Can I get a Permanant Residence or Work visa for New Zealand as an Indian IT Engineer?

Question

I am married 28 years old guy, having over 3 years of work experience in IT / Software industry.

Can I get a PR or work visa for New Zealand?

Also my wife is a Nurse, if I can apply a couple work visa or PR request?

Answer 1

You may be eligible for a resident visa under the Skilled Migrant Category depending on a number of criteria. Assuming that you are the primary applicant, these criteria include:

• You/your spouse's highest completed level of education (referred to as your "qualifications" in the visa manuals)
• Your relevant work experience
• Whether or not your job title is on the Long term skills shortage list
• Whether or not you or your spouse have any past experience working in New Zealand
• Whether or not you or your spouse have ever studied in New Zealand
• Whether or not you or your spouse has an offer of skilled employment in New Zealand

This visa grants residence (including right to work, ability to use subsidized healthcare system, and right to vote after 12 months) to you, your spouse, and any other immediate family members you list on your application. Only you and your spouse are considered for points assessment, however.

Have a look at this self-assessment tool to determine if you might qualify.

Regarding a work visa, this too is possible, but you'll need to find a job here first. However your spouse must apply separately if she'd like to have the right to work. Otherwise, if she doesn't need to work, she may qualify for a partnership visa once you are granted a work visa. Have a look at these work visa requirements for more info.

Word of advice: no matter which visa you apply for, find a job first.

Having obtained New Zealand residence through the Skilled Migrant Category myself, I say from experience that it is so much more simple if you have an offer of skilled employment. Regardless of the number of points you have, if you don't have a job offer your application will be placed in a queue - quite often for 6-12 months. If you still don't have a job offer once your application processed, you won't be able to enter the country if you can't prove that you have the means to support yourself financially while you're here. It's much, much easier if you have a job offer.

Answer 2

(This should really be a comment to Ben's answer, but too many characters for the comment field).

I would offer a counter point to Ben's final word of advice. It's all completely valid, but my experience shows that you don't need a job offer to expedite a visa if you go the skilled migrant category.

I applied for a SM visa (with wife & young son), expecting it to be 4-6 months to process. But just 4 weeks later, we had the visas in our passports.

Having the visa made finding a job much easier. While many of the bigger employers are happy to take job applicants with no visa - and help expedite the process - many smaller companies can't handle the extra paperwork and delay that this incurs. Once I had the visa I made a trip to NZ to talk to prospective employers, and in just a couple of weeks had 4 job offers. At least a couple of these would not have been made if I did not already have the visa. It just helps remove doubt for the prospective employer, and they know you have already made a commitment to moving to NZ.

But certainly follow Ben's advice on using the points calculator. You should also check the new visa options check tool that could tell you what you are eligible for and next steps.