[sharonvanb]

Hiya

I'm taking the plunge and moving accross to Wellington in February to stay with my sister and hubby for six months, on a visitor's visa. I am intending on submitting an EOI before I leave though points wise I will only have 110. I'm hoping to secure a job offer once I'm there which will boost the points to over the required 140 for selection to apply. I'm a qualified small business adviser with 4 years experience. Has anyone gone down this route before? I know it's quite risky not having a job before I go... but I'm hoping with me actually being in the country, this might help!

Any advice or pointers, or suggestions for jobs... would be much appreciated.

Thanks

Sharon.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome. :)

There are a lot of people around who have done the same as you. I'm sure you'll hear from some when NZ wakes up. :nice1

[BkyMonster]

We went on a visitors visa and found a job and are now on work permits waiting for PR (well gathering more information on medical issues) so this is a viable plan.
I would say it really depends on your career on how quickly you'll be able to find a job.

[vixxann]

ditto to last post really :)
we arrived on visitors (I still am!)
OH got work permit when he found work here
and we submitted EOI here with job offer and enough points, got selected immediately and have submitted all info now .. just waiting ;)

so it can be done!

[LesleyS]

Same here.... came on visitors after submitting EOI in UK.
Got a work permit straight away, and got fast tracked to residency after ITA went in. Bit nerve wracking, and we had to pay some international fees for a term at school, but it was the only way to get our points score up - with a job offer here in NZ.

[sharonvanb]

Many thanks for all your replies, it has put my mind at ease a bit!

With regards term fee's for schooling... when does this kick in? I was informed by a school close to where my sister stays that fee's would not apply whilst on a visitor's visa... is it only if I'm there on a temp work permit before residency is granted (hopefully!) that I would have to pay for my son's schooling? if so, have you any ideas of how much this might be?

Sharon

[sharonvanb]

can you give me an approx figure for school fee's? or do they vary greatly?

thanks

Sharon

[sunnyb]

Hi, we have been in Wellington for 3 weeks on visitors visa's. OH has been told a job offer is in the process of being signed off so we went to the immigration to find out which forms we need. We were given forms for work permits and student permits for the children and were told we could apply for residency after 2 years.

OH was then told by the job agency that he could apply for residency straight away.

We had our EOI accepted in UK last year (with points for job offer) and were progressing our ITA when OH had to turn down his job offer because we couldn't sell our house.

So, does anyone know what we should do? We want the quickest way to residency (before they change their minds about wanting us )! but OH will also need to start work fairly quickly in the new year once he's accepted the job offer and the school say they won't charge as long as we can show that permits are in progress and likely to be granted.

Many thanks, B :)

[IanW99]

Hi, we have been in Wellington for 3 weeks on visitors visa's. OH has been told a job offer is in the process of being signed off so we went to the immigration to find out which forms we need. We were given forms for work permits and student permits for the children and were told we could apply for residency after 2 years.

OH was then told by the job agency that he could apply for residency straight away.
...


Well if you have the points then you can apply for PR at any time, so you certainly don't have to wait 2 years.

Average speed for getting a PR from within NZ even with a job offer appears to be 4 months (and may take much longer than this), so this is likely to be too long.

Best option would likely be to go for a 30 month WTR for your OH and PR at the same time. The WTR will allow you to get a general work visa to take up any job you want and student visas for the children. And as it will be for 2 years or more then you will be covered with healthcare.

If you apply for both visas at the "same time" then you can submit the same medical and police certificates for both applications.

Ian

[sands&bren]

Hi,

Ian I see you are very informative! so I hope you can help me out with my question.

My hubby and I will be flying into NZ on the 8th March. Taking a huge gamble and getting there with no job offer. I will be staying with family, so I hope they will be insightful and help us where we are confused.

My question is since I read your message about applying for PR if you have enough points. My husband is a carpenter, we are waiting for his qualifications in Jan. But I am worried if he does not pass his trade exam that he wont get a job in NZ. Are there companies that accept a person based on their experience and not just papers? or are we wasting our time?

If he does get his trade, I see carpentry is on the short list. Does this mean we can apply for PR straight away?

Look forward to any insight.
Thanks
Sandi

[IanW99]

Hi,

Ian I see you are very informative! so I hope you can help me out with my question.
...


Sorry, I don't answer questions based on qualifications so can't offer you much advice on the subject.

Have you tried the points calculator yet for the EOI to see how many points you would have if your OH passes his trade exams?

If you have enough points then yes you can apply for PR straight away, if not then you may need to get another type of visa until you can apply.

There are other carpenters on the forum and I'm pretty sure that some of them would have arrived in NZ first and then secured a suitable job, so I'm sure that it must be possible.

Would recommend that you start a new thread asking your questions, try to put carpenter in the title to attract their attention.

Ian