# I am moving to NZ on work visa



## AKarim (Sep 17, 2011)

Hi,

Can anyone of you share your experience on my following queries.

1) I am coming to NZ with work visa, how long does it takes to apply for PR. Is it dependent on the salary offered by employer. Also how much time should be spent in NZ to get the nationality of NZ.


2) with work visa 
a) can I buy a car on mortgage 
b) can i buy an apt on mortgage 
c) is education free for kids upto primary level 
d) is heath facilities are free or need to buy insurance for family

Thanks.


----------



## Jhopkins (Apr 18, 2009)

Hi Akrim,

I came here on a work visa nearly two years ago and have just started to apply for residency. The process can be quite quick if you're in employment/have a job offer and if that job is in a skills shortage sector. All these things mean it gets selected from the pool more quickly. I had a friend apply recently and was finished with the whole process in four months! I've been advised that my process could take 7-8 months (maybe longer) as I have a pre-existing medical condition. I guess it depends on whether you 'tick ALL the boxes' straight away. I also know of a family that have been struggling and fighting for two years! Having said that, they have no real skills to bring to the country and both parents lost their jobs two years into their three year visas, so it made things much harder. It seems every case is individual. If you have a job, a good set of skills and qualifications, no medical conditions and will not be a drain on the economy (i.e. require additional care) then you should be able to push through the process fairly quickly... Remember that's just the residency application, not the qualifications assessment etc. Those things just add to the time. Citizenship then takes an additional 5yrs after residency.

As for property and cars, it's like anywhere else. You will find that you will arrive here with no credit history! Obviously you'll need to start building this by all the normal ways; applying for credit cards, making regular payments etc. My partner and I both earn well in excess of the salary limit for a gold visa card with our bank, but were turned down as we had no credit history. We had to take a standard card as an alternative. 

The medical system here is pretty good and emergency care is free for residents and countries that have a reciprocal agreement with NZ. Being English I have been able to use the system twice without charge. However that only applies to hospitals. To see a regular GP you need to be registered at a doctors' office and then pay by appointment. These seem to vary from $20-$75 per visit depending on where you live. Some medical insurance policies pay back part of the cost for each visit when you submit your receipt. They also usually cover the cost of prescription medication (again after a receipt is submitted). The first thing to do is to check whether your country of citizenship has the reciprocal agreement or not. If not, look at private health insurance to help balance the costs.

Good luck, hope this has helped...


----------



## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

AKarim said:


> Hi,
> 
> Can anyone of you share your experience on my following queries.
> 
> ...


Hi Karim
Usually the Work Visa will be for 2 years - after that time you can apply for PR.

For buying cars and accommodation with loans - you may have difficulty in the beginning as you won't have any credit rating in NZ. So I'd get a cheap banger from trademe or Ellerslie Car Market (get an AA check done before parting with your cash), and rent for a short time until you have a proven regular income. 

If you are on a 'work to residence' visa, I believe that education will be the same as for other NZ residents.

And ditto health facilities - we've been very impressed with them so far (and have had to try them out on more than one occasion  )


----------



## Jhopkins (Apr 18, 2009)

I almost forgot about the education part! I'm a primary school teacher so have a bit of knowledge here. Basically children fall into categories, international students and resident students. Like the medical system, certain countries have an agreement with NZ and children can receive 'free' education. However, if your children study as international students fees can vary greatly. Our school is approximately $5k per year for a primary aged child to study, which is comparatively cheap when looking at schools in some of the more affluent areas. When your children move on to intermediate and college level, the fees can double quite easily. The charge at one of the local colleges is nearer $10k per year for 13-17yr olds, and then individual subject exams are paid for on top. 

Should a child qualify for free education, they are expected to pay school fees. Depending on the socio-economic status of the area, these can again vary from school to school. Ours are fairly cheap at $230 per year with a family cap at $400. I say cheap, as we are a school on the North Shore of Auckland, a notoriously expensive place to live. It is expected these are paid yearly with most schools offering instalment plans etc. These fees do not cover extra curricular sports or uniforms, however some schools lump these fees together. They also do not cover the cost of stationary or books for the children to use in class. Having said all that, I know of a number of parents (one a teacher) who refuse to pay the fees on the grounds that the education system is supposed to be free! They write to the education minister every year and do not make payment. They are not penalised for doing so...

