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

[intern]

 

 

Are there any SafriKiwis that have experienced any crime/drug related issues? I would hate for people to base life changing decisions on one weirdo from Benoni's opinion of his sheltered existence (referring to me)

 

Perception is reality

[davetapson]

I've been thinking more about this.

 

I am not refuting the stats at all - I simply don't know enough about them to have a valid and educated opinion.

 

When I cleaned crime scenes and was surrounded by death and peoples misdeeds, I became convinced that the world was only about that. It became all consuming as it was all around me and I never had the other side of the coin to balance that viewpoint with. Perhaps, given your sisters environment, that she might be suffering from the same issue?

 

I imagine working in a prison and being surrounded by lawlessness and crime (a lot of which is drug related) that would skew your world view (or in this case your NZ View) to feel like that was the prevalence of society.

 

On the other hand Darren (Naas Botha Joke) I live a sheltered professional life where I work with CEO level people and travel to nice places and stay in a good area, so my NZ view is skewed towards that side of the scale. I guess the actual reality lies in the middle and both your sisters view and mine are potentially not accurate?

 

I am not arguing, but rather being a little philosophical about things.

 

Are there any SafriKiwis that have experienced any crime/drug related issues? I would hate for people to base life changing decisions on one weirdo from Benoni's opinion of his sheltered existence (referring to me)

 

It seems definitely to be a problem, but (from what I've seen, and only my opinion) largely confined to Maori areas which as immigrants we (I?) don't have much contact with, so doesn't much affect us (me?). 

 

Was up on Karikari peninsula and the schools near the local marae all had anti-P slogans which would indicate it's an issue.  Seen the same sort of thing in other similar areas.

 

You can't buy any drug with pseudoephedrine here - Advil-CS etc - as they are a source for P feedstock and have been made illegal.  It's a bugger, esp. if you get hayfever.

 

We have a surgeon friend who does shifts in a South Auckland hospital. He says it's like a different world, and the poverty (and all it brings) is unreal.

 

So NZ is no different to anywhere else - you have both sides of the spectrum.  It seems that the two don't encroach on each other in quite the same way as SA.

 

It's probably a similar phenomenon as Tik on the Cape Flats.  It's not a particularly great drug, but is accessible to low income folk, and a local industry grows up around it. (I have an Agric degree, so I'm qualified to make this kind of statement...    )

 

For those that wonder, P stands for Pure which allegedly is a word play on an advertising slogan that called NZ 'Pure'.  Apparently is methamphetamine.

[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?