[markyspark]

Seriously, if you can do your PR before going to NZ then I would. We have been here three months after coming out on a holiday visa. As I am a sparky it took ages for the EWRB to sort out the provisional licence (6 weeks) and then the immigration took about 2-3 weeks. Strange thing is our permits all came back via different offices, my 5 year olds student permit two weeks after ours ?? Anyway, its a nightmare not being able to work for 8 weeks, especially if you are on a tight budget. To top all that the job (s) didnt work out. The first employer got cold feet about sending a contract to immigration, they got annoyed about this and said they were going to investigate his affairs (none of his employees had contracts). So, I was desperate to get the permit as I also had our stuff waiting at Auckland in a container. I decided to get another job.

Things got worse. The new employer seemed ok at first but after getting a few days work out of me he turned nasty and I walked. Looking back I think thats what he wanted. He had some biggish jobs on and used me for some help, and no I didnt get paid either. So I now have two permits in my passport for each employer - HOW BAD DOES THAT LOOK !!!!;(

I also didnt realise that you could only work for the employer stated in the permit, so I now "officially" have to get another permit for a new employer before I start work for them. This doesnt leave any room for a trial period so I shall have to work for a few weeks before I apply again and just take the risk. My wife on the other hand has no problem working as she has an open permit (obviously of the back of mine). She has taken a job hairdressing just to get us out of the immediate mess - what a nightmare eh ?

GET YOUR PR SORTED, it will be so easy once you have done this. New Zealand is truely a wonderfull place - even in the winter. Unfortuenately the employers are just the same as they are the world over - well thats my feeling on it. Oh and the drivers here have absolutely no consideration for pedestrians, they will run you over if you are not carefull.

Just another thing I have realised, also from nickbraddock on the forum, if you require a licence to work as do sparkies, the offer of residence will be a work to residence scheme. I will be looking to get my full licence before I apply for the residence - there is no way I am going to risk a work to residence policy with my track record...

Hope I am not putting any of you off, it will be worth it in the end, just dont be hasty getting here - work hard and save those uk pennies because the pay here is not as good. Sparkies get paid really well from what I have heard, I was offered 23 dollars ph rising to 25 after licence for first job. Second job was 21 dollars after trial period. I have just had an interview with another as a maintenance electrician, they are offering 27 dollars. I know that Countdown, the supermarket, pay approx 11-12 dollars ph. Care workers get 10 dollars ph. Drivers get between 14-18 dollars ph. Hairdressers get 12 dollars ph. They say that the average takehome income is 650 per week, I think thats for a family. You can survive on that if your rent is cheap. There have also been some protests over pay but I think its good for the elections.

I know I have rambled on like an old woman but I had to get it off my chest. Please feel free to ask me anything, if I have time I will come back.

PS: Shell says the bumble bees are huge here - apart from that there are no horrible bugs - yet.

[Kim39]

Markyspark,

Just read through this thread and i have to ask a question. Ok, you went originally on a holiday visa, yes? You then proceeded to seek employment, and once this was done, you then applied for a work visa, yes? Then why didn't you ask for variation of conditions on your work permit.:uhoh
This would have allowed you to walk out of any job you take if it didn't suit. It would also allow any employer to release you, should you not be up to scratch. You can then look for other employment without going down the route of applying for another visa for another employer.

I can see where you are coming from in relation to your passport looking like a decorated book from NZIS, but as i am going down the work visa route i was told to request these conditions as soon as it is changed from visa to permit.

Kim

[dave k]

Markyspark,

Just read through this thread and i have to ask a question. Ok, you went originally on a holiday visa, yes? You then proceeded to seek employment, and once this was done, you then applied for a work visa, yes? Then why didn't you ask for variation of conditions on your work permit.:uhoh
This would have allowed you to walk out of any job you take if it didn't suit. It would also allow any employer to release you, should you not be up to scratch. You can then look for other employment without going down the route of applying for another visa for another employer.

