Got ITA but Im worried my "skilled employment"

[forummate]

Hi All,

I have been in NZ for student visa to study my first Bachelor. I have been working as a research assistant in the Institute which is partnered with the university since the summer in 2011. It is the job studying economic projects and my degree also majors in Economics.

I finished my Bachelor in Dec 2012 and hence, I have decided to apply for resident visa. I have got ITA and I am collecting my documents to submit back. However, I have been so worried about my satisfaction for "skilled employment" after going around the forum. Since Dec 2011, I have worked on three continual contracts. They are 8-month contract and 4-month ones (corresponding to academic university period and summer period). My current contract ends at the end of Feb 2013.

My questions are:
1) Am I correct when I classify me as an "Economist" occupation?
2) Does my job satisfies "ongoing"?

As the Institute is formed in 2008 and partnered with the university, I am confident the job is sustainable.

Because all of my three contracts state "no further employment is implied...", I wonder whether my employment satisfies the other definition of 'skilled employment', where it states "If you are offered a contact and have a history of working on contracts in your occupation, then this may be accepted as ‘skilled employment’ if INZ is satisfied that the work is likely to continue."

A favoured point is that I have promoted by 1 salary grade in my position but I worries my past and current status of "student visa". As a holder of student visa, I cannot work more than 20 hours during studying period, and hence, my history of employment of one of the three contracts (i.e, in the second 8-month contract) will show the working hours below 30 hours.

When I submit EOI, I was talking about my third contract, which says my job ends on 28Feb 2013. Should I wait for the new fourth contract and then reply to my ITA? However, this seems not so good for me as my student visa is expiring on 31 March 2013 and I intend to study for Bachelor (Honours) this March.

Can anyone share your thinkings and/or have some suggestions? Thank you.

__________________________
EOI submitted & selected & ITA issued: Jan 2013

[JandM]

Hello.

If you were now going on to work full-time, it's possible that you might be able to convince INZ that your work history would qualify you, although, as you've noticed yourself, the definitions aren't clearly on your side, and, from other contract workers' experience, there would probably be arguments about it, but you intend to continue as a student.

my student visa is expiring on 31 March 2013 and I intend to study for Bachelor (Honours) this March.

Of all you have mentioned above, this is the one sentence which jumped out at me, which is likely to make everything else irrelevant and will disqualify you from getting residence at this time. (With a further degree, and when you are ready to go into the world of work full-time, you will be much better placed to make a good case.)

The reason is that the Skilled Migrant Category is intended for people who will make their skills and knowledge available in the NZ job market, immediately Residence is granted. If you look at the INZ operational manual, this intention becomes clear in the section about assessing a candidate's ability to contribute to NZ. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/43652.htm

Note: Principal applicants who do not intend to take up full-time employment may not be considered to have good employment prospects (e.g. those who intend to undertake full-time study).

[forummate]

Thank you very much JandM.

That is really my worry but I did not found any specific evidence against me until you show. The INZ operational manual is really a complete picture of rules.

Do you think what is my percentage of success if I will not continue studying or just study part-time?

[JandM]

Your situation doesn't appear to fit neatly into INZ expectations.

It seems likely that if you had a full-time job offer that you intended to take up, your chances would improve, but other contract workers' experience seems to be that there is always a lot of arguing to be done! Will your fourth contract be full-time, if you want it to be?

As 'economist', though a skilled job, is not on the LTSSL, and I see the ANZSCO list just says the qualification is normally a bachelor's degree. There isn't an INZ requirement for a certain amount of work experience (just as well as some of yours is part-time, and in some cases when there is a length of time stated, INZ require all work experience to be undertaken AFTER the qualification). So your work history may just be useful to show that for you, contract work is normal. There could be a problem in that you've been doing this work until now WITHOUT a bachelor's degree - if your next contract is the same work, someone might question whether it's actually skilled. Like I said, I foresee some arguing to be done.