Working holiday visum vs. Skilled migrant visum

[Guybrush]

Hi,

I don't know, which kind of visum I am qualified for or which suits my purposes. I took a look at the requirements for the "Skilled migrant visum" on that website : https://www.new-zealand-immigration....f-check-guide/

What do those categories mean :

Recognised level 4-6 qualification

40
Recognised level 7 or 8 qualification

50
Recognised level 9 or 10 qualification

I have a B.Sc. in Computer Science and a M.Sc. in another engineering field and ~5 years of working experience. I am German and I never have been to NZ. Do I have to have visitied NZ before at all, in order to qualify for the "Skilled Migrant" - visum ? I'm asking, because I don't know if I'll be able to aquire the "Working holiday visum" in time. Thanks for the clarification.

Thanks for the clarification.

Have a nice day,

Guybrush

[Sebastian91]

Hi Guybrush,

I am not an immigration advisor/lawyer, so please do not take any of the following as immigration advice. I can tell you this out of my personal experience though as I came to NZ under a Working Holiday Visa and then applied for the Skilled Migrant Visa to gain residence.

To answer your questions in short:

A Working Holiday Visa is intended for young people to come to NZ to travel the country and support themselves through casual work. Under the German Scheme, you are entitled to work for the same employer for 12 months. You can apply online and it is, if you meet all the requirements, approved within a couple of hours/days.

The Skilled Migrant Visa is basically a way to gain Residence in NZ (uneingeschraenkte Aufenthaltsgenehmigung). This can take 6-9 months to process and in some cases even longer. You are qualifying for this visa through points (for example your age, education, work experience.....).
What you listed down are different levels of education. A Masters Degree gives you more points than a Bachelor Degree, a Bachelor Degree gives you more points than a Diploma.....
In order to qualify for a visa under the Skilled Migrant Category, you must have a minimum of 160 points to qualify. This is usually reached by being in skilled employment or having an offer of skilled employment.


Neither of the visa's have a requirement of having been to NZ before. I hope this helps you a bit. Working Holiday is for one year, Skilled Migrant is indefinite.

Cheers

[JandM]

To add to what has been told you above. The WHV gives you the right to work at any job, skilled or not, just for the limited time you are in NZ. If you want to stay longer, you will need to get the offer of a skilled job, in line with your qualifications and work experience. If you get such an offer, the normal next step is to apply for a temporary work visa, because these can be processed more quickly than an application for Residence under SMC. See here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...ills-work-visa and here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...residence-visa for details.

[Guybrush]

Thanks a lot for the super quick replies, you both. Really appreciated.

I am in kind of a predicament here. Initially my plan was to travel through NZ (and work on a farm for instance) via the "Working Holiday Visa". But since I already turn 31 next year and do want to stay at my current employer until the project is finished (Q3 of next year), I would have to travel to NZ before my 31st birthday in order to activate my visa, get back to Germany to work until the project is finished and then get back again to NZ to use the remainder of the visa for travelling/applying for further visa.

Since that procedure would kinda be against the intentions/conventions of the "Working holiday visa" for NZ my plan b is to attain an Australian "Work and travel" - visa next year (because the maximum age limit is 1 year higher), stay there for a few months (although I prefer NZ) then apply for a job in NZ and after a successfull application attain one of the skilled worker visum options. I've also read, that one is granted a 3 months time span before the beginning of the employment with the "Skilled migrant visa", where one would have the opportunity to travel. Is that correct ?

Suggestions on how to proceed are appreciated (keeping in mind, that I'd prefer NZ and also want to keep the option to study there later on, but not too late, since I'm already an old fart )

Cheers and have a nice sunday night down there.

[JandM]

Since that procedure would kinda be against the intentions/conventions of the "Working holiday visa" for NZ

Well, maybe, if you want to try to guess the government's wishes, but it wouldn't be illegal.

What happens if I leave New Zealand for a while and then come back?

The Working Holiday visa is a multiple-entry visa. That means your Working Holiday visa is activated when you first arrive, but you’re free to leave New Zealand and return as many times as you like. Any time you spend outside of New Zealand will not be added to the total time your Working Holiday visa is valid for.

http://www.newzealand.com/uk/feature...ked-questions/

[Guybrush]

Just found out, that only the visa request for NZ has to happen before the 31st birthday, not the actual arrival.

In AUS one has 12 months time after receiving the visa to activate it. Does the same apply for NZ ? Anyone knows ?

[kenwongyl]

Just found out, that only the visa request for NZ has to happen before the 31st birthday, not the actual arrival.

In AUS one has 12 months time after receiving the visa to activate it. Does the same apply for NZ ? Anyone knows ?

In NZ, after receiving the Residential visa approval in principle, you have 6 mths to send in your passport to INZ to get the visa sticker on your passport. Afterwhich you have 12 mths from that date you got the visa sticker on your passport to activate it by travelling to the country (not necessary to stay at this point). After activating it, you have theoretically 24 mths to fulfil the condition(s) to convert the residential visa to PR.

[kenwongyl]

So technically from the time you get the email that states the approval in principle for your Residential Visa to the time you activate the visa, you have 18 mths if you play to the max of each phase. Just make sure you don't cross the line otherwise the in-principle approval could become void.

[JandM]

Guybrush is asking about a Working Holiday Visa, not Residence.

The answer to this isn't in the FAQs. http://www.newzealand.com/uk/feature...ked-questions/ Can someone who has had a WHV help out, please?

[kenwongyl]

Oh I see ... my mistake. Sorry about that.