Visa options for caregiver/teacher

[fluffyunicorn]

Hello everyone

I have question on behalf of my friend, she is planning to visit immigration office soon anyway but since its a weekend we thought we might ask for experience or advice on this forum board.

She is currently holding partnership based work visa but she has been thinking about applying for her own visa.
She has arrived at the beginning of 2012 and was on working holiday visa after one year she applied for her partnership based work visa that got granted. She has been working as a caregiver of a boy with severe disability for more than one year now. Almost for the same time she has been at school for disabled children as teacher aide.
Back in Germany she gained her Bachelor degree in social pedagogics and she had practical experience at kindergarten and worked at afterschool care etc.
Since she has two jobs she has more than 30 hours all together
But separately its 20+ hours from each job, those two jobs are logistically connected though.

She is 32

What is her best option for her next work visa? what is the best way to go through? Has anyone have similar experience?

[JandM]

If your friend is still with her partner and is likely to stay that way at least for the next year or so, by far the easiest 'own' visa for her to get would be partner-sponsored Residence. (Although it depends on the partnership in the first place to be granted, once someone has this visa, it is permanent even if the partnership breaks up.) I think she will find that having two jobs, neither full-time, would be a big complication for INZ, and being a teacher aide is not the same as being a teacher, and not on the skills list. Nor is being a caregiver. For partner-sponsored Residence, you ONLY have to prove the partnership, whereas for a job-based visa, you have to show much more, e.g that the job is skilled and that you're qualified for it, or that the employer tried but didn't find a NZer to do it. I think that she wouldn't be able to get a work visa based on her present jobs, and even if either one was full-time, it would still be doubtful.

[fluffyunicorn]

Hi JandM"
thank you for your quality reply. In the first place I should have noted that the relationship doesnt look really good atm and thats why she is looking for different option

[JandM]

Sorry to hear that. But in that case, if she wants to stay in NZ, she probably needs to get a full-time job in line with her qualifications.