Hi everyone,
I just got a job offer to work for a company in Christchurch. They have their R&D branch there and sponsor my talent (accredited) visa. So far so good.
My plan was to apply for the SMC category visa as soon as I have the talent visa. Having this job and outside of Auckland would lift me just to 160 points on their points calculator. However, I always calculated for "outside of Auckland", because I'd be in ... Christchurch, which is not even on the same island and nowhere near Auckland. But I have now recognised that the company is registered in Auckland which, if INZ just takes this address as my place of work, it would cost me 30 points just because they assume I'd be working in Auckland. It would be a shame...
Is there any chance, that there is such a thing called "to work in a branch" when applying for a visa? Or was I just out of luck and should have checked better in the first place?
How have other people handled setups like this in the past?
Am I now forced to wait for 2 years for my PR?
Thank you!