Work visa to PR application

[PDas123]

Hi All,

I have previously lived in NZ on a work visa(30 month) from Feb 2013 to April 2013. I cam to NZ with a job offer and my visa was sponsered by my Company. I had applied for PR and my eoi was selected. However I left NZ to pursue another job and did not complete my PR application. I came back to NZ late August 2015 on another work visa (30 months) this time sponsored by my current employer. In all I have spent 15 months on my first work visa, and now about a month in my current work visa. there has been a gap of 15 months in between when I was overseas.

I am planning to file for my PR again through the eoi process, but got confused by the information in the INZ site saying that a work visa can be directly converted to a PR (without restrictions) if the salary range is more than 90K.

My salary range in both the occasions was more than 90K.

My question is does my previous time in NZ gets counted towards my application?
Do I need to apply through an eoi or I can apply directly (because of the above 90K salary rule)

Any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Cheers
Pat

[Otaku]

I had a similar query, but did not get any satisfactory answer. It would be good if INZ can consider 15 months spent on last WTR, so that you are eligible for PR in next 9 months. If not, you are 'stuck' with current employer for 24 months. All the best!

[JandM]

First thing - so as not to get confusing if you talk to INZ about this, the visa you get if successful under SMC is called Residence. PR is a totally different visa you can get later (after two years minimum on a Residence visa, or, as you've found, directly from WTR if you meet the salary requirement).

I don't know either if two separate WTR times can be added together, to say you've done the two years. You'd need to ask INZ this question - and if you phone them up, I don't think the call answerers will know, because they just work from a database and aren't themselves experienced case-workers, so you may well need to ask to be put through to a manager to get a proper answer.

[PDas123]

Thanks JandM and Otaku, Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and advice. I will try to call INZ and see if I can get further clarification on this,

[Otaku]

Thanks JandM and Otaku, Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and advice. I will try to call INZ and see if I can get further clarification on this,

The INZ Helpline did not prove useful, as I had called 3 time and got different answers. As JandM suggested, try to get in touch with a Manager and kindly update us.