Not Skilled Employment
‘L’ came to us nearly three years ago. He and his partner were from the UK and he had employment in a major freight company, as a specialist equipment driver and trainer. ‘L’ had UK qualifications and experience and his employers were keen to assist him to proceed to residence.
Unfortunately, his job would not be recognised by Immigration NZ (INZ) as skilled.
We were able to work with the employers, to assist them to obtain Employer Accreditation with INZ and to then apply for a Talent visa for ‘L’. He has now completed the mandatory two year employment on his Talent visa and is applying for residence.
A Back door to Residence?
Some immigration officers object to the Employer Accreditation programme as being a ‘back door’ route to route to residence which avoids the restricted and clumsy ANZSCO skill recognition ‘bible’. However, a few of us have been around long enough to know that that is exactly why the programme was established.
Employer accreditation enables an employer to support a person who has the skills they need but does not meet other residence criteria, into a 30 month Talent Visa and after two years of employment, to apply for residence. The only requirement is that the employee be on a salary of currently $55,000 for a 40 hour week.
Accreditation is not granted lightly and the employing company must be well established, show evidence of financial stability, be employing and training New Zealanders and being a ‘good corporate citizen’.