EOI for Skill Migrant Category

[djdan319]

Dear everyone,

Kia Ora. Greetings to all of you and thanks in advance for helping me with my questions. Just some background about myself: I am a married man currently residing in Singapore and I am looking to migrate to New Zealand with my family to work and live there permanently. My plan now is to seek employment in New Zealand first before my family joins me there.

I have a few questions while filling up the EOI forms:

1. My wife and myself both studies in local university in Singapore and our lessons are entirely taught in English. Do we need additional supporting documents from the University to verify that or would our transcript and degree conferment scroll suffice?

2. Does my offer of skilled employment in New Zealand have to match my previous work experiences? Can I still claim points for previous work experiences if my job offer in New Zealand is in a different industry?

3. How do I give explanations that my job offer in New Zealand is skilled? Is there any format to write in this section?

4. What are the supporting documents required from INZ for my previous work experiences? (I currently possess only a letter from my previous companies stating the position that I held in the company and my working period in the company. Would that suffice?)

5. Is submission of EOI best to be done when I am in Singapore with the NZ job offer or when I am already on the job at New Zealand?

Thanks all for your help.

Cheers,
Danny.

[JandM]

I have a few questions while filling up the EOI forms:

1. My wife and myself both studies in local university in Singapore and our lessons are entirely taught in English. Do we need additional supporting documents from the University to verify that or would our transcript and degree conferment scroll suffice?

You need a separate letter from the university to state that (name), date of birth (whatever), attended between this date and that date on the (whichever) course, which was taught entirely in English, and graduated on whatever date.

2. Does my offer of skilled employment in New Zealand have to match my previous work experiences? Can I still claim points for previous work experiences if my job offer in New Zealand is in a different industry?

When you put in an EOI, you are normally offering yourself as having one particular skill. You prove your qualifications and experience in that skill, and the job offer is expected to link to what you have given evidence for. See here. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/46411.htm

Of course, there are times when an applicant's training and experience - say, in use of computer systems - are transferable to use for an employer whose main business is something different but which still requires the use and maintenance of computers, e.g. public transport, freight, retail, etc., and a short explanation would easily satisfy the CO as to why an IT specialist was required in a different industry.

On the other hand, in the real world, there are many people who have skills, training and experience in more than one area, but this appears to cause problems for INZ COs. Their check-list expects to see ONE career path, qualification>work experience>applicable skill, and in the past, several of them have asked suspicious-sounding questions of people who have done this twice over, almost as though being qualified in two areas somehow makes the applicant less able to do either job. An EOI will pass through much more quickly and easily if it has only the least amount of headings and evidence needed to prove the minimum points necessary. So it's a matter of personal choice for an applicant how best to present their own background. Most multi-skilled people would put in the skill they thought most likely to get them an opening in NZ, if they're putting in the EOI before having an offer to show. Suppose they then got a job offer in a different skill, they couldn't tack it on to the EOI without also adding in their other line of qualifications and work experience, which INZ hadn't previously heard about or investigated.

Another way to tackle this situation is to try for a job offer first, get a temporary work visa to allow you to start as soon as possible, and apply for the EOI at the same time or a little later, showing the qualifications and experience matching to the skilled job. (See answer to question 5 for how this works to include the rest of the family.)

3. How do I give explanations that my job offer in New Zealand is skilled? Is there any format to write in this section?

There is no ONE way to state it. As you can see on the form, they suggest that you refer to the ANZSCO description, and compare what your responsibilities will be with that, and also show how your qualification(s) fit you for carrying out the tasks, and that is a good way to do it.

4. What are the supporting documents required from INZ for my previous work experiences? (I currently possess only a letter from my previous companies stating the position that I held in the company and my working period in the company. Would that suffice?)

As well as that information, you need something from each work-place to state what your responsibilities were (because a job title doesn't mean the same for every employer), the salary you got (showing it was a reasonable rate for a skilled worker at that level - although your financial and tax records could show this for you), and that you worked full-time. If the company you worked for has gone out of business since you left, you can get a letter from the employer as a private individual, or someone who worked in HR at the firm, or a colleague who was in a position to know about your work. Whoever writes the letter needs to be contactable by INZ during the time when your application will be being processed.

5. Is submission of EOI best to be done when I am in Singapore with the NZ job offer or when I am already on the job at New Zealand?

See this post regarding using a temporary work visa, etc., alongside the EOI. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....490#post517490

[djdan319]

Thank you very much for your input and advice, JandM