[globetrecker]

What a week and a half. We arrived in Auckland and went straight to an interview that morning (stress!) I was offered a position and the company is an accredited employer. Good news all around--we were not expecting anything this fast and now are racing to get a work permit. There is a "problem" though and we wonder if anyone has come across this situation:

I thought I could get a "general work permit" so I could begin work and then go onto applying for PR. Not so fast, according to the immigration person I just spoke with. He says because it is an accredited employer, you will be offered WTR and not necessarily a "general work permit". He indicated that a general work permit does not exist but is actually called an "essential skills permit". From reading the forum, we thought a GWP was an option.

Did we uncorrectly assume that we were able to get a gwv with a job offer, start working, submit our EOI, get an ITA, then apply for PR? He said that generally with a job offer from an accredited employer you would be offered WTR for 2 yrs. That would be fine if we wanted to stay in Auckland for 2 yrs, but we don't. We want to work here for a year in the aforementioned position, apply for residency, and then move to our #1 choice location in the Bay of Plenty (not many jobs there). We also plan on getting pregnant within 2 yrs, so our PR would be automatically denied due to pregnancy.

Has anyone recieved this elusive "general work permit" with a job offer and then started working, then submitted the EOI, etc.?

[JandM]

Sorry, I don't know an answer for you - hope there will soon be someone along who does.

But congratulations on the job offer.:nice1:clap

Incidentally, what's this about 'PR would be automatically denied due to pregnancy'?

[globetrecker]

Sorry, I don't know an answer for you - hope there will soon be someone along who does.

But congratulations on the job offer.:nice1:clap

Incidentally, what's this about 'PR would be automatically denied due to pregnancy'?

I would fail the medical, according to the NZIS, as it would be considered a burden on the healthcare system.

[IanW99]

We have friends who arrived on a one year work visa (no idea if it was called a general work visa or an essential skills one) so that they didn't need to have medicals done and could arrive quickly.

Once here they applied for PR straight away.

If it were me, I would ask them which would be the quickest to get i.e. work permit or WTR as I assume that you want to start working as quickly as possible (and if you only went for a one year one then you could skip the medicals for now).

Whichever permit you get, it does NOT stop you applying for a PR immediately i.e. if you are given a WTR you can still apply for a PR without having to wait 2 years (assuming that you have enough points) this is exactly what we did.

Note: No advice given here, if you need advice on such matters please consult an immigration advisor.

Ian

[CJ22]

Note: No advice given here, if you need advice on such matters please consult an immigration advisor.
Ian

A licenced immigration advisor :exit

[IanW99]

A licenced immigration advisor :exit

Exactly :nice1

Ian

[BkyMonster]

There have been more than a few people who did medicals while pregnant with no issues.
In my experience if you have a medical under review by the MA for BMI issues and you become pregnant they will probably deny you as they cannot recommend you lose the weight at that point. Otherwise it should not be an issue.
I think not too long ago the essential skills WP was possibly called a general WP? It may still be colloquially referred to as such.
Other than that the above information (not advice :p) is how I understand things to work.

[Parsley]

Hiya - in my (very limited) experience, my sis applied for PR whilst pregnant and it did not cause her any problems from the immigration side of things. I recall her mentioning that there were certain bits of the standard medical she didn't have (or the results were discounted) as the pregnancy would have completely skewed the results. However, this is an individual experience, so as all above have posted, it's probably worth getting advice from the appropriate sources! Can't comment on the visa definition I'm afraid - just wanted to say that being pregnant does not generally appear to be a big issue for many people in relation to applying for residency.

Good luck!

P:D

[Familyofmonkeys]

We went through the application and medical process while I was pregnant. As long as there are no problematic pre-existing medical conditions then you should not have problem at all. You are not required to have an x-ray while pregnant (so a cost saving there), and although they are still required to measure your waist circumference (according to the guidelines the Dr I saw had) it is in most cases meaningless in the more advanced stages of pregnancy. Also pregnancy affects your blood chemistry so things like your cholesterol levels are likely to be higher, iron levels lower etc......but a good Dr will just make a note of this on the medical form and it will cause no issue.

[Ana&Steve]

You may want to talk to another immigration consultant to get a 2nd opinion. Good luck with everything!

[IanW99]

For those that are interested, it would appear that the Essential Skills Work permit replaced the General work permit on 28th July 2008.

What is Essential Skills work policy?
Essential Skills work policy is replacing General work policy on 28 July 2008. One of the key changes in the new policy is that Essential Skills will differentiate between occupations on the basis of their skill level.

Many of the principles of General work policy have been carried over to the Essential Skills policy, most importantly

the requirement that there must be no New Zealand workers available before an employer is allowed to recruit an overseas worker; and

the requirement that the terms and conditions of the employment, including the pay, meet those of the New Zealand market.

Ian

[Wooly_Cow]

I got a three year work visa. Nothing about WTR was mentioned. I have since applied and been granted PR (in double quick time).

(This is my personal experience and this information does not consitute immigration advice)

[Joolzr]

I applied for PR while pregnant and it wasn't an issue- I didn't have to have an x ray which saved money.

