Visitor or Parent visa ?

[jackobob]

Hi All, My wife and I are planning to go to NZ, to visit my daughter who is a resident, and hopefully apply for vacancies. I believe I have 195 points and am looking at the Skilled migrant category - I think ! We are in our early 50's and need to hurry up and do this soon. Our house will be on the market in the next few weeks, and once sold I can give my notice. If we are not successful, we have a contingency plan to return to the UK.
I have been looking at this for some time and thought the process of moving to NZ would be straightforward - but looking through this great forum, and studying the visa options, it is not always clear.

I have read through many posts on here, and the advice seems to be to get to NZ before applying for jobs, although I have applied for a few.

My question is, are we better off applying for the Parent / Grandparent visa, rather than the standard Visitor visa, and can we stay for 18 months continuously
? It says 6 months at a time, but 18 months total over 3 years ?

Also, any other advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Bob

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

There are more formalities involved in applying for the parent/grandparent visa (including getting medicals), but yes, it does allow you to spend 18 months out of a three-year period, and you can use them ALMOST continuously if you want to. You have to leave the country at least every six months (to anywhere, so people commonly take a break in Australia, or one of the islands).

[jackobob]

Hello and welcome.

There are more formalities involved in applying for the parent/grandparent visa (including getting medicals), but yes, it does allow you to spend 18 months out of a three-year period, and you can use them ALMOST continuously if you want to. You have to leave the country at least every six months (to anywhere, so people commonly take a break in Australia, or one of the islands).

Thanks JandM, and thank you for the welcome - it is much appreciated.
This forum is going to be very useful for us. The only reason for asking about the parent/grandparent one was it seems to be the same cost as the visitor for 9 months, and gives me more time to get a job - I am hoping that will happen quickly, so there may not be any need.
Regarding the medicals - as we need these for the skilled migrant visa, we would be happy to have these done - although I believe the cost is a lot more when this is done in the UK ?

Any idea on the pros and cons of having the medical here ?

Thank you

Bob

[JandM]

The medical process is the same wherever you have it done - here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/docu...ry/inz1216.pdf are the instructions for doctors. I know that the fees from one doctor to another within the UK vary widely, so that some people, after phoning round for quotes, have even found it worthwhile to take B&B right outside the area where they live to go to a different panel doctor for their INZ medical, but I don't know about costs onshore in NZ. Can anybody give some examples?

One thing - you can't apply for the parent/grandparent visa when already onshore in NZ. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...y-visitor-visa

[jackobob]

Thank you JandM, Appreciate the information.
Regards Bob

[jackobob]

Can I please clarify types and timing of medicals please ?
Sorry to be a pain, but it is hard to look up all this !
I am hoping to apply for a SMC visa once we get to NZ if I get a job offer.
Am I right in saying:
1. We both need the 501+502 medicals for the SMC visa ?
2. We would only need the 512 + 502 for a parent or visitor visa ?
3. The medicals would only last up to 3 months, unless we used them for the parent or visitor application - they would then be ok for 3 years ?

And lastly, if we have the medicals done here - assuming we get the 502 + 501 medical done - and we have to apply for the parent visa within 3 months, is there a time limit after application on when we need to come to NZ ?

We just want to get the timings right to avoid having to have the medicals done more than once, if it is possible.

Thank You
Bob

[JandM]

I don't recognize the numbers you are quoting, but here are the INZ pages about medical certificates which give chapter and verse of what is necessary. Residence. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsm....htm?35154.htm Temporary visas (various). https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsm....htm?35154.htm As you will see, some applicants in either category need the General Medical Certificate or the Limited Medical Certificate. However, if you have presented a General and had it accepted, and later you want to apply for a different visa for which normally only a Limited would be required, you wouldn't have to get another (but vice versa doesn't apply).

For the first application you make, the medical has to be no older than three months. If it is then accepted as showing you have ASH (Acceptable Standard of Health) and a visa is granted, it can be presented again for a further visa within 36 months, subject to being the General if General is what is required (see above, and the links). But INZ can require another medical if they have reason to believe there is a change in the applicant's state of health, or if they have been at risk in the interim by being in contact with disease, for instance by spending time in a country where e.g. TB is endemic.

Many visas have a 'First entry before' date on the label - that is, a date after which they won't be valid any more - as you can see on the hits here. https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=e...8tZXYM#imgrc=_ I didn't find a picture of specifically a parent/grandparent visa label, so I don't know what, if any, it would be for one of those. For Residence, it's six months from when the label is put in the passport if outside NZ, and for work visas, three months.

Is there someone around who has had a parent/grandparent visa and can help with the 'First Entry Before' date, please?

[jackobob]

Thanks JandM, - as always, really appreciate the info.

Sorry - there are going to be loads of questions ! - and I know it seems like I am over worrying - but I am very keen to get everything right.

Looking at the visa info, there are a few things that are not clear :

I want to look for work while I am in NZ, but the visitor visa conditions say that ' you must shoe you are a genuine tourist and intend to leave at the end of your stay', - looking over the forum some have said it is fine to look and apply for work, so I am unsure ?

Is taking my CV and other work related info in my luggage going to be ok ?

On one part of the visitor visa info it says you need a ticket home, or enough money to buy a ticket - on another part it says you need a ticket ? So slightly confusing as well !? There do seem to be a lot of discrepancies in the information.

Can we take our dog into NZ on a visitor visa ? We would obviously be happy to take him back with us if things don't work out.

Thank You

Bob

[JandM]

One of the officially acceptable reasons for getting a visitor's visa is known as "look, see and decide" - in other words, the applicant is going to research life in NZ and the working conditions in their line of work, see if they can get any interest from employers and/or agents, and decide if they want to take things further. This is perfectly legal, including having job interviews and taking your CV round to try to generate meetings and offers. What you cannot do is any kind of work unless and until you get an offer, and then an appropriate visa.

If you have declared your reason for wanting the visa as "look, see and decide", it SHOULD be all right to take qualifications and work-related documents with you, but it's fair to say that some officials at the airport can be rather narrow-minded if they find such things, which can lead to lengthy interviews. A way round this can be to send anything you want ahead by post.

Re: tickets. Having a ticket is normally straightforward. It's usually if someone is granted a visa with a longer than usual duration that it's allowable to show the cost of the ticket out instead - because return tickets can have a more limited life than the visa.

Re: your dog. Quarantine would be involved. https://www.govt.nz/browse/immigrati...o-new-zealand/

[jackobob]

Thanks JandM - really appreciate your info - again !
Regards Bob