[dave k]

Sent in EOI...was selected...then NZIS have big probs with me cos I don't fit into their boxes. I work freelance doing post-prod audio editing, I also work a cafe day job and am a songwriter & active musician in Wellington. I am also educated to degree-level, healthy and love NZ. I've spent two years of my life here.

Not good enough apparently - I need to have a regular, contracted job which suits my qualifications ( BA in English Lit....er...) or it's off I go.

So, there you have it.

Damn...I knew I shoulda studied something like Accountancy instead of doing artistically fulfilling things with my life :)

[katandbob]

hey sorry Dave, surely you could find a job that suits them for now? and do your other stuff in any spare time left???

bummer if not, bit silly if you are contributing to NZ tax etc...Appeal and see what happens

Fingers xd

Kat

[StevieD]

Dave - gess you gotta go teach man!! :( Fit your other stuff around like Kat said - if you can... Good luck mate.

Steve - still stuck in the north west of England

[marcia]

Can you just do a 'proper' job for 3 months or even a year (its not a long time when you look at the bigger picture) to get PR???? :confused:

Good luck!

[terbo]

Hey Dave

Sorry to hear your bad news! I am a teacher in South Africa and I agree with what someone else said-why dont you apply as a teacher(teaching is on the long term skills shortage list)once you are in and have established yourself a little you can branch out again into what you enjoy-your music.

just a thought!
good luck!

regards
terbo

[Diny]

That's tough news Dave, I also echo what others say about getting a different job - one that fits into a 'shortage' category.

It may be a case of biting the bullet in the short term to benefit in the long term.

Hope it all turns out well for you.

Diny

[Hannah]

Dave,
I'm assuming you are not a teacher - hence getting a job as a teacher would be a difficult one. BA in English is a tough one - you could consider yourself qualified for nothing or qualified for all, depending on how you look at it. I'd go with what others have said - find yourself the kind of job that satisfied a bored immigration officers need to tick a box and then, 3 months later, continue to spend the rest of your life entertaining the kiwis. Maybe you could go down the work to residence 'talent in arts etc' route! Sadly the immigration laws, like all laws, are black and white to remove the subjectivity from the system - and their rules say you need to do such and such kind of job for 3 months to qualify for your residency. Who knows, in that three month, you find you like 9-5 office work and feel inspired to do an accountancy degree!!!!! :-) Or not....
Good luck, don't give up yet, just give NZIS what they need.
Hannah

[StevieD]

Dave - a bean counter? Never!! :laugh

[dave k]

Thanks for the replies guys.

You're all right, I know. The only way in for me is to begin to play the game...thing is, as much as I love living here, I dunno if I want to stay enough at the moment to go through all that to be honest.
That's not just me taking my ball home either....I just feel I've got more important stuff to do.
If NZIS can't see that I'm contributing my heart & soul already by doing what I'm doing, then that's too bad.
It's crazy to think though, that at this very moment people down at Welly City Council are being paid handsomely to dream up ways of attracting folks to enrich the cultural life of the city ( and the country) ...and I'm right here, already involved in it & yet beginning to consider packing my bags.

Bureaucracy is the same shade of grey the world over it would seem...

[zardell]

It's crazy to think though, that at this very moment people down at Welly City Council are being paid handsomely to dream up ways of attracting folks to enrich the cultural life of the city ( and the country) ...and I'm right here, already involved in it & yet beginning to consider packing my bags.




Go and tell them what you've just told us......you never know, they may give you a job for 3 months, then you can get PR, continue with your free lancing and suit yourself.

Just a thought........Good luck Dave, whatever your decision.

Julie

xx

[Avalon]

Dave,

Im really sorry to hear about this. Dont give up yet though.

Can you get a second opinion on your options? The reason I ask is that a friend is in something of a similar position, and has so far had 3 different opinions from NZIS as to what she should do. So if you havent already done so - its worth making sure that what you are being told stays the same. If that makes sense.

Also, how long does your work visa last for? You should be able to get a visitors visa when that runs out. You cant work on that, but it could you give a bit of extra time to look at options.

My final thought is - can you get a visa on the talent scheme? Make a case for your skills in the music area.

Also, I didnt think your job had to have anything to do with your degree. Certainly OH has never had a job in the highly sort ofter field of Astrophysics!

Is any of that at all helpful?????

[zardell]

Also, I didnt think your job had to have anything to do with your degree. Certainly OH has never had a job in the highly sort ofter field of Astrophysics!




You took the words (apart from astrophysics !!) right out of my mouth.

Get a second opinion from another NZIS officer.

