megan130 said:
Been in the process of planning to migrate to NZ for many months now and figuring the best path. My final confusion is should a person apply for a EOI before getting a job offer or being in the process of job searching overseas while applying? Would already submitting a high point EOI help get a job offer?
If the only way to qualify for ANY EOI acceptance is to already have a job offer then no one can ever get accepted. Especially if you can't qualify for a Work Holiday Visa being too old. Legally visitors visa persons can't spend their time looking/applying for work therefore how do you even 'visit' for gaining interviews to get final offers?
Hi.
Appears you haven't received any advice from the forum.
I'm no expert just someone who has been thru it from the UK, came out the other side and now live in NZ.
I applied for EOI without a job offer but it all depends on your points score and your individual circumstances. I had 150 points without a job offer and was advised by my immigration consultant to send in the EOI for Residency via Skilled Shortage route.
I would suggest checking the Immigration NZ website and/or speaking to an Immigration Agent as it all depends on your experiences/qualifications/trade what visa you would apply for and whether you are on the skills shortage list etc.
The experience I had was not one employer remotely interested in me until I was granted the visa and the flights booked. On the other hand colleagues in NZ tell a different story that they were offered the chance of employment, decided to try out NZ and did it all in 3 months!!!
It took us 16 months to get the residency visas alone!!!
If you have enough points on the EOI, I would say go for it without a job offer, but if you apply for Work To Residence or a Working Visa then you will need a job offer to get the visa so as I say it's not an easy question to answer.
Don't think submitting a high point EOI makes any difference to an employer.
If they see your potential on a professional / business basis and offer you a job they will liaise with Immigration to get whatever visa is decided you need to get you there ASAP.
You don't need a job offer to submit the EOI however you will get more points for having the job offer.
For some people it is essential to have the job offer as without it they may not have enough points and their EOI may just sit in the pool for months then be removed without the ITA.
If you have 140 points or more then it's looking like this is around the threshold to be picked out for ITA fairly quickly so you need to factor this in. Do you need a job offer to give yourself enough points to make sure you get the ITA ? That is a question you need to satisfy before sending in the EOI.
If you have the money and time to visit beforehand I would recommend coming as a tourist with a view to looking for work, passing round your CV, maybe even seeing some employment agencies or setting up some interviews but if you do, bring everything on a memory stick and not 10 paper copies of everything to save all the Customs questions if you get picked to be assessed.
You should be ok so long as you have a return ticket and enough funds and you are honest but no point making it hard for yourself. NZ customs aren't as difficult to get by as "Passport Patrol" depicts.
Bring the memory stick and print all your bits off at an Internet cafe or the library when you've been allowed in as a tourist then go search for the job.
Good luck
