skilled migrant category question

punkfish · #1 (**permalink**) 07-04-2008, 09:50 PM

My partner is has qualifications in 2 trades. One is in Print which he is currently working in and the other is a mechanical engineer in which he did a 5 year apprenticeship (city and guilds) 20 years ago. Is it possible to use his engineering qualifications under the skilled migrant category if his qualifications are that old and he currently is not working as an engineer?

The other question I have is, is it possile to buy a franchise or business in New Zealand or the UK and use that in your eoi application. I heard that being self employed doesn't count when applying. My partner is considering buying a plumbing or electricians franchise and wants to know if this is valid in his application.

MotherBear · #2 (**permalink**) 07-04-2008, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punkfish

The other question I have is, is it possile to buy a franchise or business in New Zealand or the UK and use that in your eoi application. I heard that being self employed doesn't count when applying. My partner is considering buying a plumbing or electricians franchise and wants to know if this is valid in his application.

I believe you can only buy into NZ businesses if you have PR or are going the Long Term Business Visa route which is specifically for people who want to start or take over a NZ business. I assume you could buy a franchise in the UK, but the outcome would be the same i.e. your OH would still need to go the LTBV route. I doubt it would carry any weight other than count as work experience. Basically, INZ are looking for people who have quals in certain fields that NZ badly need and also the job experience to go with those skills.

With regard to your OH's qualifications being 'that old', I wouldn't think that would matter because most folks of a 'certain age' will also have 'old' qualifications. I guess what may matter is how long ago he last had work experience in that trade i.e. whether his skills are very rusty. I haven't found anything on the INZ site yet that says how old your work experience can be before it is discounted. The thing is that certain occupations require NZ registration which can involve retraining and/or tests and you need this registration for the application to show that you are eligible to practice that trade in NZ.

With some doubt in this area, it may be safer for him to put an application in with his print qualification and work experience if his job skills are on the Long Term Skill Shortage List. If he can get enough points without needing a job offer, I would imagine, once he got to NZ he could look around for something that he prefers to do if he doesn't want to go into printing again.

I would slip in here that, if he is considering buying a plumbing or electrical franchise and intended to work at either of those trades, he would need NZ registration.

punkfish · #3 (**permalink**) 07-04-2008, 11:09 PM

With some doubt in this area, it may be safer for him to put an application in with his print qualification and work experience if his job skills are on the Long Term Skill Shortage List. If he can get enough points without needing a job offer, I would imagine, once he got to NZ he could look around for something that he prefers to do if he doesn't want to go into printing again.

I was under the impression that if you get in through the skilled migrant category based on the skillsyou would have to work a minimum of 6 months in that trade ie Print once you arrive in NZ

MotherBear · #4 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008, 07:16 PM

As I understood it, if you need a job offer to gain enough points to submit an application and that application is successful, then you would be tied to the NZ employer that offered you the job for 3 months. After that you would be free to go after any job you wished. However, when I read this it talks about sustainable employment for 12 months or more if you're claiming points for it. Somehow this doesn't seem right - for this set of circumstances, anyway - as I've often heard about people changing jobs not that long after they've been in NZ. The INZ Operations Manual is very ambiguous and doesn't always compartmentalise it's categories so you know what is relevant to what.

This tells you about work experience . Check me, but I can't see anything that gives a timit limit for when previous work experience can be counted so I wonder if he could get in with his mechanical engineering quals, if that's what he'd prefer.

My brain is on the blink at the moment - information overload - wading through different pages on the user-unfriendly Operations Manual, so perhaps you could have a read through this which concerns relevance of qualification(s) and work experience to employment. See if you can come up with any answers. If not, come back and I'll have another look. Perhaps someone else will be able to sift through this and come up with an idea of what is best for your partner to do.

punkfish · #5 (**permalink**) 08-04-2008, 08:07 PM

Thanks so much for your help, I will have a look into what you have sent me and let you know if I have anymore questions regarding this.

MotherBear · #6 (**permalink**) 11-04-2008, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by punkfish

I was under the impression that if you get in through the skilled migrant category based on the skillsyou would have to work a minimum of 6 months in that trade ie Print once you arrive in NZ

This tells you what happens after you've been granted PR and mentions about how long you need to work in a job initially.

punkfish · #7 (**permalink**) 11-04-2008, 01:47 AM

Hi, Thanks again, this is very helpfull. I have a lot of reading to do this weekend.
One more question.... The link you sent me explains that you must work for a minimum of 3 months, but this is if you claim points for an offer of skilled employment. What are you required to do if you are offered permanant residency without claiming points for a job offer. Are you free to take up any employment freely?

MotherBear · #8 (**permalink**) 11-04-2008, 02:04 AM

If you've claimed extra points for a job offer then you must work at that job for the 3 months, which I guess you can understand because no employer would be happy if you just used their job offer as a way of gaining PR.

Reading through that link, you'll see it doesn't mention anything about working conditions if you haven't claimed extra points so it would appear you can work at what you like although I'm sure INZ would prefer you to use your skills (or your partner's skills, in this case).

punkfish · #9 (**permalink**) 11-04-2008, 02:09 AM

Thanks a lot. Is there any person or company that could confirm that this is the case. Could I contact Immigration.govt.nz or maybe a New Zealand embassy in London?