Some advice please

[Victorian]

I live in Canada and looking for a move to NZ about the time I retire in a couple of years. My wife is a secondary school teacher, which is on the NZ long term skill shortage list. She is 50 years old. We have reasonable assets, no debt and good health.

Our goal is to retire in NZ. I realize there isn't a NZ retirement Visa, so my wife will have to work in NZ until we are allowed to retire and stay.

Ideally my wife would gain employment in NZ prior to the move, which I assume will eventually result in approval for our residence application.

Here are some of the questions I need to address:

1. If my wife gains employment, how long will she be required to work before she can quit and we can both retire?

2. Will the immigration department frown upon such a move?

3. Can anyone see any major stumbling blocks?

Our goal is not to bilk the NZ system. It is simply to contribute through spending our income and savings on NZ products and services while enjoying the country. As mentioned, we will have reasonable assets, and a steady income. All will be spent in NZ.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

(In all that follows, you can assume that whatever Visa/Permit your wife gains, you would have a matching one, but any working conditions would be on her, being the main applicant.)

1. If you look at residency under the Skilled Migrant Scheme http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...ly/default.htm with your wife as the applicant, you might find that she has enough points to be chosen from the pool WITHOUT a job offer. If that is the case, and she was awarded PR without conditions, she would be free to work or not as she chose.

If she needs (and gains) a job offer to make up the number of points, then she would probably be given PR with a Clause 18A condition - such a conditon CAN be anything, but the most common in those circumstances is that she must take up the job mentioned in the EOI/ITA, and work in it for at least three months, and still be working in it when she takes her passport and necessary proof along to NZIS at the end of the three months to show that she has fulfilled the condition, at which point an unconditional PR will be awarded. Once she has the unconditional PR, as soon as she had fulfilled whatever contract she had taken on, she would be free to work or not as she chose.

If she applied for PR, didn't need a job offer to make up the number of points, didn't have a job in prospect, and was interviewed by NZIS at the end of the process to judge her likelihood of being able to settle in NZ including her employability (there are lots of old threads on the forum about these interviews and the kind of questions asked), possible outcomes of such an interview are refusal, grant of PR, or an offer of deferred PR (also known as WTR>PR). This last gives the applicant a nine months' Work Permit - during the nine months in NZ, they have to find a job in the skill they have mentioned in their EOI, and they will then gain full PR, but if they don't find a job in that time, they have to leave. Again, if your wife was in this position, once she had the PR and had fulfilled her contract, she could work, or not.

2. If you went to them and told them openly what you were doing, it probably wouldn't help your chances of getting in. If you feel able to present as a teacher, and her spouse who intends to take any job that offers, you would be in the same boat as many other applicants. Many people in NZ work on beyond what is seen as 'retiring age' in other countries, so an implied intention to do that would not seem odd.

3. Not necessarily a stumbling block as such, but there is a quite lengthy process which foreign teachers have to go through to have their qualifications checked and approved before being able to register with the New Zealand Teachers Council, and without that registration, PR can't be granted. See the NZTC website http://www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/os/, and do a search on the forum for descriptions of the formalities - there have been threads quite recently.

[Victorian]

Thank you JandM. That is very helpful. Can you comment on the chances of my wife being chosen (with sufficient points) from the pool WITHOUT a job offer and being free not to work? That sounds like the best of everything. How long before we could be sure that our PR was assured so we could solidify the move?

I had assumed that if you were granted entry through the skilled migrant pool the government would be sure to see you did obtain employment as condition to stay, thus the nine month rule below.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...ew/default.htm

6. Residence and Work to Residence visas and permits
If you meet our criteria, and we believe you will settle successfully and contribute to New Zealand, we will offer you a residence visa or permit.

If we think you have potential, but want to see how you settle, we will give you a work to residence visa or permit, which you can use to help obtain an offer of skilled employment in New Zealand for up to nine months. If you obtain skilled employment in this time you will have shown your ability to settle and contribute, and your residence application will be approved.

Obviously not!

[JandM]

The scenario you have picked out there is not a general rule at all - it's the situation I'm talking about in my third paragraph of 1 above (deferred PR, or WTR>PR). It is one of the possible outcomes, and, in effect, is the NZ government saying, 'No, we don't think you'll fit in, but here's a chance to prove me wrong'. The 'if you meet our criteria' sentence, giving PR, is what can happen instead of that.

Can you comment on the chances of my wife being chosen (with sufficient points) from the pool WITHOUT a job offer...?

How likely she is to be chosen will vary with how many points she has. The selection level changes. Here's the most recent history. http://formshelp.immigration.govt.nz...tionPoints.htm They tend to dip down further as we move towards the end of the year.

How long before we could be sure that our PR was assured so we could solidify the move?

This is a 'how long is a piece of string?' question. NZIS is a huge bureaucracy, and each person's case takes as long to move through it as it takes. If you Google 'NZ immigration X branch processing times' (whichever office you are going to submit to) you will find an explanation of what their particular norms are. However, as you read more people's stories on this forum, you will see that there can be holdups for all sorts of reasons (although some lucky people are all done within two or three months).

[72andsunny]

3. Can anyone see any major stumbling blocks?

Since you asked...

I'd suggest running through the points indicator on the NZIS website. At your wife's age, you may find that she will not have enough points (to actually be selected--I'm sure she's over the minimum requirement) without a job offer.

Other potential stumbling blocks:
1) NZQA takes a long time to certify teachers (or at least they did for my OH...your results may vary)...not really a stumbling block; more of an irritating factor.
2) Your health: As you've mentioned that you are nearing retirement age, NZIS seems to consider "normal" parts of the aging process as medical conditions.

[Victorian]

for spending the time to address my questions.


I suppose the first step is to apply for the NZQA to certify my wife as a teacher.

[JandM]

NZQA 'check qualifications for equivalence'. Then she can register with NZTC, and then you're all set for the EOI.

How many points does she have?

[Victorian]

Hello JandM; Going by the calculator she has 120 points. Under "Partner" I answered no to the question "Does your partner have a recognised basic qualification?". Even with the link I coundn't find out whether I qualify. My occupation is a Business Anaylst (computers) but I have no intention of working in NZ. Any advice?

[JandM]

What they're asking is if you have an academic or occupational qualification of any kind, not necessarily linked to the job that you do at the moment. So, for instance, if you have a degree, or are qualified in a trade (perhaps having followed an apprenticeship), then you can answer 'yes' to this question, and claim the points.

Don't forget, if you are intending to go the SMC (skilled migrant category) route and get into the country free and clear with PR, you aren't necessarily going to share all your intentions about not working with NZIS. Your wife will be assumed to be job hunting (and will need to find out all about that, see old threads on the forum from teachers who have gone before, in order to make a good enough showing at the interview with her CO, which will happen if she doesn't have a job offer) as the main breadwinner, but if you can both give the impression at said interview that you are open to using your skills too if an opening arises, it will probably help the case along. (If your wife gets PR, so will you. Any clause 18A condition would be about her work, though, not yours.)

[Tui2too]

Hello fellow Canuck
pm me if you wish
we are in the same boat, with the same plan, just furthur down the river :-)
my OH is older than your wife, he has successfully gone through the nzqa, teacher's council reg, and we were selected on the first try with our eoi (so don't worry!)
We are now filling out our ITA and expect some delays due to my minor health issues, but we'll get there!