job offer, LTSSL, ISSL, etc

[Stefan Korber]

Hallo everyone,

Like everyone here my girlfriend and I have the dream to emigrate to NZ (at least for a couple of years). We have submitted our EOI (with 135 Points), but unfortunately we have only 10 Points for work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage (Auditing) and therefore I believe that the possibility of getting selected is minimal. So we decided to try to get a job offer (we already sent a couple of applications, but they always reply that we should get a working visa first and contact them once we are in NZ). Therefore I have some questions:

- Is it possible to fly to NZ for job interviews on a tourist Visa? I know, that this is illegal in some countries where you sign that you don’t enter the country because you are looking for a job there.
- I read a couple of posts in this forum regarding the processing times but the information varies quite a lot. We would like to mention in the application that it would take approximately ?? months to get a working visa once we have a suitable job offer. We have all documents together (and the IELTS Test with a Band Score of 8). Furthermore our occupation is on the LTSSL and the ISSL List. Which time frame would you mention?
- We both have Master’s degrees in Accounting and Auditing. I have a second Master’s degree in Management Accounting. My girlfriend has work experience as an External Auditor and want’s to work in that field of Business. Due to the fact that “External Auditor” is on both the LTSSL and the ISSL List I believe that it would mean not so much administrative work for a potential employer to hire her. Although I have also a Master’s degree in Auditing I work as a “Controller” in Austria which is from my point of view a mixture between “Management Accountant” and “Financial/Data Analyst”. Therefore I am not sure whether a company would have to proof that there are “no suitable New Zealand workers available”. My duties and qualification match with General Accountant (221111) and Management Accountant (221112) on the ANZSCO list. Unfortunately only the “General Accountant” is on the ISSL so I am not sure what happens if I am applying for a position as a Management Accountant? I would like to give potential employers as much information as possible because I think most of them are reluctant of hiring foreign workers because of the administrative work that they assume.
Thanks once again for your help… That would definitely bring us one step further towards our dream of NZ. Cheers

[JandM]

I don't know about the details of your profession needed to get into your last question. I hope someone will be along to help, though.

- Is it possible to fly to NZ for job interviews on a tourist Visa? I know, that this is illegal in some countries where you sign that you don’t enter the country because you are looking for a job there.

Yes, you can legally go to NZ on a visitor's visa, job hunt while you are there, and be interviewed by potential employers or agents. Just recently, a member of the forum has given a link to a letter from the Minister for Immigration about this matter, for everyone's reassurance. http://www.move2nz.com/downloads/Nat..._27-jan-12.pdf

- I read a couple of posts in this forum regarding the processing times but the information varies quite a lot. We would like to mention in the application that it would take approximately ?? months to get a working visa once we have a suitable job offer. We have all documents together (and the IELTS Test with a Band Score of 8). Furthermore our occupation is on the LTSSL and the ISSL List. Which time frame would you mention?

The information varies quite a lot because what happens varies quite a lot. How complicated or not someone's case turns out to be can have an effect. How prompt third parties are with their replies when INZ attempt to verify qualifications and work experience can have an effect. There can be delays if a medical is referred. The INZ office you submit to can have a sudden rush of applications just before or at the same time as your own, so the queue even to be looked at is longer. Once you're in the system, the office can have staffing problems, or staff sickness. Etc., etc.. So I'm sorry, but I don't think you can realistically put in a certain estimate of time for processing. Even what is given on an INZ branch's 'processing times' page is only ever an estimate based on how averages have been, never a promise.

[RedVee]

I've been researching the conditions for "External Auditor" and on both the LTSS and the ISS lists requires a level 7 qualification. I have read a number of posts stating that NZIS have taken a very strict interpretation of that, meaning it has to be a level 7 Bachelor's degree, not 8,9 or even 10. The only safe way would be to have your qualifications assessed. I have one that has been assessed for immigration purposes (only the PAR though) at level 6 and another at level 8, so I am working my way through the implications of this now on my EOI.

