New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[Wayne Potgieter]

Perception is reality

 

Amen.

[davetapson]

An ugly is definitely bike part prices.  Need a set of Crank Brother cleats. $50.  What..!?

[davetapson]

An interesting comment I heard on the gangs is that the police have a working relationship with them.  They found that if they curtailed gang activities too much, Australian/Chinese/Russian/Ukrainian gangs would start to move in, who are more difficult to deal with.

 

So essentially the police say, you gangs do your gang stuff, but if it starts encroaching on civilised society, we will react.  So the gangs pretty much face each other off, and keep out foreign gangs.  Is a real pragmatic Kiwi approach to things.

 

My wife watched the police close down a gang mob in Manakau - she said that they were really proficient, and all done without violence.

[patches]

Some advice if possible please; not about the bike, sorry.

 

A close relative intends moving to NZ as a teacher. She has done her English test and done well, has most of the other documentation and intends visiting (on a tourist visa) for a "look around" in June/July this year SA school holidays). She has also been advised to apply for registration to the NZ teaching council now and there are people who facilitate this for a fee.

 

Her concern is that if her application for the council is picked up when she applies for a visa it will be denied so she is uncertain about applying to the council. Any ideas or help?

 

Should she use an agency for the visa application?

 

 

technically speaking, doing ANYTHING other than tourism on a tourist visa is against the law.

 

So whatever her decision, there are risks. That being said, most people come over on tourist visa to look for work, but it’s calculated risk.

 

Is there any way she can delay her application to the council?

 

As Wayne said, the whole reason NZ introduced visitors visas for South Africans back in 2016 was because Saffers were coming here "on holiday" and looking for work during that time.

 

They were still fine with the concept of visitors coming over to find work but created an appropriate visa for it so that visitors would be more upfront about their intentions, as well as give them more time to find employment. This was the result:

 

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/silver-fern-job-search-work-visa

 

However as you will notice they then canned that idea.

 

So what now... well...

 

One of these may be more suited for your friend.

 

Technically one can attend interviews or look for employment while on a visitors visa. The catch is that the main reason for the visit must be holiday or visiting friends/family

 

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/already-have-a-visa/my-situation-has-changed/visit/can-i-come-to-nz-as-a-visitor-to-look-for-a-job

 

But if your friend wants to be more upfront about her intentions, then perhaps this visa is a better option:

 

https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/about-visa/seeking-occupational-registration-visitor-visa

 

As for an agency, because a regular visitors visa will suffice, I would say there is no need to get an agency involved. If your friend seeks to go for the Occupational Registration visa, then even better.

 

If she goes for the visitors visa , perhaps apply for that first, wait until it's granted, then apply for the registration (provided the visitors visa doesn't have "must enter by X date" conditions).

Edited January 23, 2020 by patches

[hayleyearth]

technically speaking, doing ANYTHING other than tourism on a tourist visa is against the law.

 

So whatever her decision, there are risks. That being said, most people come over on tourist visa to look for work, but it’s calculated risk.

 

Is there any way she can delay her application to the council?

 

Statement in red is not true. maybe it has changed recently, but it actually states on the INZ website that you are allowed to go for interviews while on a visitors visa.

[hayleyearth]

Some advice if possible please; not about the bike, sorry.

 

A close relative intends moving to NZ as a teacher. She has done her English test and done well, has most of the other documentation and intends visiting (on a tourist visa) for a "look around" in June/July this year SA school holidays). She has also been advised to apply for registration to the NZ teaching council now and there are people who facilitate this for a fee.

 

Her concern is that if her application for the council is picked up when she applies for a visa it will be denied so she is uncertain about applying to the council. Any ideas or help?

 

Should she use an agency for the visa application?

 

 

I would say apply for the visitors visa, then after that apply for the registration at the teaching council, they are really fast and good with communication if you have all the required documentation.

 

My sis got all hers done while on holiday here in NZ (english test, teaching council registration, job interviews and job offers, and working visa) - all so that she cancelled her fight back and it took her 20 months of being here in NZ with just her holiday luggage and only went back to SA now this Dec holiday for the 1st time. 

[Wayne Potgieter]

Statement in red is not true. maybe it has changed recently, but it actually states on the INZ website that you are allowed to go for interviews while on a visitors visa.

Hmmm. Yes it is different and relatively new. Thanks for pointing out my error.

