[mrtrick]

Hello Everyone,

I have been reading for weeks about New Zealand, something about it just attracts me and therefore have decided to go to New Zealand for some time, with planning to move there January 2007 if all goes well. Now the problem arises, how?
I am not planning on living in NZ for the rest of my days, most likely just for a few years. My education has been rated by the NZQA as “a qualification at level 5 on the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications“
I work as an IT manager at present time and therefore do not foresee great challenges getting employment. But how do I get a work visa? My girlfriend would be moving along as well and would need work visa as well, she holds a bachelor degree in culinary.
We're both under 30 and clean background check etc.

Any advice or personal experiences would be most helpful.

Thank you very much

[anna_c]

Where are you from?

If you are from a country makes it possible, aren't going to reach thirty very soon, and don't mind a little uncertainty, I'd recommend going on a working holiday visa which is granted pretty much automatically provided you meet the criteria and the quota for your country hasn't been met and allows you to work temporarily. Once you get there start looking for a permanent job and once you have an offer you can apply for either a work visa or residency.

[mrtrick]

Anna, thanks for your reply
I am a citizen of Denmark, girlfriend is a citizen of Mexico. The preferred method would be to have everything ready and good to go before departure, but I'd be willing to take the chance and just move without any job and contract in my hand.
Is there no way to apply for a full work visa prior to arrival?

[anna_c]

Yes, but you need either a job offer (which I understand is difficult without coming to the country first, but their are people who can better advise you on this than myself) or to meet the criteria on the Immediate Skills Shortage List (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/F7C2D712-7D70-4073-827F-ECFBEE111BAC/0/ISSLAugust2006.pdf)

For an IT specialist, for example, this is:

IT Specialist (21311 or 21312 or 21313)

Bachelor of Science, with majors in computer science or information science science AND a minimum of three years’ full-time work experience with
at least 12 months work experience in the past 18 months in at least one of
the specialisations on the list


If you haven't already I suggest you thoroughly read the Work Visa (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/) of the NZIS site

[mrtrick]

I do not hold a Bachelor of Science in IT, however, my education has been rated as “a qualification at level 5 on the New Zealand Register of Quality Assured Qualifications“ by the NZQA, would that be sufficient?
Also, would my girlfriend get an automatic approval even though we have not been living together for one year, or would she apply separately?

Finally, given that all of the above works out, once we get there, apply for the job and then the work permit, how long is the estimated processing time when you actually are in NZ, hold a job and have all good records?

Thanks

[auskiwi]

Your girlfriend would have to apply seperately as you have not been living together for two yeras (I believe that is the partnership rule-others will correct me if I am mistaken!).

Amy.

[Trigirl]

your girlfriend would get a visa based on yours if you can show you are in a genuine partnership. part of this is to show you have been living together for one year.

possible visas:
permanent residence - you need to check if you have enough points to apply. you can try the "quick check" on the NZIS website - you need 100 points to qualify but may need more (120+) to have much chance of being selected from the pool of applicants. applying for PR can take a while.

work visa - you wont qualify under the skills shortage areas as you dont have a degree in your specialism. a qualification at level 5 isn't the same as a degree. so to go this route you need a job offer. if you can get a job offer from a company that can prove it can't recruit a NZ person to do the job then you would be able to apply for a work visa under this route - you would then only be able to work for that company.

working holiday visa - have a read of the WHV requirements and restrictions. this is often the easiest way into the country but can be pretty restrictive once you are there. eg you can't take a permanent job or work for the same employer for more than 3 months. mexico doesn't have a WHV scheme so you'd need to check if your girlfriend is eligible to come with you on a WHV - not sure about that one.

only you can decide which is the best route for you - but hopefully that gives you an overview of some of the options.