Hope this helps a little more.


----------



## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

Jhopkins said:


> I almost forgot about the education part! I'm a primary school teacher so have a bit of knowledge here. Basically children fall into categories, international students and resident students. Like the medical system, certain countries have an agreement with NZ and children can receive 'free' education. However, if your children study as international students fees can vary greatly. Our school is approximately $5k per year for a primary aged child to study, which is comparatively cheap when looking at schools in some of the more affluent areas. When your children move on to intermediate and college level, the fees can double quite easily. The charge at one of the local colleges is nearer $10k per year for 13-17yr olds, and then individual subject exams are paid for on top.
> 
> Should a child qualify for free education, they are expected to pay school fees. Depending on the socio-economic status of the area, these can again vary from school to school. Ours are fairly cheap at $230 per year with a family cap at $400. I say cheap, as we are a school on the North Shore of Auckland, a notoriously expensive place to live. It is expected these are paid yearly with most schools offering instalment plans etc. These fees do not cover extra curricular sports or uniforms, however some schools lump these fees together. They also do not cover the cost of stationary or books for the children to use in class. Having said all that, I know of a number of parents (one a teacher) who refuse to pay the fees on the grounds that the education system is supposed to be free! They write to the education minister every year and do not make payment. They are not penalised for doing so...
> 
> Hope this helps a little more.


Lol! You're not supposed to call them 'school fees' - they're 'Donations' (Yeah, Right!)


----------



## AKarim (Sep 17, 2011)

Thank you Topcat and Jhopkins for giving me comprehensive replies.

It has really helped a lot. I will ask my employer if they are providing work to residence visa, I think it will be much better then just a work visa.

Akarim.


----------



## mutsugo (Sep 18, 2012)

Hi! When you obtained your work visa, was it "Work to residence visa?" How long did that whle process take before you obatined the work visa? 3-4 weeks?

I have a job offer and my ocupation is on the Long Term Skill Shortage List.



Jhopkins said:


> Hi Akrim,
> 
> I came here on a work visa nearly two years ago and have just started to apply for residency. The process can be quite quick if you're in employment/have a job offer and if that job is in a skills shortage sector. All these things mean it gets selected from the pool more quickly. I had a friend apply recently and was finished with the whole process in four months! I've been advised that my process could take 7-8 months (maybe longer) as I have a pre-existing medical condition. I guess it depends on whether you 'tick ALL the boxes' straight away. I also know of a family that have been struggling and fighting for two years! Having said that, they have no real skills to bring to the country and both parents lost their jobs two years into their three year visas, so it made things much harder. It seems every case is individual. If you have a job, a good set of skills and qualifications, no medical conditions and will not be a drain on the economy (i.e. require additional care) then you should be able to push through the process fairly quickly... Remember that's just the residency application, not the qualifications assessment etc. Those things just add to the time. Citizenship then takes an additional 5yrs after residency.
> 
> ...


----------



## hopers7 (Mar 31, 2012)

Hi Mutsugo,

We recently got our work to residence visa approved. Once we had all the info gathered which took a month ish, we submitted it and it was approved the next day...not sure if it is usually this quick or we were just lucky. We are also applying to a resident visa despite our work to residence visa being for 30 months because we can use the same medical and pice certs etc, so even though it's more money now, in the long term it will be less as we won't need to repeat medicals or get new police certs etc.

God luck with your application.


----------



## mutsugo (Sep 18, 2012)

Thanks!

Did you do apply online?

I assume you had a job offer in a shortage skill list? What is your ANZSCO skill level if you don mind me asking?



hopers7 said:


> Hi Mutsugo,
> 
> We recently got our work to residence visa approved. Once we had all the info gathered which took a month ish, we submitted it and it was approved the next day...not sure if it is usually this quick or we were just lucky. We are also applying to a resident visa despite our work to residence visa being for 30 months because we can use the same medical and pice certs etc, so even though it's more money now, in the long term it will be less as we won't need to repeat medicals or get new police certs etc.
> 
> God luck with your application.


----------