 

It's quite ambiguous though. If your sole reason is to come look for work (as with most people) then this visa is still not right as it clearly says your primary purpose must be to visit.

 

Like my first post said, its a risk and one that should be considered.

[DIPSLICK]

thanks, pretty much what I thought,,,,so its a " cape flats scenario" with the murder rate equal to some South American cartel controlled countries, but affluent areas not really being effected

 

P usage  is wild, the Australian epidemic seems more of  middle class problem 

[mazambaan]

Thanks Wayne & Patches particularly, Hayley, good point. Your help and time really appreciated.

[Wet Ears]

Just checking on how easy it would be to get a SIM that side to make some local calls and to have data when not in free wifi area? 

[davetapson]

Just checking on how easy it would be to get a SIM that side to make some local calls and to have data when not in free wifi area? 

 

Tip given to me by my brother who does a lot of travelling - buy the sim card in the duty free on arrival - there is is way less FICA/RICA/Fkn about.  

 

That's what we did when we arrived - I'm not sure they asked for anything other than our passport and maybe ticket.  

 

You buy the 'travel' version that comes preloaded with airtime/data/sms's etc and then just convert it before it expires or find an alternative option that suits you better and get that at your leisure.

 

The nice thing is you can bung it in your phone and you have local connectivity even before you leave the airport.

 

The other tip he gave which is suprisingly useful is carry copies of a rates/utilities bill and a bank statement.  Doesn't matter if they are from a different country, they seem to be largely acceptable for FICA/RICA type stuff where ever you need.

[DawieO]

 

Use a vault app like Masterpass, keep copies of passports, licenses, latest utility bills in pdf in it.

That way, should you need it...

 

Saved my ass when we took the wrong(expired) passport to the airport before a trip. Agent was bale to check us on, and it gave me time to storm home to fetch the right one.

 

Used a utility bill from vault yesterday to collect cash someone had sent to my daughter at a forex bureau.

You can even have the app remind you to update it every 3 months.

 

 

 

Tip given to me by my brother who does a lot of travelling - buy the sim card in the duty free on arrival - there is is way less FICA/RICA/Fkn about.  

 

That's what we did when we arrived - I'm not sure they asked for anything other than our passport and maybe ticket.  

 

You buy the 'travel' version that comes preloaded with airtime/data/sms's etc and then just convert it before it expires or find an alternative option that suits you better and get that at your leisure.

 

The nice thing is you can bung it in your phone and you have local connectivity even before you leave the airport.

 

The other tip he gave which is suprisingly useful is carry copies of a rates/utilities bill and a bank statement.  Doesn't matter if they are from a different country, they seem to be largely acceptable for FICA/RICA type stuff where ever you need.

[Wet Ears]

Thanks guys, great tips, much appreciated. I am going to be in NZ for 2 weeks checking things out so guessing I will be making a few calls and then obviously your usual data stuff ie maps, Google etc - any recommendation as to how much data I would need to purchase or is it easy enough to top up data and calls

[Wet Ears]

Back to the discussion of going to interviews when there on a visitors visa - a mate warned me last night of carrying anything on me that may suggest I am looking for a job as customs could hoof you. I checked my visa conditions and it simply states I cannot work.

 

I am there on a recce mission and holiday primarily and would simply want a meet and greet with some of the recruitment agencies and maybe a bank or two HR dept just so they know I am serious and can put a face to a name. I most certainly do not want to start working whilst there.

 

It seems to be accepted that you can interview whilst on a visitor visa but is it worth the risk of carrying a cv, job spec etc with you in case you get that overly zealous immigration officer - would it be safer to print once that side through customs or is it a non event?

[Wayne Potgieter]

Back to the discussion of going to interviews when there on a visitors visa - a mate warned me last night of carrying anything on me that may suggest I am looking for a job as customs could hoof you. I checked my visa conditions and it simply states I cannot work.

 

I am there on a recce mission and holiday primarily and would simply want a meet and greet with some of the recruitment agencies and maybe a bank or two HR dept just so they know I am serious and can put a face to a name. I most certainly do not want to start working whilst there.

 

It seems to be accepted that you can interview whilst on a visitor visa but is it worth the risk of carrying a cv, job spec etc with you in case you get that overly zealous immigration officer - would it be safer to print once that side through customs or is it a non event?

upload your stuff to a cloud drive and I’ll print it all out for you when you get here.

[Wet Ears]

Perfect, thanks Wayne