted my PR application right afterwards (an additional translated police check was required which incurred elapsed time). Mine all came through very quickly - my WTR came through in two days from handing in the paperwork, and PR in 13 days after submission. Generally, you can expect a WTR (or other work) visa to be processed much faster which is why I ended up going that route, so that I could get out here faster. It de-stressed my situation, and enabled me to reuse my medicals and police check for PR whilst effectively incurring only the additional cost of the WTR at £95 or so (plus trip to London to drop off) which I thought was a fairly good trade off. I've have gone straight for PR if I could have been sure of the processing time line.

Just something to consider.

Kate