(After Rules Change) Talent Accredited Visa for 2 yrs or SMC right away?

[GeneralAK]

Hello everyone. This is my first post on this forum so please advice me if I've done something wrong.

I've got accepted in my job application this week and hope to sign a contract next week to start visa process. As the company told me, they will get me a Talent Accredited Work Visa for myself, a partnership work visa for my wife, and a dependent child visa for my 1 yo son. I've researched the visa condition from INZ website and, correct me if I'm wrong, I have to (and I'm willing to) stay with the company for 2 yrs to be able to applied for residence visa for myself and my family. I then found some comments on immigration-related forums that I'm also be able to apply for SMC which will directly give me a residency without waiting for 2 yrs (but processing time is very long). I also found that before the recent rule change, people with TA visa will be given PRV after 2 yrs while after change they'll only get RV.

Following this situation what should be the best move I can do regarding the visa:

1. Should I apply for SMC as soon as I arrive NZ? or staying for 2 yrs on TA work visa?
I understand that doing SMC has almost double of the cost comparing to applying for RV after 2yrs. But the things I'm not sure that I should put into account is the police certificate thing. If I apply for SMC I may able to use the one I will submit for TA visa but if I wait 2yrs I may have to use a new one(?). (Cost of TA work visa is not counted as the company will pay for me)

2. If I stay on TA visa, my son will be on dependent child visa. I'm not sure if I want to send him to pre-school (let say, when he's 2 or 3) am I able to do it or I should apply a student visa for him later?

3. Is there a lot of different between PRV and RV? Is it worth applying for PRV?

4. If I want to go with SMC, should I always have to provide education prove? I don't want to bother with accredition and I can get enough point without it. Anyway, I need the point from working on absolute skill shortage list and that one mentioned about having qualification. Is that mean I have to get my qualification accredited anyway?

I may have more questions after I can control my excitement. It's what I trying for years to get a job. So excited to start my new journey there!

[JandM]

The rules have already changed for the Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa. See the blue banner on this factsheet, and the links off it. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...residence-visa This means that there is NO direct route for you to residence from this visa. It sounds as though the employer is not up to date with the most recent INZ rule changes.

This visa https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...list-work-visa does still offer the work-to-residence option, but obviously, you would have to meet the requirements for it.

1. Moving to the Talent (Accredited Employer) residence visa after two years is NOT possible any longer. If you go in on a work visa, you can apply for residence under SMC immediately. Edited to say, PLEASE NOTE: I was mistaken here - see allune's following post.

2. A child whose parent is a worker in NZ does not require a student visa until they start formal schooling at five years of age. https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/mo.../partner-visas

3. Permanent residence is a completely separate visa for which one can qualify only after a minimum of two years as a resident, so this doesn't concern you yet. When it does, there are factsheets on the INZ website to give the details. (The baisc differences are as follows. When granted residence, this means you can live and work (at any job) in NZ for ever while you are in NZ, and it comes with two years' travel conditions - not really conditions, just a name for the permission to re-enter NZ whenever your want during that time. If you are outside NZ when the two years' travel conditions have run out, and you don't apply in time, you can't then get back. However, once you have PR, you have all the rights to live and work in NZ for ever, AND can also come and go freely for your lifetime.)

4. You have to prove that you are qualified for the skilled job you hold when you apply for residence under SMC, even if you don't need the points for your qualifications to get you up to the 160 point threshold. See under Skilled Employment here. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-visa#criteria Here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#66763.htm is a chart showing what points can be claimed. The last column links to the detailed rules for claiming each set of points.

[allune]

@JandM Are you sure about the Talent (Accredited Employer) resident visa application option after two years has been removed? It's still possible post-7 October 2019 changes.

Screen Shot 2019-11-02 at 1.09.14 AM.jpg
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-resident-visa

Screen Shot 2019-11-02 at 1.17.32 AM.jpg

The option that was removed was the provision of getting permanent residence instead of just a regular resident visa after applying for the Talent (Accredited Employer) Resident Visa if the principal applicant is paid more than NZD 90,000 per year. INZ's wording was a bit funny and led people to believe that those who have applied for and have been approved a Talent (Accredited Employer) work visa after 7 October 2019 will no longer be eligible to apply for residency once the requirements have been met. They still can apply for residency but will no longer get direct permanent residence even if paid more than 90k. As I understand they will still have to prove commitment to NZ for the PRV just like everybody else.

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/abou...oyer-work-visa

[JandM]

Ah, allune, thank you for this. I see I was evidently among those who misunderstood the first announcement, and I hadn't seen the factsheet since it was updated. The factsheet is here, for people to check their own situation. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-resident-visa

[GeneralAK]

Thank you JandM and allune.

I still curios anyway whether I should go with SMC or TA. And as per the fact from JandM's answer about qualification, I then added up to the cost. It seems like doing SMC has 2200(1400 visa different + 750 IQA) NZD more than waiting for TA. Hence, the thing I want to understand is, what are the benefits I should have better from SMC than TA to compare if it worth paying 2200 more. What can I think now is time I could get RV, which for SMC will take around 13 months while TA will take 28 (24 months working + 4 months visa processing). But during those 15 months period, what will I have better on RV (SMC) than WV(TA)?

[Kelerei]

Thank you JandM and allune.

I still curios anyway whether I should go with SMC or TA. And as per the fact from JandM's answer about qualification, I then added up to the cost. It seems like doing SMC has 2200(1400 visa different + 750 IQA) NZD more than waiting for TA. Hence, the thing I want to understand is, what are the benefits I should have better from SMC than TA to compare if it worth paying 2200 more. What can I think now is time I could get RV, which for SMC will take around 13 months while TA will take 28 (24 months working + 4 months visa processing). But during those 15 months period, what will I have better on RV (SMC) than WV(TA)?

