Going down? (Under - to New Zealand, that is!) (Visa applications - Have you had any trouble getting a visa to visit a foreign country?)

Member Name: The Duke

Product:	Visa applications - Have you had any trouble getting a visa to visit a foreign country?
Date:	10/09/01 (504 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lots of information available, Visas themselves cheap

Disadvantages: REquires lots of savings

I’ve never been what you would call a big traveller. Sure, I’ve been out of the country, and I’ve seen a few countries – mostly in Europe. I’ve never been away for too long though. I’m also a people orientated traveller – while I don’t have a big desire to see other parts of the world, with maybe the exception of about 3 cities, but I don’t mind travelling to visit friends or family. In fact, this is one of the reasons I’m looking for a visa.

Recently, however I’ve been thinking about taking myself off for a longer period of time. At the moment, I’m thinking of around six months to a year, but as I’m not likely to begin travelling until I finish my degree next June, this is likely to change.

However, the one thing that is likely to stay constant is my starting point – I’ve decided to fly to New Zealand and, depending on other circumstances, make my way back to the UK from there. I don’t know if this means staying in New Zealand for the entire time and fly back directly, or whether I’ll move on after a few months, slowly making my way home.

However, due to the fact that I’ve decided to stay in New Zealand for at least month or so, and the fact that I haven’t won the lottery (yet!), I’m going to need some sort of visa to enable me to work there. I’ve spent a while taking a look at New Zealand, and especially the methods of entry and I hope I can pass some of the information I’ve gained across to you if you’re ever inclined to go there.

The United Kingdom has a visa waiver agreement with New Zealand. This means that United Kingdom passport holders with a return air ticket, a valid passport and proof of sufficient funds may visit New Zealand as tourists for up to 6 months without a visa. So, if you are “wedged up” with cash, and don’t need to work while you are out there, you can d
o without a visa or permit.

Getting a short-term visa is a lot easier than you might think. Sure, there are companies out there who will gladly arrange your visa for you, but for most people, this should be a very last resort as you can do the whole thing yourself. This is primarily an opinion / handy guide for looking for a visa, not a travel guide about New Zealand, although I will probably have to include some details on New Zealand to explain things more clearly. Also, this is not to try and convince you to go to New Zealand – this will hopefully be of some help if you’ve already decided to go there.

First of all, you need to decide what you want to do in New Zealand, and how long you wish to stay there for. These are the two main factors that will determine what NZ visa you will apply for, and one might determine the other (e.g. a study visa will generally cover the duration of the course and no longer).

Chances are, you’ll be looking for a prolonged holiday permit (working holiday permit), a study visa, or a working visa. The working holiday scheme is a scheme open to the under 30s who wish to spend some time in New Zealand, and take the odd job to help pay their way whilst there. The Work Visa requires you to have a job offer from a New Zealand company who have already tried to employ a native for the position, but cannot find anyone. The Work Visa may be held for up to three years.

It’s worth pointing out that New Zealand, over the last few years, has suffered a “brain drain” with lots of graduating students heading overseas where pay rates are better than in New Zealand in order to pay off what appears to be a large student loan that each student seems to have. Thus, the better qualified you are, the better chance you have of gaining “proper” employment.

You can apply for a visa once you’ve already entered New Zealand, whether as a visitor, or as someone who h
as entered on another type of permit. For example, I currently have a Working Holiday Visa, but if after a few months after arriving in New Zealand, I decide I like the place a lot and wish to stay a bit longer and need to gain “proper” employment, I can apply to upgrade my WHS to a proper Working Permit. So, you needn’t try and plan everything definitely, in minute detail before you go. Saying this, you need to allow enough time for the New Zealand authorities to process your application before your currently held visa or permit expires.

