# visa time and telecommuting



## chergui (Sep 11, 2012)

Hi,

Just wondering how long it takes to get a work visa once you've applied. I'd like to plan it so I can take paternity leave and be in NZ while looking for work once I've obtained a visa.

Also, if you're telecommuting for a company and that company doesn't exist in NZ, is a work visa still the right visa to apply for? Is there any way to go there and live and pay your NZ taxes while employed for someone out of the country?

Thanks


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

chergui said:


> Hi,
> 
> Just wondering how long it takes to get a work visa once you've applied. I'd like to plan it so I can take paternity leave and be in NZ while looking for work once I've obtained a visa.
> 
> ...


To secure a temporary work visa you must have a job offer. They go hand in hand.
Bit of a catch 22 as its difficult to find a job without having a visa and its impossible to get the visa without the job offer!!!
Assuming you have a job offer it shouldn't take long to secure the visa if you have everything in place and you are healthy so the medical is good and police checks fine etc.

Kind of defeats your idea of being in NZ after paternity to look for work though as you will have a job offer already to get the visa.

Think your going to experience issues with the telecommuting. 
Working in NZ but for a company out of NZ ?
I think you must pay taxes in the country where the company you work for resides but to enable you to live in NZ you must pay into the system here or else what benefit are you by being here ?
You must satisfy Immigration requirements and offer something to NZ.
You can't live here for free and not give something back ?
There are also double taxation rules that you need to be clear on.
You need some professional advice on those matters.

Regards,


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## chergui (Sep 11, 2012)

escapedtonz said:


> To secure a temporary work visa you must have a job offer. They go hand in hand.
> Bit of a catch 22 as its difficult to find a job without having a visa and its impossible to get the visa without the job offer!!!
> Assuming you have a job offer it shouldn't take long to secure the visa if you have everything in place and you are healthy so the medical is good and police checks fine etc.
> 
> ...


Thanks. I meant the total time from the time you file your EOI until "a decision is made", applying through the SMC (I'm a software engineer). On the site it says:

"Depending on how you are able to demonstrate your ability to settle in New Zealand successfully, you may be granted a resident visa, or you may be granted a work visa which enables you to move from work to residence.

If we think you have potential, but want to see how you settle, we will give you a job search visa, which you can use to help obtain an offer of skilled employment in New Zealand for up to nine months. If you obtain skilled employment in this time you will have shown your ability to settle and contribute, and your residence application will be approved."

Sounds like you might get the work visa, or a job search visa, or you may get the residence. Do you know what they normally do?

Looks like took you over a year? If I can do the job search from canada that would be cool, but thought that it would be better if I was just there on leave for a while. If I find a job great, if not I would come back. But I'm pretty sure I could find work quickly.

Re telecommuting, it's a bit of a gray area isn't it. I'm not even sure how it works here. It's a bit of a long shot but it's something I'm in the process of pursuing. I think the company is UK based, but they have people working all of the world. They don't care where you live, but would assist in the process of making sure it's all cool.

No intention of going to a new country and not contributing!


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

chergui said:


> Thanks. I meant the total time from the time you file your EOI until "a decision is made", applying through the SMC (I'm a software engineer). On the site it says:
> 
> "Depending on how you are able to demonstrate your ability to settle in New Zealand successfully, you may be granted a resident visa, or you may be granted a work visa which enables you to move from work to residence.
> 
> ...


Hi,
If you file EOI and you have points of 140 or above it will be selected from the pool automatically at the next fortnightly pull.
If you have submitted EOI online it should take around 1-2 weeks for preliminary checking and to receive ITA.
You will then have 3 months to submit your formal application with all supporting documents, medical, police certificates etc.
Once this has been received by Immigration you will be assigned a case officer and then the waiting starts.
I think minimum from notification of a case officer assigned to your Immigration interview is now 6 months.
No one can actually predict the timeline as everyone's application is different and it all depends on the info you provide, outcome of your medical, police report etc and Immigration's interpretation of all the evidence and paperwork you provide.
Bear in mind the more evidence and paperwork you can provide the better.
If Immigration have to come back to you for further evidence or with questions each occasion will delay the process by around a month due to the time you are given to provide further evidence or answer questions then the time needed for Immigration to process the additional information.
If your medical is referred to a medical assessor this may delay by a couple of months in order for them to assess and report back to Immigration.

Yes due to my wife's medical being referred to a medical assessor we had a delay.
It took approx 3 months to get the MA report which wasn't in our favour so we appealed and asked for a second opinion which delayed us by another 3 months with the same outcome.
We then fought the decision by employing a UK consultant to file a report on my wife's medical which took a while. In the end Immigration wouldn't consider it so we then employed a consultant in NZ (he was actually the highest ranking specialist in the particular field we needed) to completely review my wife's medical and report back.
He completely agreed with our UK consultant and in complete opposition to what the NZ medical assessor had ruled - yay!!!
Immigration had no option but to disregard their own medical assessor report and accept the NZ consultant report and reverse their decision.
All that delayed us by 13 months but we got there in the end eh!!!

Assuming all is ok and the Immigration interview goes well you are normally granted the visa you have applied for, but if immigration have any reservations about how you would settle etc then you could be offered a visa that is temporary instead - worst case you could be refused for any.

No idea how the telecommuting job would work. Have a look at the Double Taxation Agreement between UK and NZ for someone living in NZ but working for a UK based company :-

http://taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/tax-treaties#dta


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## chergui (Sep 11, 2012)

Thanks for the info, much appreciated. If you get a residence visa, are there any limitations on it. For example, do you lose it if you don't go and work within a certain amount of time, or if you move away from NZ for a while, etc. I'm looking on their web site but can't find the details on it.


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## chergui (Sep 11, 2012)

Ok, I found it below. I see, it's a bit more complicated than Canada. The residence visa isn't the same as a permanent residence visa and there are travel requirements/restrictions. The doc below explains it well:

Guide for Resident and Former Resident Visa Holders


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