NZICA : External Auditor - Please Help Clarify

[iainlclarke]

Hi All. I wonder if anyone can help with this immigration roadblock we have hit.

My partner needs an essential skills temp work visa.

She was an external auditor with Bachelor in accounting from NTU Singapore. She is NOT a member of any accounting body.

A company wants to hire her ASAP as an external auditor but she has been told they cant get the work visa because she is not a provisional member of NZICA. Because her degree was done overseas it is not fully recognized and this is a very costly process involving exams and lots of money and time.. Something we want to avoid and will probably result in us leaving NZ if we have no choice

The INZ Website requirements for an essential skills temporary work visa for an external auditor: The LTSS Says she needs provisional membership to NZICA. However the immediate skills shortage list just says that you need an accounting degree and does not say you need NZICA provisional membership.

Do you think its possible to get the work visa without provisional membership to NZICA, based on the requirements on the immediate skills shortage list?



Nothing in the OPS manual says she needs NZICA registration as an external auditor.

The only information I can find that says you need to be registered is the ANZSCO description of external auditor which says "Registration or licensing is required."

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!

[Mamee & Co]

Hi

There are various levels at which you can apply for provisional membership of NZICA. Note that this is not the same as full membership which requires a post grad programme of study. Your partner may have sufficient equivalent papers within her degree to apply to enter the accountancy technician level for provisional membership.

Is her prospective employer an Approved training organization, as they should be able to advise her? I would also anticipate that they would be expecting her to take the necessary papers and courses of study to achieve full membership while working.

As I understand it the external auditor on the LTSS list is for fully qualified accountants who have worked in audit for a number of years. A professional qualification and membership of a professional body with similar training standards is required. An accountancy degree, depending upon subjects studied, from many institutions would not carry the necessary credits and levels of expertise required for accessing provisional membership.

The NZiCA website and helpline number is probably the best place to call to ascertain if you have sufficient credits to gain provisional membership at AT level.

[iainlclarke]

Hi

There are various levels at which you can apply for provisional membership of NZICA. Note that this is not the same as full membership which requires a post grad programme of study. Your partner may have sufficient equivalent papers within her degree to apply to enter the accountancy technician level for provisional membership.

Is her prospective employer an Approved training organization, as they should be able to advise her? I would also anticipate that they would be expecting her to take the necessary papers and courses of study to achieve full membership while working.

As I understand it the external auditor on the LTSS list is for fully qualified accountants who have worked in audit for a number of years. A professional qualification and membership of a professional body with similar training standards is required. An accountancy degree, depending upon subjects studied, from many institutions would not carry the necessary credits and levels of expertise required for accessing provisional membership.

The NZiCA website and helpline number is probably the best place to call to ascertain if you have sufficient credits to gain provisional membership at AT level.

Thank you very much for your detailed reply. Thanks for raising the point of the accountancy technician level as i think this requires much less academic qualifications than CA provisional membership, so might mean less exams to get the provisional membership.

I'm sure if she could get the visa then she would be able to study whilst working for them. Its just a case of can she get the visa without provisional membership and the Immediate skills shortage list says she just needs her degree.


We are only having this issue because the skilled migrant visa takes so damn long, we are gathering documents now and I will be the primary applicant. But without a temp visa my partner cant work for 9-12 months which just isnt an option...