Know all the requirements of resident visa New Zealand their benefits, eligibility and process.
Overview
New Zealand has a modern, prosperous and developed market economy. New Zealand was ranked 5th in the “most developed” country according to the United Nations Development Programme. New Zealand is heavily dependent on international trade.
New Zealand is a predominantly urban country, with 72 percent of the population living in 16 main urban areas and 53 percent living in the four largest cities of Wellington (capital city), Auckland, Christchurch, and Hamilton. New Zealand cities generally rank highly on international livability measures.
Skilled Migrant Category Residence Visa:
- Skilled migrant category visa is the residence visa granted for skilled professionals with intent to settle permanently in New Zealand.
- To apply under the Skilled Migrant Category New Zealand, you must meet the basic requirements.
- You need to be aged 55 or under.
- You also have to meet the NZ standards of health, character, and English language proficiency before you start the process.
New Zealand PR Benefits
Most permanent residents are eligible to become citizens after a waiting period of 5 years residence. Permanent residents enjoy many of the rights and privileges of citizens, including voting and access to free or subsidized legal and health services and education.
Benefits of permanent resident status include:
- Unrestricted rights to live, work and study in New Zealand.
- Right to apply for New Zealand citizenship after fulfilling normal residence requirements.
- Domestic fees for education.
- Right to sponsor relatives for permanent residence, subject to fulfilling residence criteria and assurance of support requirements.
- Children born in New Zealand will be New Zealand citizens by birth.
- Right to access medical and social security benefit.
New Zealand PR Eligibility
An applicant must meet at least 100 points to get automatically selected from the pool, where the selection process will be held every fortnight. Points can be granted on various factors like Age, skilled employment or Job offer from NZ, recent work experience in an occupation as per Long-term skills shortage list, Spouse Job offer, Spouse qualifications, Family or close relatives in New Zealand.
New Zealand PR Process:
Basic Requirements to apply:
To apply under the Skilled Migrant Category New Zealand, you must meet the basic requirements. You need to be aged 55 or under. You also have to meet the NZ standards of health, character, and English language proficiency before you start the process.
Expression of Interest:
This is the first step towards making an application. If you qualify and meet the required threshold points of 100-140, you can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI), in which you claim points for skills, experience, and other factors.
EOI pool and the pool draw:
If you have claimed 100 points or more on your EOI, it goes into the Pool. Every fortnight, all EOIs over 140 points are automatically selected for an invitation to apply. After this, lower scoring EOIs with certain factors, such as skilled employment in New Zealand, are selected.
All non-selected application can still remain in the pool for at least 6 months and can be sent invitations based on the requirement. If you are not receiving a response within the 6 months of an application made date your application is considered as ceased.
Invitation to Apply:
Once your EOI is drawn from the pool, NZ will examine it and if they find it credible, you will be sent an Invitation to Apply (ITA). You will have to show proof of the claims made on your EOI. This means medical and police certificates, proof of English language ability, and documentation regarding your skills, experience, and other factors.
The application form sent along with the invitation contains the information that you provided in your EOI. You will check the information and return back with the documents in support of the claims made in the application.
The SMC residence application will be assessed based on the date the application is made towards residence visa. So, one must ensure that through the EOI is approved the same criteria remains and you are eligible for all the claimed points even at the time of visa application made.
Full assessment:
The application for a residence visa must be made anytime within the 4 months from the date of invitation received in response to the EOI submitted.
Once they receive your application and documents towards the residence visa, they will start assessing your application for residence. They shall assess you on your ability to settle in New Zealand successfully and they can also interview you if required.