Got a job Offer from an Accredited Employer in January, but EOI declined in December

[m.a.aparna]

Hi,

I am from India and I work for a reputed Software MNC in India. My Partner submitted an EOI in December 2012 with myself as a secondary applicant. Initially the EOI was selected from the pool with 145 points and later in end of December the status read 'EOI unsuccessful'. The reason quoted was 'You have claimed 60 points for your Master degree and have not listed any undergraduate qualification. Neither of these institutions is included on List of Qualifications'

Me and my partner have obtained M.Sc., degrees in Software Engineering and graduated from college on 2007. We did our M.Sc., from a reputed institution and it being an integrated course(5 Year), it can be taken up immediately after secondary school. So we did not have the need to take up any Bachelors degree before doing M.Sc.,

Later on in mid-January, I secured a very good offer/job with an accredited employer in NewZealand by applying from India and have got the offer letter, accredition certificate, joining date etc., confirmed, with which I can lodge my work visa application. I will be joining work in May and will reach NZ in late April. I understand that i will get my work visa since it is sponsored by the employer.

Before we apply for Work Visa, I just had a few questions.

1. Will my partner also get an open work permit (We have been living together for 3 years and have the same educational qualification(s) and years of experience)?
2. After going through New Zealand immigration website, I learn't that I should fill the main application - INZ1015 and the INZ 1146 which confirms that I agree to support my partner, and my partner should complete the INZ1198 to apply for a temporary work visa based on partnership.
3. I have a dependent child who is 15 months old and she is going to be with us. Down the line after she grows up, we will look forward to enrolling her in pre-schools/primary schools etc., Which application form should I fill up for her ?
4. Should we be worried about the fact that our EOI got rejected? In the sense, should we explain our case before submitting our work Visa application or contact any licensed IA, so that the EOI does not come in the way when we apply for Work Visa ?
   

Thanks & Regards,

[dom_donald]

Hi - I stumbled across this problem with my Masters degree not being worth anything unless it's assessed by the NZQA. I noticed that on the list of exempted degrees, all the bachelors and masters degrees you could think of were listed except an MEng. It seems they work on the assumption that a Masters is a degree you do for one year or so after you've already done a Bachelors - or at least, they want to check first.
So unfortunately for me it's an extra hassle, even though it's a very good degree from a very reputable university (Imperial College, London), but luckily my degree and university are listed in the Washington Accord, which I presumes makes the assessment for NZQA more straight forward.

Regarding your questions about work visas, what your partner has to do and what you need to do for your kids, I'd be very interested to know the answers myself, so I'm staying tuned..

[m.a.aparna]

It would be great if i can get some help to clarify my first Post.

Donald - I hope the NZQA mainly applies for people who apply EOI for getting Residency visa.

I feel it should not matter for people who have got job offers from accredited employers, because of the fact that the employer is sponsoring the Visa only because he feels that a candidate has the right talent and right experience. Any ways i am waiting to hear from other experienced people here.

[JandM]

I see you haven't had any replies from people with direct experience of getting an offer from an accredited employer, so I've been looking at the instructions available.

I see the instructions concerning accredited employers include this.

Where approval in principle to recruit foreign workers is granted, the approval must specify:
...
the training and/or work experience necessary for applicants to be considered qualified for the position(s);

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/44066.htm

I therefore assume that whatever your employer specified will have included the qualification and/or experience you've got, otherwise they would not have made you the job offer. Be aware, though, this is just me as a lay person reading what is written there and making a deduction. I suggest that if you're in any doubt on this, you should ask your employer, because they must be aware of what INZ said to them, and vice versa.

Your questions 1, 2 and 3. Yes, if you get a temporary work visa, your partner is entitled to a partner-sponsored temporary work visa valid for the same amount of time, and you have found the necessary details about applying for it. Your child will be entitled to a visitor's visa for the same amount of time, at the moment, because of her age. Once she is old enough to go to primary school, you will need to apply for a student visa for her (if by that time you are still on a temporary work visa). You can send in applications for your visa, and those for your wife and child, all at the same time, with covering letters linking them, and the CO will work everything as one case, supplying things you won't know to start with (such as your visa number) as they become available.

4. The matter of the rejected EOI should not have any impact on this application at all. Anyone is entitled to try again later. The question of inclusion on the list of qualifications refers to the INZ list of qualifications exempt from assessment http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/35171.htm - that is, qualifications on that list have already been checked out, so they don't need to be verified by NZQA. It may be that, for your present application, your master's degree will need to be submitted to NZQA - I don't know whether INZ accept the accredited employer's say-so on the employee's suitability, or whether you have to show the qualifications you hold. NZQA's job is to look at the foreign curriculum/course programme, what subject-matter was studied, for how long, to what depth, and to try to find a NZ qualification that they can state the foreign one is approximately equivalent to: if they can't find an equivalent, they at least say what Level the foreign qualification is at.

[m.a.aparna]

Thanks JandM for the detailed explanation. Much appreciate it.

It all looks clear

[confused]

hi Aparna

Just few days ago i go through this n thought it may help u..it shows the list of university and the course which are exempt from Assessment for immigration purposes special for Indian

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/45790.htm

if u hv studied from tht Uni's n d listed course thn u dont hv to go through NZQA else u hv to.

[confused]

ohh sorry..just saw tht JandM has already gave u the link...my mistake