Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 13

Thread: Job offer received, work visa or residency application?

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    31

    Default Job offer received, work visa or residency application?

    Hi all,

    I have received a job offer today from a NZ company, so I have a lot of questions.

    I am in IT and my skills are on the long term shortage skills list. The company wants me to start in June.

    Do I apply for a work permit only or work to residency application? I don't have all the documentation yet (e.g. police Clearance Certificate, Medical), so I am concerned that it might take too long before I have to leave.

    Any advice will be helpful what the quickest road will be getting a work permit.

    Thanks

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    Is the company accredited? And/Or are they offering to sponsor you for a visa? They may have experience which will be useful in your own case, if so.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    31

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JandM View Post
    Is the company accredited? And/Or are they offering to sponsor you for a visa? They may have experience which will be useful in your own case, if so.
    Hi JandM. Yes, they are accredited. They did mention in the offer that they will assist with the visa process. I just phone our local NZ immigration office here in South Africa, and they said there is only one work permit and that is the work to residency and the long term shortage skills category.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Whangaparaoa
    Posts
    472

    Default

    Apply for a work permit to get here in order to start the job, and then apply for residence (SMC) when you are here.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    31

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by G-Mo View Post
    Apply for a work permit to get here in order to start the job, and then apply for residence (SMC) when you are here.
    Hi G-Mo. What work permit do you refer to? Is there a general one? According to the local immigration office here in SA there is only one.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    There are the temporary work visas http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra.../requirements/, and there is the work to residence visa http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra.../caniworkinnz/. This last is what your employer can sponsor you for, being accredited. If you go along with what your employer is offering, things will go through in the fastest possible time - you can get an idea of how things are running by Googling the INZ office where you will have to submit your application's "processing times" page, but bear in mind this is only their best guess. Your employer will know that time is elastic when dealing with INZ, so don't be too concerned - as long as you do promptly whatever is your responsibility, he's going to be understanding if there are any hitches.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    31

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by JandM View Post
    Your employer will know that time is elastic when dealing with INZ, so don't be too concerned - as long as you do promptly whatever is your responsibility, he's going to be understanding if there are any hitches.
    My new NZ employer would like me to start in June, and that is only one and a half month away from now. I am from South Africa, and the police clearance might only be done by the end of May. I already requested it about a week ago. Our government processes are extremely slow here.

    @JandM, a few more questions: Can I get my temporary work visa first while still in South Africa, then when I arrive in NZ, apply for my work to residency visa there? I should by then have all my documents required for immigration. 2nd Question, if I do receive a temporary work visa, can my partner join me immediately?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    Can I get my temporary work visa first while still in South Africa, then when I arrive in NZ, apply for my work to residency visa there? I should by then have all my documents required for immigration.
    Yes, you can do that, but I don't think the temporary work visa would necessarily be any more quickly processed than the WTR. (Ask the INZ office you will be applying to.) It would be a more usual route, to go with what the employer suggests, then to apply for residence under SMC alongside that.

    2nd Question, if I do receive a temporary work visa, can my partner join me immediately?
    Whichever out of temporary work visa or WTR you apply for, your partner can apply for a partner-sponsored temporary work visa at the same time. You can send all the paperwork in at the same time, linked by a covering letter, then the CO will work the whole thing as one case, supplying things like your visa number, which you won't know to begin with, as they become available.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    3,697

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by charlesa View Post
    The company wants me to start in June.
    Have they mentioned any tenure for the job or its a permanent employment? If they have mentioned 1 year or less then you can apply for work permit with less paperwork, if it is for 2 years or more/Permanent position then you would have to go through Medicals and Police Clearances.

    As posted above, I would rather consider Work Permit and then apply for SMC visa.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
    Location
    South Africa
    Posts
    2

    Default

    HI. My husband is also in IT and have sent of his cv to a few companies. Waiting in suspense for yes or no. Reading through all these comments I just realized that we should start with requesting all the documents required so that when a offer does come we will have everything in place

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •