Steps towards gaining residence in New Zealand

Siva Shanker Rajadurai

Working temporarily in New Zealand can be used as a step towards gaining residence and settling here permanently. 

If your talents are needed by New Zealand employers, or you have exceptional talent in the arts, culture or sports, you can apply to work in New Zealand under the Work to Residence category. 

If you are already in New Zealand on a Work to Residence permit, after two years you can apply for residence.

Which policy you apply under depends on your occupation and your circumstances.

Your choice of lawyer to attend to your immigration needs is an important decision.  For relevant service or for more information please contact a friendly Auckland lawyer at Quay Law.

Which visa / permit best applies to you?

Before one submits an application for New Zealand residency, it is highly advisable to check the various immigration visas/permits leading to residency. 

 Consider which visa/permit best applies to you, as a wrong application could cost you your future. 

The various visas/permits are :

1. Work to Residency,
2. Skilled Migrant Category,
3. Investment/Investment Plus,
4. Long Term Business Visa/Permit,
5. Entreprenuer /Entrepreneur Plus. 

For more information regarding your immigration requirements contact a friendly  lawyer at Quay Law.

By Siva Shanker (Auckland Lawyer – Quay Law)

QUAY LAW LEGAL UPDATE – Types of Property Ownership in New Zealand

QUAY LAW LEGAL UPDATE

In this issue, Ian Mellett describes his business visit to India and the various forms of property investment available to new immigrants

Since my last article in this magazine, I have had the wonderful experience of being involved in a fantastic business trip to India.  It was incredible to be exposed to the social and cultural elements that exist in India on the one hand, contrasted against the might of the Indian economy on the other.  We even managed to squeeze in a visit to the Taj Mahal, one of the seven man-made wonders of the world.  The focus of the trip was “New Zealand Invest 2010” – promoting New Zealand from both an investment and immigration perspective.

The delegation included legendary New Zealand cricketer Sir Richard Hadlee, one of the keynote speakers, along with a group of property developers, real estate professionals and an internationally acclaimed property investment speaker.  I was invited to accompany the delegation in the capacity of an independent legal adviser.  During the various seminars, held in Delhi (23-24 January), Ludhiana (28 January) and Chandigarh (30-31 January), seminar attendees were provided with valuable information to enable them to explore lifestyle, investment and business opportunities in New Zealand.   During the numerous break-out sessions, I was called upon to provide expert independent legal advice and assistance to potential investors.  This has subsequently resulted in Quay Law now having quite a few Indian investor clients on its books, and the distinct possibility exists that there will be more to come in the future.

It goes without saying that this was a truly memorable and unique experience.  Not only was our entire delegation exposed to the broad spectrum of the Indian economy but being a cricket fanatic myself, I had the added bonus of meeting and spending two weeks with Sir Richard Hadlee.  What a nice guy, and a truly great ambassador for New Zealand.

One of the questions frequently raised by the potential Indian investors pertained to the type of property ownership involved.  I find that local purchasers in New Zealand often have the same query, so I thought that it would be useful to set out the most common forms of ownership below.

1) Fee simple: This represents a form of freehold ownership and in essence represents absolute ownership of the property. 

2) Leasehold: This is a form of property tenure where one party buys the right to occupy land or a building for a given length of time.  Until the end of the lease period the leaseholder has the right to remain in occupation as an assured tenant paying an agreed rent to the owner. 

3) Cross lease: This is a hybrid form of multi-unit tenure in which each owner has an undivided share of the underlying freehold as tenants in common, and is granted a registered leasehold estate of the particular unit or flat occupied.  Effectively the property owners share ownership of the land and each owner leases their building from the other owners, which together form the cross lease title.

4) Stratum estate: Under the Unit Titles Act 1972 the deposit of a unit plan has the effect of creating in each unit (usually multi-unit dwellings, shops, offices or industrial premises) a new kind of statutory estate called a stratum estate in freehold, or a stratum estate in leasehold, depending on whether the land which was subdivided into units was freehold or leasehold.

