Obtaining A Work Visa

[preston25]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone could offer any advice on obtaining a work visa.

My girlfriend has lived in Wellington for 20 years and is a New Zealand citizen. She was born in Hong Kong before moving to NZ when she was 5. We met while we were both teaching English in China in 2003. There we spent 6 months together before she returned to Wellington and I returned to the U.k. After working and saving for a few months a left for Wellington on a working holiday visa. The plan was for to spend 12 months together in New Zealand and then 1-2 years in the U.K. However, as we planned to return to the U.k. she was offered an excellent job related directly to her studies. It is very skilled and an opportunity not to miss. It meant I had would have to try and arrange an extension or return home and apply.

I was hoping for a work visa but i dont have a job offer. Nobody was willing to offer me a job while i was in Wellington as I didnt have a work visa. That seems to be the general response.

I considered the Partnership catagory, however it looks like we will fall on the living requirements. As my girlfirend is from a more traditional Chinese family, the two of us living together wouldnt of been accepted until marriage. Despite being together for well over 2 years we havent lived together. We dont satisfy the all other requirments on this topic.

I do feel like im fighting a lost cause here but if anyone has any suggestions or advise it would be greatly appreiciated.

Many thanks

preston

[MotherBear]

Hi Preston, welcome to the forum. This partnership business is always a tricky one. Trying to prove a long-term relationship is quite a task. I don't know if you've done any reading on the immigration site or not, but here's a link that was posted back in May. This gives some background to the situation.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...hatisrequired/

If you go back to Any Questions: '2 year work visa under partnership. What are the hassles' which started in May of this year (link below), you can follow Marksie's progress as he, too, struggled to prove his relationship. http://www.movetonz.org/forum/viewto...amp;highlight=

Is your girlfriend already a citizen of NZ?

[preston25]

Thanks Mother Bear for your help.

I do seem to be looking at the immigration site every day. It isnt the most user friendly site. It did seem to confirm what I initially thought was the case regarding living together for 12 months. However my girlfriend just spoke to immigration in New Zealand and they were a bit more positive about the situation. We did unofficially live together in China for 6 months. I say unofficially because her parents were unaware of this arrangement and all our rent and bills were paid for by our employers. However the guy at immigration said letters of reference from friends who lived and worked with us there would be fine. There is a base to work from there but we still dont know how far it will carry in the application.

I missed Marksies progress when first looking through this web site. Thanks heaps for that link. Can share with the frustration but it also gave me reason be more optimistic.

As regards to your question, my girlfriend is a New Zealand citizen.

I'll keep you updated.

Thanks

[MotherBear]

I was hoping for a work visa but i dont have a job offer. Nobody was willing to offer me a job while i was in Wellington as I didnt have a work visa. That seems to be the general response.

If you were offered a job, it shouldn't take you long to get a work permit. They should realise this. Hope they weren't just using that as an excuse. Other people have gone to NZ on the off chance of finding work and have been successful, so it can work. Perhaps Wellington just isn't the right place for you to find your type of work. Looks like that may be your only way in.

Good luck.

[jamesthecarman]

Other people have gone to NZ on the off chance of finding work and have been successful, so it can work.

I'm one of those people. I wouldn't recommend it to all though, unless you don't mind having an uncertain future. It is a risk, and the reward is a pretty stinkin good one. So if you have something to fall back on in case it doesn't work out, it very well could be worth it.

If you were offered a job, it shouldn't take you long to get a work permit. They should realise this. Hope they weren't just using that as an excuse.

Unfortunately they do. They may try to phrase it nicely like "we'll put all those with a work permit to the front, and if they fall through we'll call you"
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One thing to think about is going to a city where you can get work. Worst case scenario you travel once a month to see your girlfriend. It's a lot easier than UK to NZ.......and then you can start looking in Welly once you get in NZ.

[MotherBear]

Six new working holiday scheme countries

The following countries have been added to our online working holiday scheme:

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Japan
Korea
Malaysia
Singapore Work Exchange Programme
United Kingdom (UK).

Applicants from all six countries can still apply using a paper form.

Applicants from Hong Kong and Japan do not need to be resident in their home country when they apply.

The requirement that applicants under the Korea Working Holiday Scheme have been resident in the Republic of Korea for at least six months at the time of applying has been removed.

Applicants under the Malaysia Working Holiday Scheme and the Singapore Work Exchange Programme will have a 12 months in which to travel to New Zealand after they are issued a visa. On arrival in New Zealand, they will remain eligible for a six-month work permit only.

Applicants from the UK still need to be ordinarily resident in the UK to apply, but can be temporarily visiting another country at the time of applying. ?Applicants under the UK working holiday scheme who intend to only be in New Zealand for 12 months or less are able to apply for a 12 month UKWHS visa or permit.