Immigrating to a new country can be a difficult and exciting time; especially when you’re looking for a new job. The process for applying, getting a visa and getting approved can be convoluted and for many is quite a daunting system. Many applicants don’t realise how much work is actually required by an employer to verify their intent to hire, and many employers overestimate the amount of effort actually required. WELL, we’re here to cover off a few of the mysteries around visa applications, and the process you’ll need to go through to get a job here in New Zealand.

The visa process is different for all parties involved, and often there's not enough clarity around what's actually involved.

Many applicants think that employers can just opt to sponsor a job, and many employers think they're going to be roadblocked every step of the way and asked to jump through dozens of hoops, which doesn't lead to a harmonious process. Senior Consultant Sif Arnardottir from Auckland IT & Digital has put pen to paper to provide some advice and key information you'll want to consider as you apply for jobs, or consider applicants. Having immigrated from Iceland back in 2003, Sif herself has been through the immigration process and has helped many applicants since to achieve their dream of moving to New Zealand. She went through the process of going from work visa, to resident to citizenship, and knows the ins and outs of Immigration in New Zealand.

Simply put, applicants need to know that the process is a bit more detailed than expected, and employers may find the process much easier than expected. There's often a lot of confusion around what will be expected from each party, and so it can be an intimidating process to look at.

In order to produce an offer letter to an international candidate, employers will have a few things they need to verify first to New Zealand Immigration, including:

• Proof of due diligence in looking for local talent and that the role has been advertised for a sufficient amount of time.
• Proof the organisation have been open about skill set required, location, salary and other job details.
• Proof of applications received and reasons for denial.
• Summarisation of people movements, including redundancies, resignations etc. within their organisation.

All of this is considered due diligence so that Immigration New Zealand can see best efforts have been made to locate and recruit talent based in New Zealand. Assuming all of the above has been done, and the necessary person for the role isn't already in New Zealand, then clearance will be given to issue an offer letter to someone offshore.

The other tricky thing you may encounter is that if you do it all yourself, you'll be allocated to an agent and not have any means to follow up via email, and so will have to wait on the phone to chat. Being allocated to an agent with Immigration New Zealand can take a long time depending on the volume of enquiries that they are dealing with, and so if you don't have time to wait, then you'll benefit from getting private assistance.

If you can get yourself a private Immigration Agent then you can pay them to look after your application, and your agent will prompt you for anything needed. The other benefit of a private agent is that they will work between employer and recruiter to help streamline the process, and get things moving in a timely manner. Chat to us about private agents and we may be able to recommend someone for you!