Julie

xx

[Charlosparky]

I work freelance doing post-prod audio editing

I probably have the wrong end of the stick here but can you connect this work to the NZ film industry and get the talent visa thing- i thought the film industry and all associated stuff was held in high regard in NZ. :confused:

Good luck anyway. Whatever you do.

[jdbob]

Sorry to hear that Dave. NZIS's primary function seems to be a pimping service for NZ business interests and they seem to have a hard time thinking outside the box.

[Mexican in NZ]

Just wanna wish you the best!
I also agree with all the others, you should work as a teacher for at least 3 months so u can apply for the PR once u have it u can do whatever u want. I think if u want to do more of ur own stuff u can prob try to teach in a community class they are only 3 times a week and max of 2 hrs per day i guess in that u will get extra points cos u will be teaching for the community and in addition u can retain your other works.
Wish you the best!
God Bless,
Adriana

[jess]

Sorry you're having trouble Dave. They are really black and white on this stuff aren't they. We got our PR through the Creative Industries future growth area, and all they cared about was that I worked full time at a theatre and I had a BA in theatre. (They couldn't have cared less about my MA in another field. My degree had to match my work experience.) Most of the people I know in the arts don't have a degree in the arts. That's the nature of the business, since you get work as an artist through talent and auditions, not degrees. Or even if they do have the right degree, often the work is not full time, again because of the business - so it won't count for NZIS. By that standard you are much more likely to get arts admin and marketing people coming to NZ than performers. I'm really sorry you're having to make the choice to bite the bullet or pack your bags when you are actually providing what the govt. wants the immigration process to bring to NZ.

[Diny]

Whereas I can sympathise with Dave's predicament, at the end of the day, cafe staff and musicians are not jobs on the shortage list, therefore (IMHO) I feel it's a touch unfair to start 'slagging off' the NZIS and claiming it's bureaucracy gone silly. Rules are rules - plain and simple. Utilising other qualifications as a means to an end isn't such a daft idea.

Yes I do agree that on one hand they're inviting people to enrich NZ, but like any 'vacancy' - you have to be qualified. I know that sounds rude - and I really don't mean it to. But if you want to live in NZ you have to dance to their tune.

How many of us complain bitterly about the lax immigration rules back in the UK? I've heard it mentioned on more than one occasion on this forum that the UK system should be as tight as the NZ one. Sadly we can't change our tunes when 'one of our own' are disadvantaged by such a system.

Dave - I don't know you, but from what I can make out from your forum postings I'm sure you'll do just fine in whatever decisions you make. Please don't take this posting as a personal 'stab' it's just my thoughts that's all. I genuinely wish you all the best.

Diny

[Avalon]

But if you want to live in NZ you have to dance to their tune.


Now if only NZIS would decide what the tune is :wah It would make it a lot easier for people who dont fit into neat little boxes to understand what they should do.

[Diny]

Now if only NZIS would decide what the tune is :wah It would make it a lot easier for people who dont fit into neat little boxes to understand what they should do.


I guess it's a case of adjusting ones circumstances making it easier to decide which neat little box one fits into - surely as a short term measure it'll mean long term rewards.

[dave k]

Whereas I can sympathise with Dave's predicament, at the end of the day, cafe staff and musicians are not jobs on the shortage list, therefore (IMHO) I feel it's a touch unfair to start 'slagging off' the NZIS and claiming it's bureaucracy gone silly.

Diny

"Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies."
--Honore de Balzac

I'm not slagging off NZIS, & bureaucracy is quite silly enough already without going any further.

I'm aware of the need to work within the rules & I don't blame Immigration for their inflexibility - they are, after all, "just doing their job" and "just following procedure" - I'm just a bit crestfallen is all. And, if I really, really wanted to I suppose I could find some way round it, or do something I have no interest in doing to satisfy their needs. I'm just not sure I want to.

It may be best for me to skip back to England for a while, earn some better dough & go see some more of our lovely planet.

Thanks again for all the comments.

[Avalon]

"Bureaucracy is a giant mechanism operated by pygmies."
--Honore de Balzac


:D I like that a lot.

Whatever you do - best of luck to you - even if it isnt in New Zealand.

[Smiler]

And from me too.

Whatever you decide or is decided for you, good luck and happy travels.

D x

[dave k]

Incidentally, my post-prod work is a valued skill in their eyes...it's just unfortunate that the nature of the work is usually project-specific rather than 9-5 trad "job".
They were quite helpful on the phone & suggested I try the self-employed business route. But I looked at it & it's WAY too many hoops to jump through for me...for now.