I can see where you are coming from in relation to your passport looking like a decorated book from NZIS, but as i am going down the work visa route i was told to request these conditions as soon as it is changed from visa to permit.

Kim


I've never heard about being able to do that...are you sure that's correct?
It's always been my understanding that the work permits are only ever job-specific. :confused:

[Singel]

Then why didn't you ask for variation of conditions on your work permit.:uhoh This would have allowed you to walk out of any job you take if it didn't suit. It would also allow any employer to release you, should you not be up to scratch. You can then look for other employment without going down the route of applying for another visa for another employer.

................equally puzzled :confused:

When we applied for the work permit, it is employer-specific which means that we could only work for this employer. I don't remember that there is a choice for variation of conditions in the work permit application form. :uhoh :roll

[Kim39]

Dave,

No, you can apply for variation of conditions on the work visa/permit, because should it not work out between yourself and the employer, you can then both go your seperate ways. Imagine if for the duration of the permit, things weren't rosy between both parties you wouldn't expect to stay for the duration, so to remedy this, you ask for this condition to be applied to your permit, so should it not work out you can then go seeking for employment from another employer.

This was told to us by a immigration representative because, my future employer was concerned, that should it not work out between us for whatever reasons we wouldn't be lumbered with each other for the 2 year duration. Once he was happy he offered the position.

Kim

[Moorf]

Yes, there is a Variation of Conditions form that you can submit - although I thought that this would be done after you already had your visa...


The form is here: http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/6F4DB4F7-7154-4366-A9F9-C01CFF8F2131/0/1020Feb14FINAL.pdf

Plus, once you have PR you can leave the job for which you have your work visa after 3 months (or after having worked for that employer for a total of 3 months).

This is my understanding.

[Kim39]

Thanks for that Moorf, for a moment i thought i'd got the job offer by deception. I knew i was there or thereabouts, as the info came from the immigration offices in Auckland, as we deal with them, rather than deal with London. Its cheaper and quicker than dealing with London.

Kim

[Kim39]

Just as a after thought. To do this costs £80 everytime you apply for it.

Kim

[wilson182]

They say that the average takehome income is 650 per week, I think thats for a family. You can survive on that if your rent is cheap. There have also been some protests over pay but I think its good for the elections.



That is probably average for one wage earner, But, as a family, I think you would struggle to survive on that wage alone even if your rent was cheap. And rent that cheap would probably mean a pretty bad house. (depending on were you live I guess).

[cornerofsilence]

Seriously, if you can do your PR before going to NZ then I would. We have been here three months after coming out on a holiday visa. As I am a sparky it took ages for the EWRB to sort out the provisional licence (6 weeks) and then the immigration took about 2-3 weeks. Strange thing is our permits all came back via different offices, my 5 year olds student permit two weeks after ours ?? Anyway, its a nightmare not being able to work for 8 weeks, especially if you are on a tight budget. To top all that the job (s) didnt work out. The first employer got cold feet about sending a contract to immigration, they got annoyed about this and said they were going to investigate his affairs (none of his employees had contracts). So, I was desperate to get the permit as I also had our stuff waiting at Auckland in a container. I decided to get another job.

Things got worse. The new employer seemed ok at first but after getting a few days work out of me he turned nasty and I walked. Looking back I think thats what he wanted. He had some biggish jobs on and used me for some help, and no I didnt get paid either. So I now have two permits in my passport for each employer - HOW BAD DOES THAT LOOK !!!!;(

I also didnt realise that you could only work for the employer stated in the permit, so I now "officially" have to get another permit for a new employer before I start work for them. This doesnt leave any room for a trial period so I shall have to work for a few weeks before I apply again and just take the risk. My wife on the other hand has no problem working as she has an open permit (obviously of the back of mine). She has taken a job hairdressing just to get us out of the immediate mess - what a nightmare eh ?

GET YOUR PR SORTED, it will be so easy once you have done this. New Zealand is truely a wonderfull place - even in the winter. Unfortuenately the employers are just the same as they are the world over - well thats my feeling on it. Oh and the drivers here have absolutely no consideration for pedestrians, they will run you over if you are not carefull.

