[Hannah]

Hello, me again!
Does anyone know how difficult it is to get a work visa? If you find a job which is NOT on the shortage or priority occupation list is it possible to get a work visa? Does the employer have to go through the hoops of proving they couldn't get a suitable new zealander etc. I guess what i'm asking is if, when i arrive, i find a part time/seasonal job somewhere to help us fund our 6 month stay is it possible to get a work visa? I did look on nzis website but it's not really clear to me what happens in practice.
Thanks!
Hannah

[dave k]

The best way to get a visa for part time work is to apply from the UK and get a working holiday visa...assuming you're under 31.
If you go the other route & apply once you're here things can be harder...you probably won't get a work visa for part time/seasonal work ( I'm assuming you mean something like bar/cafe work), you'd have to get a full-time "proper" job. And, unless it was a priority occupation, NZIS would run a market check. Yes..to see if any NZ citizen could do the job and to find out if the employer had done all they could to hire a Kiwi.
And the work visa would be job-specific too.

[Bakehouse]

Hi Hannah,

I noticed from you first message that you have a degree, this would give you 50 points straight away and then with a job offer you would sail in on the expressions of interest for PR.
If I were in your position I would talk to a migration agent once your in NZ and they would be able to line up interviews with the ground work already in place.It might cost you a few quid but it's better than not having anything lined up and you could find yourself in the catch 22 situation no work permit-no job offer.
I was told right from the beginning that it's better to go for PR right from day one,they might issue you with a work permit in the mean time while everything is going through.

Regards Bakehouse

[Rimbo]

This is my situ;

I work in IT, Technical support, systems admin field.

55 points no job offer no visa/permit no chance of PR! :no

I worked hard, spent many months applying for jobs, cold calling employers, telephoning, e-mailing, tweaking my CV etc.

Then came over looking for work and still worked hard trying to get meetings with agencies/employers. applied for jobs advertised.

had 3 job offers after 4 weeeks of travelling and Interviewing.

Accepted job and drove to Palmy north immigration.

provided them with job description, and found a suitable referance on the POL or OSL (cant remember)
Permit approved on principle there and then.
gave evidence of experience, left my passport and waited one day for passport to be retured by courier with permit it it!
Employer had to fill in form and send letter to say that they had looked for suitable kiwi etc.

now i can apply for PR, i should now have 145 points or so!

Medical and police checks are here with me.

you can do it you know! it just takes guts and the groundwork first to make sure you can achieve success. i'm not sure a part time job would cut it though, nor would i trust emmigration agencies and so called experts!

So in answer to your question, i found it easy to get a work permit. If you can call 18 months research, 3 months continuously applying, 4 weeks travelling and interviewing, giving up a good job in the UK, selling your house, spending so far about £4k on this venture not including loss of earnings over the last 5 months, not seeing wife and son for probably the next 6 months easy. :mrgreen:


good eh?
John

:cheers

[dave k]

I should add though, if this seems a bit dispiriting, that you should probably give it a try anyway. You never know what might happen once you're here...it can all seem like an uphill slog when you're trying to plan stuff from Blighty. Things have a funny way of working themselves out when you can deal with people face to face. ;)

We came over here without permits & so-on and, fortunately, my partner found a full-time position within a month working in Interior Design ( not exactly a priority occupation!) We had to wait for ages, on tenterhooks for all the interviews and assesments, & then the Market check...but we got there in the end.
And now I have a permit ( because you can apply for one on the basis of being in a de-facto relationship)too... and, get this, I can do any job I want! I'm not tied to one specific thing like my partner.

So, don't worry too much.

[leslie]

maybe we should all just retrain as teachers.

[dave k]

Or bus drivers :wah

[Kim39]

Depends on your occupation i suppose. I have gone down this route and gained an offer of employment solely on a informal chat on the phone and a driving assessment from my present employer here in the UK which was faxed and accepted by my future employer.

This route took 7 months from my initial interest, to actually getting the offer of employment, and a further 5 months of getting the visa, only due to myself dragging my feet getting down to immigration, but i am ready to move once this house is sold. Though i can now go for PR immediately as my occupation is now on the OSL and was added 2 weeks after gaining the visa.

I suggest keep on with your research as this was all i had to keep me going and who knows what may be round the corner as i found out after roughly 250 emails to company's in NZ, and out of that came two offers, but i know that as soon as i set foot in NZ i will be in demand solely for the fact that my occupation has a shortage of around 250,000 worldwide and a 1.5% shortage in NZ.

I now hear you ask what does he do? well i am just a plain old.........................HGV driver. Who'd have thought i would be up there with IT, Teachers, Nurse's Doctor's etc. But hey i supply,you buy.

Good luck with it.
:hopeso
Kim

[Hannah]

Hi Folks, and thanks for your responses. Dave - sadly i'm not 31 or under!

I do hear time and time again that, once you are in New Zealand, looking for a job is a different experience. For me it is a confidence thing - I've got an MSc and diverse work experience (although only 2 years related to my MSc) and when i read the OSL and PSL lists just asking for nurses, doctors and IT specialists i find it a bit difficult to believe i'll actually get a job. Finding out that an HGV driver and an interior designer got a job and PR has made my day. Maybe there is a chance for a poor unwanted public health specialist after all !!! Smoking cessation and physical activity (lack of it, suprisingly) are issues in New Zealand too!!!!

Well we've got six months to look! I'm thinking of offering voluntary work in the public health dept. if i don't get a job in the first month as a way of getting to grips with the way the NZ health service works - but wonder if this would compromise chances of getting a paid job (they would lose a volunteer)?

Thanks for all of your comments! RE the comment on all training to become teachers - i heard the teacher shortage, esp in primary, was over. i'm sure i read of someone on this site a while back whose husband had trained in NZ and six months later still hadn't found a job in primary teaching???

Hannah

[dave k]

Smoking cessation and physical activity (lack of it, suprisingly) are issues in New Zealand too!!!

Hannah

I'm sure you're right there....but I see little evidence of it.
The whole of NZ, it would seem, is in a permanent state of SAS-style training ...there's precious few pavements you can walk down without being almost barged off by joggers (remember the Keep Left Rule!!! .... yeah, right) or ...cyclists ( wtf is it with cycling on the pavement here?!)...and gym membership is through the roof.

I'm proudly upholding my English roots by sauntering everywhere I can :cool

[Hannah-NL]

Maybe thats just a Welly thing?

Trying to confuse you all by posting in here, I'm the other Hannah, from Holland ;)

I'm still thinking of taking all our bikes, or not...?