Minimum Salary

[ShellBda]

Good morning all (Sunday morning here in Bermy),

I know that I saw somewhere on the NZ Imm. website that one must have a job or job offer that pays a minimum of NZ45k. I cannot remember what category this minimum salary falls under. Also, I have looked at quite a few job sites and quite honestly, NZ45k is not an easy salary to obtain, at least not outside of Auckland or Wellington. Is this a minimum salary requirement for all of NZ or does NZ Imm. give some leeway depending on where your job is?

Thanks,
Shell

[MotherBear]

Good (Sunday) evening from Oman, Shell. Hope your weekend is going well.

From what I can tell, you need a salary of $45,000 or more to apply under the Work to Residency policy.

I think I'm suffering from immigration blindness from wandering around the bowels of the NZIS site double-checking on information. I had it in mind that it applied to the ordinary Work Permit as well, but then thought that couldn't possibly be right or thousands of people wouldn't be able to get in. It probably depends on what sort of WP you need i.e. just a general one to enable you to work in NZ or one that can lead you to gaining PR. You'd think I'd have all this at my fingertips after all this time, but I think it's just too much for my tiny brain to hold in one go and stored information starts to seep out again.

Take a look at this from the NZIS site, around page 16. I get confused when they refer to the WTR visa as a Work Visa as well. There's something called a General Work Visa/Permit, but that's different to the WTR Visa/Permit.

As a matter of interest, here's a page that gives you some idea of rates of pay although they are from 2005, so I would hope they would have gone up since then.

I'm probably only confusing you more than you are already.

[MotherBear]

This is what they say about applying for a General Work Visa/Permit. No mention of needing a $45,000+ salary for this one as it's only a temporary WP, but might be enough to get you in the door and gaining enough NZ work experience to progress on to PR if you can't get in any other way.

General Work (Other) Policy requirements
If you have a job offer from a New Zealand employer in an occupation that is not on our Immediate Skill Shortage List, you may be able to get a temporary work visa and/or permit for up to three years under our General Work (Other) Policy.

Requirements you must meet
In addition to meeting our good health and good character requirements, you will need to prove that you are suitably qualified for the position by showing evidence of qualifications or training you have undertaken or work experience you have gained.

Requirements your job offer must meet
Your job offer must come from a New Zealand employer who can prove to us that there are no suitable New Zealand workers available to do the job. This can be done in two ways:

The employer can request an approval in principle from us to recruit overseas workers. This will have been done before you apply for a work visa.
The employer provides the proof as part of your application process.

Evidence there are no New Zealand workers available
To get an approval in principle before you apply, or to show us that there are no suitable New Zealand workers available when you are applying, the employer has to show that they have have genuinely searched for suitably qualified and trained New Zealand workers.

The employer also has to explain why:
their particular job specifications are necessary for the work
New Zealand applicants are not suitable
New Zealand applicants cannot be readily trained.

We also need to be satisfied that the employer has previously met – and will continue to meet – New Zealand employment and immigration laws.

We usually conduct a labour market test to confirm that no suitable New Zealand workers are available.

We will not consider that the evidence is sufficient if either of the following situations apply:
The advertising for the position is written in a way that discourages New Zealand workers from applying.
There are suitable New Zealand workers available. This includes cases where New Zealand workers are unwilling to take up the work because of the terms and conditions, such as salary or wages, the employer is offering.

From here .

[ShellBda]

Thanks for all of the information. I have been told by immigration consultants that I should apply to work in NZ under the Skilled Migrant category. I believe this is where the NZ45,000 comes into play to apply for residence through the WTR. Unfortunately, salary scales vary depending on what part of the country you work in. I would hope that NZ Imm. understand this and makes allowances for the lower paying areas.

Thanks again,
Shell

[kokopeli]

Apologies if I missed it Shell, but what do you do workwise?

[ShellBda]

Not a problem. Administration Manager/Officer Manager. I am presently the Head of Administration for a German reinsurance company. It is just a difference in titles. Personally, I prefer Queen, but that title is already taken

[Welshgirl]

Originally Posted by ShellBda

Personally, I prefer Queen, but that title is already taken

Not by Dave, I hope

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by ShellBda

It is just a difference in titles. Personally, I prefer Queen, but that title is already taken

I hear that the post of Prime Minister might be up for grabs soon.....

Originally Posted by ShellBda

Personally, I prefer Queen, but that title is already taken

Originally Posted by Welshgirl

Not by Dave, I hope

Not sure whether I need to laugh or cry about this one so I'll just opt to

[kokopeli]

I hear that the post of Prime Minister might be up for grabs soon.....

Oooh, don't ruin a good thing by starting on about politics......

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by kokopeli

Oooh, don't ruin a good thing by starting on about politics......

OK then

Let's hope this one is more suitable.