Recce trip and Visitor Visa rights

[meme]

Hi all,
Am flying to NZ on Friday on a recce trip hoping to find a job. I was reading about visitor visa rights and it states:

‘Lawful purpose’ for visitors
We consider you to be coming to New Zealand for a lawful purpose if you are a visitor coming for the purposes of:
holidaying
sightseeing
family and social visits
amateur sport
business consultation
medical treatment
guest of Government visits.

Im worried that immigration/customs might stop me and send me back if they know im coming for the purpose of finding a job. Since job hunting is not listed above, does this mean i'll be breaking NZ law because of my plans to look for a job? Im just asking cos i remember coming across a situation like this on that TV show (customs NZ or something like that) and a guy from some foreign country got sent back cos they found some business docs in his luggage (like job agreements/cv's etc) and the guy told customs that he was there for holiday when in fact he was there to job hunt/secure a job - so they sent him back.

So my question is, is it lawful to come on a visitor's visa and job hunt in NZ? If i get asked on arrival about the purpose of my visit, and i tell them the truth (recce trip), will i still be accepted to enter the country?

[JandM]

I think this is a bit of a grey area.

What is definitely illegal is to work on a visitor's visa.

Nobody could say you've broken the law by meeting potential employers, or by receiving a job offer while you're on the visitor's visa.

However, there are some officials who aren't likely to be happy with somebody at the immigration desk in the run-up to the second state. I've seen people mention on the forum that they've openly said they're recce-ing and have been passed in without a problem, but others have been questioned quite strictly. Obviously (to us), what's REALLY wrong is for a person to be there intending to stay illegally, and not depart in line with their present visa, and you can understand an official's duty is to intercept anyone like that, so they're likely to be twitchy if confronted with certain statements, and evidence such as a bundle of already printed-off CVs (why the heck would you need hard copies?).

You've got to make your own decision here. Here are some other opinions on this old thread. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23976

[ralf-nz]

I'm one if these who had no issues upon declaration that I'm on a recce.

In a wider sense it fits in the category business consultation - coupled with sight seeing.

[Sun777]

Do keep some sort of supporting information that you are looking for job. I remember visiting Immigration NZ office while applying for visitor visa and mentioned that I will be looking for job, at the counter I was asked for printouts of all the efforts/research that I have done around it...luckily I was confident enough about job search and didn't have any problem.

[rashvk]

Classic words used by ralf to state at the immigration desk!

In a wider sense it fits in the category business consultation - coupled with sight seeing.

Good luck with your hunting