Applying for a work visa

[TheNewKiwi]

Good Morning from NZ!

I am seeking information, and hopefully some citations on the INZ website or OPS Manual, for a group I moderate on another site.

There have been several people I know who have arrived on visitor visas, found jobs, and applied for work visas while in the country. One was as recently as June 2019. However, someone in the group mentioned that the law has changed, and now you must apply from offshore. I believe this person is mistaken, as they have a history of making inaccurate statements and have been called out on it. But I cannot seem to find a definitive answer online anywhere.

Does anyone have any links that confirm this information one way or the other?

I have a message in to the group's LIA, but her assistance is often sporadic, and I was hoping the more knowledgable members here could point me in the right direction.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[Kelerei]

There have been several people I know who have arrived on visitor visas, found jobs, and applied for work visas while in the country.

Yes, and I'm one of them.

However, someone in the group mentioned that the law has changed, and now you must apply from offshore. I believe this person is mistaken, as they have a history of making inaccurate statements and have been called out on it. But I cannot seem to find a definitive answer online anywhere.

Here we go...

Start with W2.10, "Generic work visa instructions". W2.10.1(a)(i) states that one must lodge an application for temporary entry as set out in E4 (unless specifically stated otherwise).

Then, going through E4, one gets to E4.15. "Applications should be lodged at the INZ office, Visa Application Centre, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) post or certain specified British posts responsible for receiving applications of that type from the geographical area or country in which the applicant currently lives." That strongly implies that people within New Zealand can lodge an application at an INZ office within New Zealand.

Then, there's the Work Visa Guide, INZ 1016. Page 2 has the following paragraphs:

You can apply for a work visa before travelling to New Zealand. A work visa granted offshore will allow you to travel to the New Zealand border. When you arrive, an immigration officer will check that you meet all the conditions of your visa to be granted entry permission to work in New Zealand.

You can also apply for a work visa once you are already in New Zealand. Whether you apply onshore or offshore, your work visa may include travel conditions allowing a single entry (valid for one journey) or multiple entry (valid for more than one journey).

The version of INZ 1016 that I looked at was last updated in October 2019.

Finally, there's the fees and office finder on INZ's website, that allows one to select a category of Work Visa (e.g. Essential Skills), nationality on passport, and location of applicant (including New Zealand): it then spits out the cost and the office to send a paper application to (not that most people would do a paper application nowadays, but this would prove your point).

This should be more than enough information for you to form a firm and sound rebuttal.

Note that there are some types of Work Visa that, indeed, can not be applied for onshore: the old Silver Fern Job Search Visa (see WL2.10) is one example that I'm aware of. These are the exception though, rather than the norm.

[TheNewKiwi]

Brilliant! Thank you so very much Kelerei!

[JandM]

Kelerei, you've said it all - I found the query while on my phone, and came to the computer to reply, and in the meantime, you have covered everything.

[WeihanaLIA]

Hi there,

My first post on this forum which I stumbled across.

As confirmed already there is no law preventing someone applying for a WV onshore having arrived on a VV.

In my experience this question seems to arise from individual cases where a person came on a VV saying one thing (e.g. holidaying) but then applied for a subsequent visa and gave information that seemed to contradict what they said before (e.g. provided a job offer that predated their visit). In such cases their intentions may be seen as not genuine without a good explanation.