It is essential to determine, upfront, the exact nature of the form of property ownership when embarking upon a purchase of any property.  My experience is that it is beneficial to have your lawyer cast his/her eye over a potential purchase agreement, before you sign the document, to ensure that you fully understand the nature and form of property ownership involved.

Please feel free to contact Ian Mellett at Auckland Law firm, Quay Law for more information, or if you have any questions regarding your conveyancing or other legal needs visit our website www.quaylaw.co.nz for more information.

Siva Shanker joins the team at Quay Law

Auckland Lawyer Siva Shanker Rajadurai joins the legal team at Quay Law.

The team at Auckland Law Firm, Quay Law welcomes Siva Shanker Rajadurai to the team.

Siva Shanker Rajadurai holds a LLB from the University of London and a Diploma in Electronics Engineering from  Malaysia.

Prior to serving with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Malaysia, Shanker held numerous legal related roles in New Zealand Shanker is able to provided legal services in English, Malay and Tamil.

He is people orientated and knowledgeable in the areas of property law, family trusts, commercial law and immigration.

Welcome aboard Shanker.

Quay Law goes to India

Please find attached a link to some pictures taken on a recent business trip to India  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_87ouadwQ24  .

Taking into account the ongoing bilateral Free Trade Agreement negotiations between India and New Zealand, and looking at the potential trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, there could not have been a more opportune time to hold the New Zealand Invest 2010 in India.

New Zealand Residence Programme: Investor (Investor 2 Category) selection

New Zealand Residence Programme: Investor (Investor 2 Category) selection

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Source : Immigration New Zealand

A selection of Expressions of Interest (EOI) under the Migrant Investment Policy, Investor (Investor 2 Category), took place on Wednesday, 17 February 2010. Eleven EOIs were selected. All EOIs with a claim of between 20 and 171 points were selected.

For more information relating to your immigration needs contact Ian Mellett.

New Zealand Residence Programme: Skilled Migrant Category fortnightly selection

Source : immigration.govt.nz

A selection of Expressions of Interest (EOI) under the Skilled Migrant Category took place on 27 January 2010.

The following EOIs were selected. 

27 January 2010

Selection criteria	No. of EOIs
All EOIs at or above 140 points.	376
All EOIs with a job or a job offer claiming points between 100 and 135 points.	119
All those claiming 15 points for work experience in an area of absolute skill shortage and with a points total between 130 and 135 points.	48
TOTAL SELECTION	543

 The next selection will take place in a fortnight.

Skilled Migrant Category additional selection criteria maintained

Friday, December 18, 2009

Source : immigration.govt.nz

The additional criteria for selecting Expressions of Interest (EOI) from the Skilled Migrant Category Pool (the Pool) until 31 July 2010 have been set. The criteria will remain the same as in the previous six month period.

These criteria are applied when there are places available in the Pool after all applicants who score between 100 and 140 points and have a New Zealand job or job offer have been selected. When this happens, other EOIs may be selected on the basis of specific criteria which the Minister of Immigration sets every six months.

The additional selection criteria are:

• EOIs that include 15 points for work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage (in descending order of their points total);
• EOIs that include 10 points for work experience in an area of absolute skills shortage (in descending order of their points total);
• EOIs that include 10 points for a qualification in an area of absolute skills shortage (in descending order of their points total);
• the points total of EOIs not meeting any of the above criteria.

International Travel and Migration: November 2009

International Travel and Migration: November 2009 – Media Release

Source: Statistics New Zealand

New Zealand’s annual net permanent and long-term (PLT) migration balance was a gain of 20,000 in the November 2009 year, up from 3,600 in the November 2008 year, Statistics New Zealand said today. The latest annual net migration total is the highest since the July 2004 year (20,600). The increase in net migration was driven largely by 17,300 fewer PLT departures compared with the previous year.

