[Jade]

Does anyone know whether I will be granted PR or a work visa if my application for residency is approved without a job offer? ITA received in March, sent off residency application early June. Had interview a week later and was told to submit evidence of registration in NZ (occupation) before a decision is made. Sent 3 weeks ago.

No job offer yet but arrived in NZ last week for holiday and looking for work as well as talking to potential employers. I have managed to secure some interviews for end of next week and now slightly concerned about attending them without PR or a work visa. I believe prospective employers will be willing to wait a couple of weeks for me to sort out the visa but not months. If I do get the job offer, does anyone know how long it takes the London office to issue PR from receipt of my offer so I have something positive to say to them at interview? Secondly, without a job offer, do they still grant PR or just a work visa? Thanks a million all for the time.

[adamsat]

There's quite a few of us on here who have got PR granted without job offers.

As for NZ employers wanting PR or a Visa, the most important thing seems to be whether you are in the country and available to start. I've never had to show my residency visa to anyone other than when first arriving in the country, and I now work for the NZ government ;)

[Iain]

If you get a job offer, they will fast track your application, but your PR will be conditional on you starting that specific job within a limited timeframe (3 months?). From a practical job hunting point of view, it may be better to just get PR first and then look for a job later.

You should get PR if you have the points and you sound like you've done a bit of research in the interview.

[Bubbles]

I believe if your occupation requires NZ registration you will be granted a WTR ( work to residence ) visa. As said by Iain, there are certain conditions put on that but once fulfilled your visa will be transfered to residence without having to wait too long. A matter of a few months. :nice1

John

[Lizelle]

Hubby landed in NZ with just a visitor's visa.
He then went to interviews, without any visa. Because his job is on the OSL (i think that is the one, there is two lists), his employer did not have to prove that they have looked for someone in NZ to do the job, but found no-one.

Anyway, he went to the interview and got the joboffer. His employer only needed to give him a letter with all the relevant details on it, and he applied for a workvisa

The workvisa took 2 weeks to arrive, so employer did not need to wait long (this is, of course, all for a job that does not need registration).

The employers seem to take the fact that he is here as a sign that he is serious about staying here, so they did not have a problem

We applied for PR just after that anyway, but obviously that takes longer. NZIS don't mind that you have applications in for various different things at the same time, so it is not a problem.

Hope this helps. Good luck :nice1

[Moorf]

The employers seem to take the fact that he is here as a sign that he is serious about staying here, so they did not have a problem

:nice1 If I had to write a top ten of "things to do to get a job in NZ" the number one tip would be "get your butts over here and meet employers" :nice1