Can You Bring Your Family to NZ if You Have an Essential Skills Work Visa?

The NZ government offers Essential skills work visas to eligible individuals across the world. To be one of them, you have to keep reading!

The NZ Government and Immigration authorities have been at the forefront of indigenous development while safeguarding its citizens’ health and interest. New Zealand has been one of those countries that have suffered the least number of casualties due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, primarily due to the stringent border restrictions it has imposed.

However, the government and the immigration authorities are well aware that there are several crucial reasons why people might need to access the international borders to enter/leave the country. The introduction of the Critical Purpose Visitor Visa, automatic extensions of specific Work and Visitor Visas, etc., have proved beneficial for people to safely navigate their lives and careers within the pandemic.

What is the Essential Skills Work Visa?

The Essential Skills Work visa is a permit offered by New Zealand’s government to eligible people who hold the required qualification and job experience to work in a particular field job. If an individual is qualified enough to work in New Zealand, they can apply for a temporary work visa to work. Further, the employer confirms if New Zealanders are available to work for an open job position before they offer the opportunity to an overseas individual. Once the NZ employer grants you the visa, you are liable to file a visa application. Moreover, you may be allowed to support your partner and dependent children based on different conditions.

Rules of an Essential Skills Work Visa NZ:

The NZ government has formulated different rules and regulations to help a work visa holder avail of other opportunities while staying in New Zealand.

  • The overall duration of Essential Skills Work visa NZ depends upon the period of employment you are offered. Further, it also relies on the amount of salary paid to the employee
  • If you are paid at or above the New Zealand median wage, you may probably get a visa of 3 years.
  • After the completion of 3 years, if you still want to stay and work in NZ, you have to apply for another Essential Skills Work visa
  • If you have applied for an Essential Skills Work visa on 27 July 2020 or after this date, you can also support your partner for a visitor visa or a student visa depending upon the type of visa that is best for them. It is also essential to meet the income requirement if you want to support your partner for a visitor or a work visa

Book a consultation with our experienced NZ immigration advisors to know more about Essential Skills Work visa guidelines. These experts have loads of experience in matters related to NZ immigration and visas and have helped people significantly over the years to sort out such issues with ease.

  • The Essential Skills Work visa allows you to work under a New Zealand employer, but this visa does not allow self-employment in any case. You can study for a period of 3 months – 12 months as a part of your service
  • In case your partner and dependent children are eligible for a visitor or a student visa, they need to apply for the appropriate visa separately
  • If an individual has an Essential Skills work visa based on a skilled job, it could be beneficial to qualify for a Residence Visa under the skilled migrant category
  • You can work under a New Zealand employer if you are offered a full-time job that completes 40 hours a week. You cannot work part-time on the essential skills work visa in New Zealand

Bringing family to NZ if you have an Essential Skills Work Visa

According to some of the NZ government and immigration authorities’ important personnel, many migrant workers are currently present in NZ. While the COVID-19 pandemic and the border restrictions in place prevent them from leaving the country except for a specific reason, the government has been benevolent enough to increase their visa durations. This is because of the need for a massive number of migrant workers to restructure the indigenous job ecosystem, which has suffered since the pandemic. Every accredited NZ employer is looking to recruit and engage skilled migrant laborers in their companies to compensate for the loss in business that they have suffered.

If you are in NZ temporarily on a work visa, you might wish to bring your partner or extended family to the country and enjoy their presence. All types of work visas in New Zealand support visas for your partner and dependent children, but certain restrictions should be considered.

If you are in NZ temporarily on a work visa, you might wish to bring your partner or extended family to the country and enjoy their presence. All types of work visas in New Zealand support visas for your partner and dependent children, but certain restrictions should be considered.

  • If you hold an essential skills work visa NZ, you can support your partner’s open work visa
  • You are also allowed to support a visitor’s visa for your partner and children if you have a work visa
  • You can also support your children for a student visa in NZ if you hold a work visa
  • While supporting a visitor or a student visa, it is essential to meet the income requirement of NZ, which is present $43,322.76 annually

You are not eligible to support or bring your family members to NZ if you hold the below-mentioned visa.

  • An employee is allowed to work on a public holiday if the holiday falls on a day when an employee would have worked otherwise
  • If the employment agreement includes a clause of working on a public holiday
  • Apart from the above mentioned two reasons, the employees are not subjected to work on public holidays

If you have enrolled for an Essential Skills Work visa before 27 July 2020, then the NZ government must have assessed the applicant for a high or mid-skilled worker. With this type of visa, you can support a work visa for your partner. The applicant can check for the visa approval letter to find a suitable skill band for your field job. If the NZ government assessed your career as a lower-skilled job, you could support a work visa only if your partner held a visa on 28 August 2017 based on the relationship with you. Further, you should also not be subjected to a stand-down period during this duration. If you have completed your studies in New Zealand, you can support your partner’s work visa in New Zealand.

Conclusion

Bringing your family to NZ can be easy if you hold an Essential Skills Work visa in New Zealand. Book a consultation with our amicable immigration experts for more information on different work visas and eligibility in NZ.

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