Can I apply for PR on student visa with job offer

[newApplicant]

Hi,

I am going to study in NZ for postgraduate. I may get work visa also.

If I get job offer, can I apply for PR? I would still be on a student visa so will it affect?

[JandM]

How would that be, you having a student visa AND expecting to get a work visa?

[newApplicant]

I think Phd students get work visa as well.

[JandM]

If you look here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...outvisas/#work you will see the following.

Unlimited work rights for PhD and Masters by research students

If you are enrolled in Masters by research or doctoral degree programmes awarded by a New Zealand tertiary institution, there are no restrictions on the hours you can work.

You will have the right to work - you won't have a work visa.

[newApplicant]

If you look here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...outvisas/#work you will see the following.



You will have the right to work - you won't have a work visa.

Many thanks for your answer - Is there a difference between the above?

Would this visa prevent me from getting an IT programmer Job?

Anyway, back to my question, can I still apply for PR while I am on this visa?

[JandM]

Yes, there is a difference. A student visa has a limited time, only running while your course is in progress, so an employer cannot offer you a permanent position unless and until you are in a position to move on to a work visa, which has the possibility of being extended, or a residence visa, which is not time-limited. (Incidentally, when successful under SMC, it is a Residence visa you get. PR is a different visa, only available after one has lived on a Residence visa for a minimum of two years.)

This would not stop you being employed in IT for the length of your student visa, if an employer wants to take you on. I assume, though, having done a research degree myself, that there would be times when you would have commitments at the university which would HAVE to take priority if you are to be seen to be honouring the terms of your student visa by doing the study to the full, so this could impinge on your employment. People who enter the country as students have to be careful not to be tempted to slide into the world of work without regularizing their visa position as they go, otherwise they may find they are accused of fraud, and any later visas refused or cancelled.

I do not know if you would be eligible to apply for residence while on a student visa. I suggest you PM and ask Karen Phillips, who may have come across this situation in her work as a Licensed Immigration Adviser.

[Karen Phillips]

Hi. Just spotted this thread. If you are in NZ on a PhD student visa and you start working full-time (as you are allowed to do), your work contract would need to be for a finite period of time to coincide with the time left on your student visa. if the company then offered you permanent full-time work subject to you gaining an appropriate visa, I can't see any reason why you couldn't apply for residence based on the job offer. Whether you could actually work full-time and be a PhD full-time student is debatable unless your job and your research have a lot of overlap. However, should you then wish to continue with your PhD, you might be able to negotiate a change to part-time student status once you had your residence. (I found it hard work!). As you would only be paying domestic fees for your PhD, your student fees would not change.

[girlwithanewf]

Doing a PhD is a full-time job. You can't do a phd, work as a IT programmer, sleep, eat, have a life all at the same time.
I would concentrate on either the Phd or the job, not both.

[newApplicant]

Hi Karen,

Hi I am here in New Zealand studying for Phd. In the student visa I have, I can work for any company and any employer.

Now I have got a job offer for a full-time permanent position. I am sure that I can work while on this visa however I want to apply for residence visa.

From your above reply, it seems that I cannot apply for residence visa while on student visa? Should l I apply for work visa?