What was a problem for me was being pregnant without a 2 year work permit. This mean't we weren't eligible for free healthcare. We knew this, but couldn't apply as Oh could not get a police certificate from his country of nationality in less than three months. So we bought a health insurance policy on arrival. But no private health insurance would cover us for maternity services even before I was pregnant.

We were told that we would have to pay for a range of maternity services, which depends upon your nationality. At one stage we were told we would need to pay a $5000 bed fee to deliver in Auckland, plus the cost of the hospital stay afterwards. This is currently about $850 a night if you stay in Birthcare so soon adds up. And for all antenatal care which was estimated at $400 through the hospital midwife team. If there are complication, you would have to pay for them. We were definitely given some inaccurate information by the hospital midwives so I suspect not all of this is correct and we would not have had to pay as much as that. It also depends on which country you are from as UK residents are covered for some of this. But working out the situation would have been a battle and stressful which is not what you want when pregnant.

We were lucky and our PR came through quickly- in 4 or 5 months, which also means wee one will be a proper kiwi.

I'm sure you can figure out all the visa stuff and good luck with everything. Feel free to PM if I can give any more info.

[welsh_italian]

No advice but here is my brief story. I was offered a job in NZ back last Nov with an accredited employer. They supported my application for a WTR (accredited employer) visa which I got. This lasts for 30 months in total. After 2 years, I should be able to apply for PR. The visa was granted January 2009 and I came over in Feb and began work then.

However, I also have more than 140 points for my EOI and so applied fairly soon after arriving because having a job in NZ adds a lot of points. We were selected and I now have my ITA which is being put together. It should be submitted next week.

[Ash3000]

You may want to talk to another immigration consultant to get a 2nd opinion. Good luck with everything!

yeah...consult a few immigration concultants....Im sure everything will fall into place!! :)

congrats for the job offer (some people aint that lucky even after having PR)!!!

Good to know you got your next 2 years planned...its a bummer that the WTR may come as an obstacle in your move out of Auckland and thepregnancy......but lets stick to the saying "we will cross the bridges as they come" and be optimistic!! :D

all the best!! :nice1

[JandM]

I wonder if there's any difference in what happens regarding pregnancy if the pregnant person is the main applicant, or their partner is? If so, it may be worth looking at the points situation on an EOI for the other party.

[IanW99]

I wonder if there's any difference in what happens regarding pregnancy if the pregnant person is the main applicant, or their partner is? If so, it may be worth looking at the points situation on an EOI for the other party.

You may be interested in Changes to temporary health policy - pregnancy (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/news/pregnancy.htm)

Normally...
Applicants who intend to give birth in New Zealand are not considered to have an acceptable standard of health as it is likely they will impose significant costs or demands on New Zealand’s health services.

But as stated in the link posted, if you have PR or visa of at least 2 years then it won't be an issue.

Ian

[JandM]

So it sounds as though the person the OP spoke to wasn't applying the rules correctly to her case, either on the matter of applying for PR while having one kind of WTR, or potential pregnancy? What can she do - try asking to be put in touch with a supervisor?

[Ana&Steve]

So it sounds as though the person the OP spoke to wasn't applying the rules correctly to her case, either on the matter of applying for PR while having one kind of WTR, or potential pregnancy? What can she do - try asking to be put in touch with a supervisor?
I've had this prob before; this is why my advice is to call again and hope for a more informed person. In fact, this just happened to me yesterday when I called NZQA...1st guy was useless and had no inclination to help. 2nd lady (called again an hour later)went out of her way to help and got me answers i didn't expect.:nice1

[globetrecker]

Update and some potential bad news: The HR department contacted me and said that with their discussions with immigration, they would only be able to offer me a 12 month, fixed term contract because they cannot prove that they couldn't find a suitable New Zealander to do the job (they had over 100 applicants). They still want me, and this would allow me to get a work permit, but I understand that applying for PR they will not accept this as a viable job? Am I correct in what I have researched that this will not help me get PR?

This is an accredited employer (a University) and they could not fill out the employer supplementary form because they had qualified NZ applicants.

I am frustrated with NZIS. I have an excellent job offer, from an accredited employer, and yet cannot go towards PR.

[andrewp]

Do you need the job for points? If so, would you have enough points once you gained some local NZ work experience? Just shots in the dark that may help.

Good luck,
:cheers

ps: Try adding a bit of detail to your signature. It makes it easier for some of us that don't spend lots of time on here and can't remember each persons details.

[IanW99]

...
They still want me, and this would allow me to get a work permit, but I understand that applying for PR they will not accept this as a viable job? Am I correct in what I have researched that this will not help me get PR?

This is an accredited employer (a University) and they could not fill out the employer supplementary form because they had qualified NZ applicants.

I am frustrated with NZIS. I have an excellent job offer, from an accredited employer, and yet cannot go towards PR.

From what you have posted, it would seem that you are lucky that they can even offer you a 12 month work permit.

Do you not have enough points to go for PR anyway without a job offer?

Job offers give you more points and get the PR processed quicker but you don't need a job to get a PR (you just need enough points).

One problem you may have is that it can take 12 months or more to get PR in Auckland currently and by this time your work permit will have expired and it is possible that NZIS won't be so lenient next time and will deny you an extension - so you won't have a work permit or PR so will be unable to work.

Ian