For me, the biggest one was the security of my future in New Zealand.

A lot can change in 2 years: just because you know now that you'll be eligible for residence via the Accredited Employer pathway does not necessarily mean that you will actually still be eligible for residence after those 2 years are up. Some situations where you might find yourself ineligible:

• The company you work for goes under. You manage to find new employment elsewhere, but your new employer is not accredited, and you only get an Essential Skills Work Visa for the new position.
• You are diagnosed with cancer. It's picked up early enough and successfully treated, but due to the possibility of a relapse, INZ declines your residency application on health grounds. (I know of a similar situation actually happening; the couple affected had no choice but to leave New Zealand and return to their original country as INZ wouldn't even give them new Work Visas.)
• INZ changes the goalposts yet again.

Having a Resident Visa over a Work Visa has its immediate advantages: the right to live, work and study unrestricted as opposed to working only in a certain position for a certain employer gives one an obvious degree of freedom. One also has close to the same set of rights and privileges as a New Zealand citizen (e.g. as a Resident Visa holder physically present in New Zealand for over a year, I was eligible to participate in the recent local government elections, and vote out the councilors who buggered up Wellington's public transport system!). But for me, personally, the biggest advantage is the security of your future. On a Work Visa (or any other temporary visa), you have limited rights and privileges for a finite time, and if you can't get a new visa when that finite time is up, for any reason whatsoever, you must leave. Holding a Resident Visa allows you to remain in New Zealand indefinitely, as well as granting you additional rights and privileges (some of which I've mentioned above) -- and once you've demonstrated a commitment to New Zealand and obtain a Permanent Resident Visa, "indefinitely" pretty much becomes "permanently".

My partner and I were in a similar situation to you, just about a year ago now. I was in New Zealand on a Visitor Visa ("look, see, decide" trip) when I received an offer of employment from an accredited employer: the Work Visa application immediately went in and, ten days later, I was granted a Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa. The offer of employment also gave me enough points to meet the 160 point threshold for the Skilled Migrant Category; as such, my partner and I decided that we weren't waiting 2 years and went for it. INZ (no idea how, given the processing time blowouts this year!) granted us our Resident Visas two months after the application was lodged.

My personal opinion is that, if you are indeed serious about making New Zealand a permanent home, and the opportunity is present to apply for a Resident Visa, you should take it. Don't just hold the door to residency open, force your way through it. One never knows if that door may someday close, with you on the other side and no way to reopen it.

[GeneralAK]

For me, the biggest one was the security of my future in New Zealand.

A lot can change in 2 years: just because you know now that you'll be eligible for residence via the Accredited Employer pathway does not necessarily mean that you will actually still be eligible for residence after those 2 years are up. Some situations where you might find yourself ineligible:

• The company you work for goes under. You manage to find new employment elsewhere, but your new employer is not accredited, and you only get an Essential Skills Work Visa for the new position.
• You are diagnosed with cancer. It's picked up early enough and successfully treated, but due to the possibility of a relapse, INZ declines your residency application on health grounds. (I know of a similar situation actually happening; the couple affected had no choice but to leave New Zealand and return to their original country as INZ wouldn't even give them new Work Visas.)
• INZ changes the goalposts yet again.

Having a Resident Visa over a Work Visa has its immediate advantages: the right to live, work and study unrestricted as opposed to working only in a certain position for a certain employer gives one an obvious degree of freedom. One also has close to the same set of rights and privileges as a New Zealand citizen (e.g. as a Resident Visa holder physically present in New Zealand for over a year, I was eligible to participate in the recent local government elections, and vote out the councilors who buggered up Wellington's public transport system!). But for me, personally, the biggest advantage is the security of your future. On a Work Visa (or any other temporary visa), you have limited rights and privileges for a finite time, and if you can't get a new visa when that finite time is up, for any reason whatsoever, you must leave. Holding a Resident Visa allows you to remain in New Zealand indefinitely, as well as granting you additional rights and privileges (some of which I've mentioned above) -- and once you've demonstrated a commitment to New Zealand and obtain a Permanent Resident Visa, "indefinitely" pretty much becomes "permanently".

My partner and I were in a similar situation to you, just about a year ago now. I was in New Zealand on a Visitor Visa ("look, see, decide" trip) when I received an offer of employment from an accredited employer: the Work Visa application immediately went in and, ten days later, I was granted a Talent (Accredited Employer) Work Visa. The offer of employment also gave me enough points to meet the 160 point threshold for the Skilled Migrant Category; as such, my partner and I decided that we weren't waiting 2 years and went for it. INZ (no idea how, given the processing time blowouts this year!) granted us our Resident Visas two months after the application was lodged.

My personal opinion is that, if you are indeed serious about making New Zealand a permanent home, and the opportunity is present to apply for a Resident Visa, you should take it. Don't just hold the door to residency open, force your way through it. One never knows if that door may someday close, with you on the other side and no way to reopen it.

Totally agreed with you regarding security to live in NZ. I'll go with SMC as soon as I land there.

[ML2]

Morning. My situation is a little bit opposite. We applied for SMC but now i'm thinking that probably it would be good if my partner applies for TA work visa. My concern that our application can be declined at the end. Or maybe I'm just stressed as the rest of the people here.

[JandM]

Being stressed has always been the normal state for people with an application in to INZ, and it's more intense in these times. There's nothing to stop you having two applications in at the same time, if it will ease your feelings.

[ML2]

Being stressed has always been the normal state for people with an application in to INZ, and it's more intense in these times. There's nothing to stop you having two applications in at the same time, if it will ease your feelings.

Thank you