Accountancy is one of the professions in New Zealand where occupational registration is required. You need to have membership or provisional membership of the New Zealand Chartered Accountancy body. They have mutual arrangements for some accountancy bodies in some countries, and some partial exemptions - I can't see any of the three Austrian Accountancy bodies on their list. So you would need to get your qualifications assessed by them.

And be prepared for them to say you need to do more study to practice in NZ at either the assistant chartered or chartered level. This page is worth a look - it shows the routes, requirements etc. Your general work experience also needs be validated by someone deemed as suitable by them - might be a problem if your accountancy body has no affiliation with them. You can ask the NZICA to assess your qualifications, they say it takes six weeks - that would be for "employment" reasons - and at the end of it may refer you back for a full IQA. I think you will still need the full IQA via NZQF for the immigration side.

Nothing is straightforward, is it?

[Kath]

Can I ask if you already have your qualifications assessed by NZQA. This process can take a while before you have an answer and in my case the wait slowed the whole process down.

I followed the workvisa-route 2 years ago and this visa can not be granted unless you have the right qualification for the job.

Much to my regret I have to say that a joboffer alone is not enough to obtain a workvisa - qualifications and experience should match exactly the requirements as you can find them on the INZ-website or the visa will be declined. If and when everything checks out and this will be checked thoroughly by INZ - in my case it took 8 weeks to get an approval but as mentioned before - no two timelines are the same.

I wish you good luck because I recognise your situation very well and I know about the doubts and the uncertainty. And I keep my fingers crossed that you'll find a way to make it work, just as I did.

[victoria24]

I met Nathan Guy just before xmas! that dude has a cool monobrow going on lol

[JandM]

RedVee, hello and welcome, and thanks for the very informative post.

[RedVee]

RedVee, hello and welcome, and thanks for the very informative post.

Thanks for the welcome, happy to be able to contribute a bit as I'm sure I'll be back at some point with questions of my own.

[Stefan Korber]

Dear all…. Thank you very much for your help. Kath is absolutely right… it’s a lot of doubt and uncertainty and the more information I get, the more potential problems appear. Anyway we will try as long as there is a realistic possibility to fulfill our dream.

We both have Master’s and Bachelor’s Degrees in Accounting and Auditing. Furthermore our university is mentioned on the “List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment” List so I hope that won’t be a problem.

According to my information (from the immigration web site) there is no professional occupation required to work in NZ as an Accountant in general. Unfortunately NZI requires the membership of the New Zealand Chartered Accountancy body (NZICA) for application under the LTSSL as an Auditor(my girlfriend is an auditor with 4 years expierence). There are several problems regarding that point. I have contacted the NZICA and universities that offer distance learning courses. In fact it is almost impossible to obtain a provisional membership from outside New Zealand. For example you can do the required courses by distance learning, but you have to fly to New Zealand for the exams. Furthermore the courses would be approx. 15.000 NZD per person on distance learning. There are several other problems regarding that registration that I have documented in emails which I received from NZICA. We are aware, that if NZI sticks to the professional registration in advance, a visa under the skilled migrant category will be impossible for us (and in fact for all other auditors who are not registered in accountancy body’s that have agreements with NZI). Anyway, our main hope originates from a post here were someone seems to have had the same problem and says: “The LTSSL is misleading in its requirement that you be registered with NZICA. This is highly unlikely that anyone would be register with this accountancy body if they live outside the borders of NZ. While I thought this would be the barrier to my success, my case officer did not even mention this when my application was assessed.” My girlfriend has work experience as an auditor, she is a member of the Austrian body of auditors so we hope she can apply LTSSL if we can explain and document the problems with the registration.

Anyway it will all be down on our case officer and if NZI sticks to their rules in detail our EOI would be useless. We keep our fingers crossed.

[mnfj]

Hi there

I have the same problem where my wife is an external auditor and we cannot claim for points under LTSSL. I will have to get her degree assessed and hope she gets provisional membership with NZICA since she is a provisional member of CPA Australia.

Any thoughts before i submit her application?

Thanks