Your Skilled Migrant Visa and the Catch-22

If you want to live in New Zealand you will need a visa that allows you to stay in our country.

In most cases, unless you have close family in New Zealand or can invest a considerable amount of money, you will apply for a work visa or a resident visa under the Skilled Migrant Policy.

The Catch-22 challenge:

Skilled migrants will not be able to apply for a visa as long as they do not have a job, but at the same time they face immense difficulties finding a job as long as they do not have a visa that allows them to work in New Zealand.

Combating this ‘Catch-22 dilemma’ is at the core of your entire immigration process and the success of the migration process will depend on your ability to overcome this hurdle.


Catch 22 Icon: You will need a job offer to secure both your work visa, and your residence visa

A job offer in New Zealand is the key to your Work and Resident Visas.

Work Visa Requirements (Essential Skills):

If you want to work in New Zealand, you will need a work visa.

In your visa application you have to prove to Immigration New Zealand that all of the following requirements are met:

Skills and Experience

You have the necessary skills and experience to work in the position offered to you.

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Registration

If professional registration is required for you to work in your profession in New Zealand.

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Job Check

Your Accredited Employer must demonstrate that no New Zealander can be found to do the job, before they can offer it to you.

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If any of these requirements are not fulfilled, you will not be able to lodge your work visa application with Immigration New Zealand.

Residence Visa Requirements (Skilled Migrant Category):

To be eligible for a Skilled Migrant Category Residence Visa you must meet the following minimum requirements:

Health and Character

You must have an acceptable standard of health

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English

You must have proven English language capabilities.

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Age

You must be under the age limit of 56 years.

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Minimum Points

You must have a minimum point score of 6 points.

For you this means that you cannot apply for a residence visa as long as you do not have a job or a job offer in New Zealand.

But how can you find a job if you do not have a visa?

The reality is that you will probably find it difficult to get a job offer as long as you do not have a visa yet.

Employer hesitation, job board formalities, electronic filtering systems and other hurdles will make your job search difficult.

Whether you are responding to job listings on the internet or talking to employers or recruiters, you will come across comments like:

"Only visa holders may apply" or "Please come back once you have obtained your work visa".

You find yourself in what can be described as the definition of a classical Catch-22:

"A dilemma or difficult circumstance from which there is no escape because of mutually conflicting or dependent conditions."


The Solution: Our Fusion Service!  

Visa Assistance and Job Search Service from under one umbrella: A holistic approach to your immigration process.

At NZIC we look at the full picture when approaching your migration to New Zealand.

Together our Licensed Immigration Advisers and our Job Search Consultants will provide you with a powerful tool that will allow you to break through the Catch-22 wall.

Find out how our Fusion Service will help you get a visa and find a job in New Zealand: Our Fusion Service.


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NZIC was a great help in getting my family and I to New Zealand.  I got a great job in a great city.  Carsten and his team were very thorough and helpful when it came time to apply for and get our visas.   I'd recommend them highly.

KJ
USA
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At first, Maj kindly explained the whole process and what to expect. I was coached and introduced to New Zealand job market by their Job Search team, and getting assistance until I got a job in the country. The Visa team would also follow me up on my pending documents, so I never felt left out. Truly recommended for those seeking out an option to live in New Zealand. Big thanks from me and my whole family for things NZIC did for us..!

AF
Indonesia
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NZIC helped me in my way to get a Visa and job search. They were always available to talk to and were open to all sorts of questions. No matter how random they were. Very friendly staff. And even when they had changes in employee and advisors, they always stayed professional and up to date. I can only say good things and recommend them highly.

CK
Germany
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Very pleased and satisfied with the service we received from NZIC. They assisted me and my family from start to finish. Always willing to assist, and communicated our progress every step of the way. With their assistance we managed to obtain permanent resident visa status.

BV
South Africa