immigration-advisor-nz

New Zealand Work Visa Details That Can Affect Your Application

New Zealand work visa applicants usually focus on the main aspects, such as a job offer, if the employer has the correct licence, and if the wages have gone past the required level. No doubt these are all important factors, but the details often make or break the application. These may be the range of work done matches the ANZSCO code claimed, if the wages are still above the new recently increased level, and if the employer’s job check provides sufficient evidence of the employment. Such simple applications can be anything but straightforward if interrogations or denials occurs.

How Small Details Can Affect an Application

The amount of consideration given to small details in an application has become more important as the Accredited Employer Work Visa has been tightened and improved. The likely payrate is now much more fluid and clearer on what actually is a valid vacancy and an appropriate skill-level fit in practice. What once might not have been a concern now joins a “grey area”, both when the vacancy description is vague or if the proposed payrate is slightly above the cut-off point. The most basic task documentation, the ANZSCO task list and the relevant skill-level for the job is double-checked to see if there is a match to the offer letter and the job description. If there is no match, the application is usually asked to furnish some more information or else it is just simply declined. It works the same way for someone who already has a work visa and needs a variation with employment changes. Usually a new offer letter alone won’t solve the previous concerns as to whether the position is generally skillfully established enough.

Reviewing the Job Description, Pay and Evidence

Immigration Matters is also familiar with these issues. This work is undertaken by Jagjeet Singh Sidhu, a qualified adviser who was formerly employed by Immigration New Zealand as an officer assessing documentation. Such work allows for differences in documentation to be identified before an application is prepared. A job description can be tailored to the relevant ANZSCO code (if appropriate) rather than to an existing perception of what the employee is doing; likewise, the wage can be tailored to the relevant threshold as of the decision date (if appropriate), rather than to the date on which the employer made the offer. In a variation, the reasons for the change can be explained and documentation provided to show that the new arrangement still meets the criteria of the rules.

Why Ordinary Roles Can Also Face Scrutiny

These things aren’t just an issue of “specialist” high-skilled roles, believe it or not. They come into play for the fairly regular roles, whether they’re trades based, technician based, hotel management, healthcare related, etc. A small change in the language used to describe a task or a marginally acceptable wage until a slightly higher change, can be enough to cause an application to be held up or blocked, and once rejected, options for the application are narrowing. While reapplication is possible, and the case can be changed (though not always), employers are not always receptive to changing offers or waiting for a new application. Variations and reconsiderations have their own requirements and time pressures. Sometimes the best option is to wait, and show – and wait – for the ideal time to make the argument.

Check the Evidence Before Applying

Such a risk can be mitigated by an early check. At a consultation, the proposed or current job, the documents that are held, the present visa situation and any earlier decisions can be examined together to determine whether the application will be successful on the evidence that is held, what evidence or explanation is needed and whether the offer, as it stands, has a chance of being accepted. It is always better to find out that there is a poor fit before the case is submitted than after it has been refused. If everything is consistent, the application can be constructed so that the occupation, salary and employer are clearly focused on the issues that decision makers will consider.

How Work Visa Decisions Can Affect Residency

This level of investigation is also necessary if you need a work visa that is what could ultimately secure residency. Both Skilled Migrant Category and Green List pathways rely on the employment being accepted as skilled and meeting salary or occupation criteria. An employment that was obtained by way of a work visa with a broad or a weak match will be problematic when you apply for residency because the test is stronger.

When an Adviser’s Review May Help

Not every application requires the help of an adviser. Applications which are completely clear and meet the standards of approved employers will normally be accepted. The types of cases where an extra level of scrutiny helps the most are those that have any question about the duties, pay against current thresholds, changes to jobs or previous questions from Immigration advisor in NZ. The amount it costs to be sure before filing is often significantly lower than the cost of rejection and then reapplying.

If you are an employee interested in a job offer or an applicant who wants to change an existing work visa and have their employment assessed based on the requirements of those applications, a licensed assessment before applying would be a wise choice. Evidence can be assessed at our office in or remotely from Papatoetoe, and the evidence can be checked for compliance with the rules.