[Patrick]

I finished my NZQA and Teacher's Council regsitration two months ago, and then decided on the spur of the moment to apply for a particularly appealing job I saw on edgazette.com I thought to myself, "I'm secondary, the job is primary, I don't have a real chance to get this great job, but I need an idea of the process so I can try for real in a few months, and I can phone to ask questions this way about the school and things along those lines, so why not?" Lo and beold, had the interview this morning, and got offered the position after the interview. Great! The bad news is, the position starts on the 24th of July, so while I do have my documents ready because I was thinking to seriously apply for jobs in August, this leaves me pretty much no time to apply for PR, so I have to go the temporary route and scramble to get it all done by the end of the month, and apply for PR later on or at the same time. I also have to sell/rent my house here in Taiwan, move the goods, etc. Anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? Do temp. visas get processed quickly? Is it easier to do them in NZ or from overseas? By the way, I'll be working in Papakura, so does anyone have any advice on housing in the area, schools for the little one, shopping, things along those lines?

[tee and dee]

Well done Patrick - sorry can't help with the info but as primary educator am curious to know what the fab job is,
Tracey

[Smiler]

Well done Patrick. :raebanana:raebanana
Have you spoken to NZIS to find out what your quickest option is?

I haven't a clue on the town but there is some info here http://www.pdc.govt.nz/

[Nienke]

Congratulations Patrick! :raebanana
We got caught by surprise as well, but had a little bit more time than you have, we went for the Work to Residence visa as they can be issued relatively fast. But maybe a work permit is faster and after that apply for PR when you're here.
I defenitely would call the NZIS to ask which way to go.

[Patrick]

The job is in ACG Strathallan, and right now, we're trying to figure out how to satisfy visa requirements. Headaches all around, but it'll be worth it in the end!

[Avalon]

Please check with NZIS directly - because I seem to remember (and this is dredging info out of my somewhat tired brain from 3 years ago) that if you apply for PR and tell them that you need to start on a certain date, they can issue a tempororay visa so that you can start, and then process the PR application in the background.

Its not that uncommon for people to need to start a job faster than the PR process takes to complete. NZIS will be used to dealing with cases like this.

Good luck

[ruthyroo]

Congrats on the job Patrick. Mr Rr is a teacher, we ended up in a similar position to you. After running out of time, we arrived in NZ on tourist visas, then applied for Work Permits in person at NZIS in Hamilton. The key thing was to have all our paperwork with us - all the transcripts, qualifications, job experience, medicals and police checks (these two not required for the 2 year permit I think - we went for 3 years). We went in at 8am, Mr Rr passport was stamped and ready to go by 10am and he started work 4 days later - hey presto!

I think the other key thing for us was that secondary teaching is listed as a shortage occupation - NZIS will certainly bend over backward to provide visas for such occupations, as long as you have all the correct paperwork. I think that primary teaching is on one of the shortage lists but only for Auckland - Papkura is in Auckland Region but not Auckland City, I don't know which applies for the shortage lists. Check out the NZIS website for these as my info is now at least 18 months out of date and I know that they update the lists!

Good luck - and well done on the job. Mr Rr has looked longingly at some primary / intermediate positions here just to get out of the hell that is secondary, but never applied for them (in Scotland it's strictly appropriate qualification = job) so I will pass your story on to him!

[Patrick]

This is turning out to be the mother of all immigration headaches. I have all of the documentation in hand, including letter from principal, contract, etc, and even if I get everything in to the New Zealand office here in Taiwan today, there's no guarantee that the visa will be issued in time. Why? Primary teaching is not on the skills shortage list, so I have to cross my fingers and hope that the labor market test for Auckland they have to do will turn out in my favor. I need luck!! Does anyone know the state of teaching, shortage or otherwise, in Auckland? From what I've read, the rolls are still increasing, so perhaps that will work in my favor? :confused: