Laurent Law’s Advice on New Zealand Work Visa Extension Assumptions

AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Aug. 7, 2013 - PRLog -- In last month’s Immigration News, Laurent Law’s Bill Milnes wrote about Electronic Visas and Work Visa Assumptions, among other things.  As Bill explains it, Immigration New Zealand has started issuing electronic visas for applications initiated in a number of South Pacific countries and processed by INZ Suva. These are not applicable to Samoan and Tongan applications and do not appear in the passport. Electronic visas, including work visas are provided to the applicant as a letter. The ramifications of this move are that employers, when considering job applicants, will need to sight either the passport or the INZ letter. It also means that visa holders will no longer need to have their passports with them at all times but they will need to keep the visa details page of their letter with them. Another ramification is that advisers will no longer be able to check immigration history from visas in passports and history may have to be obtained from INZ under Privacy and Official Information Acts.

Regarding work visa assumptions, Bill says that at Laurent Law they are often asked to assist where a subsequent work visa has been declined because the applicant or employer assumed that as he already had a work visa, getting ‘an extension’ would be simple. This is not so. In fact the more work visas an applicant has held, the greater the likelihood INZ will say, “No, the employer should have trained a New Zealander for this position”. This is compounded when the employer has failed to show evidence of genuine attempts to employ a New Zealand citizen or resident. This is the ‘labour market test’ (LMT) and the employer must show that he cannot fill a position locally, either because there are no New Zealand residents or citizens available with the required skills (or could readily be trained), or because of the senior or specialist role of the position. Generally work visas are not granted to trainees or for low skilled roles. 

There are three key documents in meeting the LMTY; the Position Description, the advertisement and the applicant’s CV. The wording of each is critical to the success or failure of a work visa application. Also, the level of wage/salary being paid is a good guide to the perceived skill level and must be relevant to market rates. Laurent Law offers a full range of legal services for New Zealand Immigration, property and estates and small business and litigation. For more information please visit their website at http://www.laurentlaw.co.nz.