PLT departures decreased by 1,600 in the November 2009 month, including 1,500 fewer departures to Australia and 200 fewer departures to the United Kingdom. Since February 2009, PLT departures have fallen by at least 1,000 each month compared with the same month of the previous year. PLT arrivals decreased by 200 in November 2009.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, PLT arrivals exceeded PLT departures by 1,800 in the November 2009 month, similar to levels experienced since February 2009.

Visitor arrivals in November 2009 (219,900) were up 600 (less than 1 percent) compared with November 2008. Arrivals from Australia (up 7,300 or 9 percent) were again the major contributor, with November 2009 being the eighth consecutive month of large increases from across the Tasman. There were drops in visitors from the United States (down 2,400) and Canada (down 900). Visitor arrivals in the November 2009 year (2.439 million) were down 14,300 (1 percent) from the November 2008 year.

New Zealand residents departed on 158,400 short-term overseas trips in November 2009, up 3,200 (2 percent) from November 2008. There were more trips to India (up 1,100 or 22 percent), and the United States (up 1,000 or 19 percent), but fewer trips to the Cook Islands (down 800 or 18 percent) and Australia (down 800 or 1 percent). For the November 2009 year, short-term departures of New Zealand residents numbered 1.921 million, down 58,400 (3 percent) from the previous November year.

	21 December 2009
END

Expect a strong recovery in NZ economy: Westpac

Expect a strong recovery in New Zealand’s economy, Westpac says

Monday, 18 January 2010, 4:33 pm
Article: Businesswire

Jan. 18 (BusinessWire) – New Zealand’s economic recovery will be stronger than most economists are forecasting, with growth likely to top 4% next year, Westpac Banking Corp said in its quarterly economic overview.

While the global financial crisis could mean a different kind of recovery, Westpac’s economics team suggests there is too much store being placed in that analysis, especially when so many of the factors now at play look the same or better than recoveries in the past.

Westpac’s forecast of a 3.7% rate of growth in gross domestic product this year, and 4.3% in 2011, is at the top end of the 16 forecasters the bank monitors, and it’s happy with that.

“We find that recoveries from past recessions have tended to be very strong,” said Westpac’s chief economist, Brendon O’Donovan. “On average, New Zealand GDP (economic) growth peaks at 6% per annum nine quarters after the recession has ended.”

“What is startling is how many favors are currently shaping up similar to that experienced in previous strong recoveries,” he said. “That would suggest that the risks to our forecasts are weighted more to the upside than the downside.”

Among factors looking similar or better than in previous recoveries, Westpac listed:
• A deep recession to start with;
• Asset prices, particularly housing, rebounding strongly;
• A mini-boom in migration is under way;
• World economic forecasts keep being revised upwards, led by Asian economies rather than Europe or the USA on this occasion;
• A dramatic shortfall in new houses being built;
• Unusually deep de-stocking, meaning firms will have greater inventory re-stocking needs. Inventories fell in mid-2009 by the greatest extent since records began in 1987;
• Reduced consumption mainly affected durable goods, especially cars. If and when spending returns to more normal patterns, these categories fuel a bounceback;
• Leading indicators including the interest rate outlook (rising), business and consumer confidence are “if anything, stronger in those most other economic recoveries”.

While credit, employment and mortgagee sales data would continue to look weak for some months yet, they were all late signals from the last impacts of the recession on firms and households that had hung on as long as possible, but failed late in the downturn.

While the global financial crisis was severe for world banking, there was no banking crisis in New Zealand and the terms of trade had returned swiftly to robust levels, reflecting demand for agricultural and other commodities from fast-growing Asian countries, where New Zealand was signing an increasing number of trade liberalisation deals that would assist growth.

“Simple arithmetic would suggest a stronger than usual rebound,” O’Donovan said.

Westpac expects a substantial improvement in parts of the economy that are exposed to domestic recovery, singling out construction, publishing and advertising, transport and sectors supporting oplant and machinery investment, and consumer durable goods.

(BusinessWire)