OK, back to the Working Holiday Scheme. The NZIS (New Zealand Immigration Service) gives out 8,000 WHS places each year to people under the age of thirty who wish to visit their country. The form to fill in for this is very simple (only two pages), and the amount of information you need to give for this is minimal. The charge for a WHS is currently NZ$ 90 which works out roughly at around £30. Payment can be done by cheque, Visa or MasterCard. If accepted, an endorsement is placed in your passport and you have up to a year to enter New Zealand with the WHS valid for a year from the date you enter the country. In order to be granted a WHS, you’ll need proof of your ability to leave the country within the time period (usually a return flight pre-booked, although you only need to state this in your application, not actually have the ticket), a minimum NZ$4,200 as proof of living expenses. These are checked upon your arrival in New Zealand, so no fibbing!

If all 8,000 places have been allocated before your application is processed, your application and fee will be returned to you, and you will have to apply at a later date.

For those of you wishing to apply for a work permit, then obviously this is going to be harder to achieve (Cost: NZ$ 160). First of all, you’re going to need a job. While you may be more than qualified to do the jobs that you are applying for, not too many bus
inesses are going to offer you a job without an interview, especially if you’re the best part of 12,000 miles and 12 hours time difference away. In this case, the only thing I can suggest is that you first go out for a short period of time during which you can hopefully schedule all of your interviews, before returning home to complete your visa application, or you could get a short term visa with the view of extending it / upgrading it once you’re offered a job. A word of warning about the New Zealand mentality – unless you are dealing with one of the big multinationals, be prepared for either a long wait or to pester your potential employers. My experience of trying to get information from Auckland via e-mail is that New Zealand people are exceedingly laid back, and this does filter through to their professional lives as well. Always try and give yourself plenty of time when dealing with them, so that if they are going slower than you expect, you’re not going to get caught out with your visa expiring before you get anywhere!

The last type of visa you might want is a Student Visa (Cost: NZ$ 130). As the name suggests, this allows you to study in New Zealand for a period of time, usually the duration of your course. Not all courses or educational institutes are eligible for Study Visas, and so you should check with your choice before you commit yourself. Most of the larger educational establishments have a web-based presence, so dropping an e-mail to them should get a response. You should note that, just like the time difference and seasons, their college and university terms are polar opposites to ours i.e. they don’t run from September to June.

So, there you are, a brief, but hopefully useful overview on gaining entry into New Zealand. I’ve used only three main examples (WHS, study and work permits) with only a brief outline of each. These can be varied depending on conditions that you may require and state at
time of application (e.g. a Study Visa may allow limited work for you to finance your living expenses) and all of these variations can be found on the documentation relating to each visa. There are other types of visa that are probably of little interest to you like a limited purpose visa or a long term business visa but there is sufficient documentation available to help you decide if you need any of these.

I’ve also not touched on any of the more permanent types of New Zealand permits like residency or citizenship, as these are far more complicated than simple finite length visas and permits.

All information can be gained from:

New Zealand Immigration Service
NZ House
80 Haymarket
LONDON
SW1Y 4TE

Phone: (09069) 100 100 (rates at £1 per minute!)
All information and documentation can be found at:
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

Where copies of all forms and associated information leaflets can be downloaded in PDF (also known as Adobe Acrobat) format for printing. There was an online form for posting queries to the NZIS, but I cannot find the address of the page at the moment, if it still exists. These web posted queries can take a while to get a response, so be prepared to wait for your query to be answered. Apart from that, the site is well laid out and all the information is easily available and cross linked so you’re never going to have any trouble finding what you want.

Another good source of information is the New Zealand High Commission, which is also based in London. Go to:

http://www.nzembassy.com/

and follow the relevant links for lots of good information about going to New Zealand.

There are loads of useful sites on the Web with information regarding New Zealand, but a few to start you off are:

http://www.gapwork.com for students taking a year out.

http://teachnz.govt.nz/ for people looking to teach in New Zealand.

>http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/austral asia/new_zealand/ for general information on the country.

http://www.nzjobs.co.nz/

http://www.careers.co.nz/ both of which should be self-explanatory.

http://www.xe.com/ucc is a handy currency converter for calculating exchange rates.

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