Skilled Migrant Category Questions and Answers

How often does the NZIS select Expressions of Interest from the Pool? Selections are scheduled to take place fortnightly.

How will I know whether my Expression of Interest has been selected? If your Expression of Interest is selected from the Pool, you will be advised in writing soon after the selection. If you submitted your Expression of Interest online, you can also check to see if it has been selected by logging onto your Skilled Migrant Online Services homepage after the selection has been announced.

My Expression of Interest has been selected – what is happening now? Your Expression of Interest is undergoing preliminary verification by NZIS officers to determine whether the claims made in your Expression of Interest can be verified as being credible and legitimate. Then, if your details check out, you will be invited to apply for residence.

What does ‘preliminary verification’ involve? Preliminary verification involves a check to ensure the claims made in your Expression of Interest can be verified as being credible and legitimate, particularly factors for which you are claiming points. This may involve the NZIS contacting you, your New Zealand employer or others to confirm some of the details in your Expression of Interest. If you are invited to apply for residence, further assessment and verification will be carried out and you must provide documentation to support the claims made in your Expression of Interest.

What is the cut-off point for Expressions of Interest to get into the Pool for a selection? There is no set ‘cut-off’ point. The NZIS aims to process paper Expressions of Interest and get them into the Pool as quickly as possible, but if you are worried your Expression of Interest may not be accepted in time for the next selection, we recommend you submit it online. Advantages of the online Expression of Interest include the fact it is cheaper than submitting a paper form, and you will know instantly whether it has been submitted into the Pool.

My Expression of Interest didn’t get selected – how long will it stay in the Pool? Will there be more chances for it to be selected? Expressions of Interest remain in the Pool for three months. The preliminary selection from the Pool on 18 February did not count for these purposes – Expressions of Interest submitted into the Pool before the selection on 3 March 2004 will remain in the Pool for three months from that date (i.e. until 3 June).

What does ‘selection point’ mean? How do you calculate the selection point? Expressions of Interest accepted into the Pool are ranked according to their points score. The NZIS determines how many Expressions of Interest it wishes to select based on a number of factors, including: the number of places available in the Skilled/Business stream of the New Zealand Immigration Programme, the quality of Expressions of Interest in the Pool (as indicated by their point scores), and the total number of Expressions of Interest in the Pool at selection time.

Taking these factors into account, the ‘selection point’ is set at a particular points level, and Expressions of Interest at that point score and above are selected from the Pool.

Am I better off submitting my Expression of Interest online, rather than using the paper form? Generally, yes. The NZIS recommends that you use the online Expression of Interest because: the fee to submit an online Expression of Interest is considerably less than the fee for the paper form you will know immediately whether your Expression of Interest has been successfully submitted into the Pool you can check the status of your Expression of Interest online and make instant updates to your Expression of Interest after it has been submitted into the Pool.

In contrast, if you submit a paper form you must send it to the NZIS in Wellington for processing. If the form is incomplete it cannot be submitted into the Pool and may be sent back to you. Also, if you wish to make any changes to your Expression of Interest after it has been submitted into the Pool you must do so in writing to the NZIS.

How can I find out the latest selection point? A history of selection points and the number of Expressions of Interest selected each time is available on the NZIS website at www.immigration.govt.nz.

How many selections has the NZIS made since the new Category came into effect? A preliminary selection was made on 18 February and there have been three selections since then, counting this week’s selection.

What happens if Expressions of Interest are selected from the Pool but the point score claimed is incorrect? All Expressions of Interest selected from the Pool are checked by NZIS officers to ensure the point score is correct. In cases where the point score is found to be incorrect, the NZIS will recalculate the points and if the new point score is at or above the selection point, and other details in the Expression of Interest check out, the Expression of Interest will proceed to the Invitation to Apply stage.

If the new point score is lower than the selection point, and the NZIS is satisfied the incorrect score was the result of a genuine error, the Expression of Interest will be returned to the Pool and will be available for the next selection, at the revised point score. If the NZIS considers the customer deliberately attempted to mislead us, the Expression of Interest will not go any further.

Statistics

Where are Expressions of Interest under the Skilled Migrant Category coming from? What nationality are the applicants? The majority of Expressions of Interest submitted so far – almost 60% - are coming from people already in New Zealand.

Over 100 nationalities are represented, from Argentina to Uzbekistan, but the majority of Expressions of Interest are coming from the following nationalities:

Great Britain 35% India 10% South Africa 7% Philippines 7% China 6% USA 4%

How many Expressions of Interest have been selected so far? As at 30 March 2004, 479 Expressions of Interest have been selected from the Pool.

How many of these are from people already living in New Zealand? All the people whose Expressions of Interest have been selected so far are already living in New Zealand.

What parts of New Zealand are they living in? People whose Expressions of Interest were selected in the first three selections are living in towns and cities across the country. Auckland 107 Wellington 93 Waikato 60 Canterbury 53 Otago 33 Manawatu 28 Northland 15 Taranaki 15 Hawke’s Bay 14 East Coast 12 Nelson/Marlborough 12 Southland 14 West Coast 1

Note, these figures are a ‘snapshot’ of Expressions of Interest as at 26 March 2004 and do not include those that have been through the verification process and not resulted in an Invitation to Apply, or those that have been selected and subsequently returned to the Pool because their point score fell below the selection point following checking.

How many of the Expressions of Interest selected so far are claiming points for a job or job offer outside Auckland? Over 70% are from principal applicants claiming points for a job or job offer outside Auckland.

How many of the Expressions of Interest selected so far are claiming points for a job or job offer in an area of absolute skills shortage? Over 70% are from principal applicants claiming points for a job or job offer in an area of absolute skills shortage. This includes nurses, psychiatrists, secondary school teachers, university lecturers, automotive mechanics, and IT professionals.

How many skilled migrants from the first selections will be sent an Invitation to Apply? As of 30 March – 148 have either been issued or will soon be issued an Invitation to Apply.

Do any of these migrants actually have jobs to go to? All the principal applicants who have or will be issued an Invitation to Apply following the first selections are already working here on a Work Permit or have job offers. These include highly qualified Information and Communication Technology (ICT) professionals, biotechnologists, nurses, secondary school teachers and tradespeople.

How many residence applications has the NZIS received so far? Applicants have four months to lodge their application, and it can often take a few months to get the required documentation together, but as of 30 March the NZIS had received nine applications for residence.

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