Complication if applying for SMC while being a student?

[tchu]

Dear everyone,

I was a bit late to find out my ability to qualify for SMC application (long term shortage + level 7 degree + >8 years of relevant experience + level 7 degree for spouse -> 140+ points with no job offer). So right now I’m waiting for my student visa to study the Master program in NZ in Mar 2014 as planned and, meanwhile, I’m collecting papers to start IQA process in a couple of weeks.

I had a brief talk on phone with a certified immigration adviser and he mentioned that if I go to NZ under a Student Visa, applying for Residency Visa under SMC then it would be “complicated” because I express to NZ Immigration that I go to NZ for studying then it turns out that I want to migrate. However, I have a doubt on his argument since I thought 1 year staying/ studying in NZ would add much advantage for me since it help me understand about NZ much better before the interview at the end of the Visa application process. Ideally, I would like to find job in NZ with a residency visa in hand after finishing my Master program by end of 2014

So, I would like to hear your thought/ advice/ compliment on my situation. If applying for Residency Visa under SMC while being a student would really bring any harm to my application then what alternative could I choose? I really don’t want to delay the Master program since I’ve prepared for it, adjusted my life plan for it, and even paid my tuition in advance.

Many thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing from you

[Elaine_NZ]

I don't see how you being a current student could be disadvantageous in regards to your SMC application since one is eligible for a 12-month "Graduate Job Search Work Visa" after completing the studies. Besides, you don't state in your student visa application that you'd just study here and not consider settling at some point in the future, I think it's in NZ's interest for graduates to stay and contribute to NZ economy...
Anyway, it doesn't matter what you are doing in NZ during your residency application, as long as you are here legally (who's to say one can't apply while on a visitor visa?) - and if you apply during your studies that may give you a great chance to have the residency settled before you graduate (i.e. saving you the trouble and cost of applying for Graduate Job Search Work Visa (or any other temporary visa after completing your degree) and give you an opportunity to start permanent employment immediately (or even nearing the end your studies). If your residence application is approved I think it's just an administrative procedure to change your student status from international to domestic.
In my opinion, it's a win-win situation to apply for residency while on a student visa (that's what I did based on my partner's employment).

[JandM]

I expect that what the adviser was thinking of is the most recent version of the regulations on gaining Residence.

If an applicant doesn't have a job offer, near the end of processing their application, they will have to have an interview with their CO, to assess their potential to settle and contribute - particularly, their employability. INZ is in effect swapping the Residence visa for having the skilled applicant immediately make his skill and experience available on the NZ job market, and the rules http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/43652.htm specifically state, "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)." So anyone about to do a course of study in NZ, who applies under SMC and has their CO interview before going to NZ, or when their course still has some while to run (and they wouldn't be willing to abandon it if a job offer arose), automatically sets themself up for refusal. The timing is VERY important: there have been people on the forum who had a perfectly good application refused for this reason.

From what you say about yourself, if you put in your application when you are already part way through your MA course, so the processing would be likely to finish at around the time you end your studies, everything should work out all right.

[tchu]

Thank you very much Elaine and JandM. So the good news is that now I know exactly what the implicit risks would be and how to avoid while the bad news is that I shall not get back any part of tuition fee due to changing in residency status

May I ask for your help on a few other questions arising here:

1. Timing: as I found on this forum, the time duration from EOI to the interview varies much among applicants. May I assume the average time duration (for SMC with 140 points without job offer) is 12 months and the minimum, at quite low possibility, is 6 months? Besides, would it be possible for me to discuss timing issue with my future CO and ask him/ her hold my application for a just a couple months more should I need it?

2. Choice of NZ Immigration branch: As I'm going to study the Master program in Auckland, should I (or must I) submit EOI with NZ Immigration branch in Auckland or with NZ Immigration branch in Shanghai due to my country of residence? What are the advantages/ disadvantages for submitting EOI between the two branches?

Many thanks

[JandM]

Nobody has a choice of branch - you have to submit your application to the INZ office nearest to where you are currently living. ('Living' meaning where your day-to-day base is for the time being, not referring to of which country you are officially a resident.) So once you're doing your course, you'd submit to the nearest INZ branch to your INZ home. (If anyone has an application in, and they move from one country to another, perhaps for their work, or for study, INZ sends the application on to the office nearest to their new home.)

Here's INZ Auckland's processing times page. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/branc...ocessingtimes/ They say they aim to process SMC applications in 6 - 9 months. As mentioned before, one of the last things to be done is the CO interview, so if your CO contacted you to arrange that, the timing is something you could raise with him/her, yes. However, once the CO has done the interview and come to a decision in their own mind about the applicant, there is still a second-person check of the case (http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=38142 explanation in case you haven't heard of this before) to wait for, so it's probably not going to be possible to 'aim' your timing precisely to coincide with the end of your course.

[tchu]

Thank you so much JandM. As I search the forum, time duration from interview to result could take from a few days to several months with mandatory 2nd CO check and optional 3rd party check, securities check. It seems the only timing that I may aim somehow is the Interview date. So I think my plan would be that after my graduation date a few weeks, if I still not get the SMC result then I must submit the application for graduated job search visa in time.

[JandM]

Yes, there is always that option as a backup in case you need it.

But for people already in NZ who are applying for Residence while on another visa (student, or work), quite often if they write to their CO saying that that other visa is within eight weeks of expiry, and do they need to put in for something else in order to stay legal, quite often magically the Residence visa comes through within the next few days - another thing worth bearing in mind.