Just another thing I have realised, also from nickbraddock on the forum, if you require a licence to work as do sparkies, the offer of residence will be a work to residence scheme. I will be looking to get my full licence before I apply for the residence - there is no way I am going to risk a work to residence policy with my track record...

Hope I am not putting any of you off, it will be worth it in the end, just dont be hasty getting here - work hard and save those uk pennies because the pay here is not as good. Sparkies get paid really well from what I have heard, I was offered 23 dollars ph rising to 25 after licence for first job. Second job was 21 dollars after trial period. I have just had an interview with another as a maintenance electrician, they are offering 27 dollars. I know that Countdown, the supermarket, pay approx 11-12 dollars ph. Care workers get 10 dollars ph. Drivers get between 14-18 dollars ph. Hairdressers get 12 dollars ph. They say that the average takehome income is 650 per week, I think thats for a family. You can survive on that if your rent is cheap. There have also been some protests over pay but I think its good for the elections.

I know I have rambled on like an old woman but I had to get it off my chest. Please feel free to ask me anything, if I have time I will come back.

PS: Shell says the bumble bees are huge here - apart from that there are no horrible bugs - yet.
You can get a PR even with a job which requires a license. This is a country of licenses. I agree with you though if you are sure you want to stay in NZ get your PR before you come.

My husband employer said he was going to sort out his work permit but when he got here nothing had been done. It took 4 weeks to get a permit but his employer started him straight away.

[richie & michelle]

hi markyspark.
im an electrician applying in uk .are you finding there are plenty of jobs out there or is the hard part finding one who will sponser you for the 6 months?

[markyspark]

Thanks to all of you who have replied. I can honestly say I didn't know about the variation of conditions - I will bring this up with my immigration officer when I get the next job. I was told by immigration that I would need to apply all over again !!

Anyway, just a few things - there doesnt seem to be any problems getting work as a sparkie here, I think it is true that most companies are suffering a skills shortage. The only problem you might have is that if you mess it up in a small area like we live (incidently thats Whangarei, I cant figure out how to change the location on my profile) you will get a reputation. I couldn't believe how many people got to know me by name and so soon - scary (or not depending on how you feel about that). I think I will probably be going to Auckland to get the ball rolling again until I settle in. My family will survive without me around for 5 days - we will have to cram it in at the weekends. Employers will wait but dont start with them until you get a permit, they will try to talk you into this and it is against immigration (you will be sent home). I started with the first company before getting my permit, they then got worried about the contract thing and health and safety - etc. I thought they would have known all that before hand !! It was all getting messy.

The thing about average earnings, well I guess it all depends where you live. If you live in Auckland the rent will be about 375 + for a 3 bedroom. We are renting for 130 here (average is about 200-250pw), but it wasnt a very nice house to start with I will admit. So if you live in Auckland then you need at least 1000 pw coming in, shopping is 150 pw just for basics (family of 4). I run a pajero and do 600 k per week for about 65 dollars + 20 dollars for tax. Not sure what the bills are yet but probably 80 dollars per month for phone (45 line rental), 110 per 4 weeks for electric. I must admit we dont have any luxuries at the moment due to the work situation. Just a tip, like in the UK, if you shop around at the supermarkets you can do well. I bought 10 x 1.5ltrs of diet pepsi for 0.89 c each from countdown, thats cheap - saving them up for the summer. A small 500ml bottle will cost 1.5 dollars in the same shop, work that one out ?

Speak to you all later, I will reply again when I get the time and thanks for the advice kim and all.

[Smiler]

Markyspark

Good luck in Auckland.

Thanks for the prices info too, I'm always on the hunt for that kinda stuff.

Cheers

Deborah

[veronica]

I think some of the time duration tp get the work visa depends upon where you live. its my understanding that it can take up to 6 weeks in Auckland and virtually over the counter in Chch.