Things They Don’t Tell You

It has been quite the busy week for INZ in the media, with two very interesting scenarios playing out across our major news outlets. The first being the review, by INZ, of the activities of internet sensation IShowSpeed (aka Darren Watkins Junior) who toured NZ, filming his antics for the sake of his faithful followers, but doing so whilst here on a Visitor Visa. It appears INZ might have a few questions as to whether he was actually “visiting” or indeed working here, without the legal right to do so.

The second item to make the news, only today, was the cancellation of a visa for Candace Owens, a notable conservative political commentator who ironically did apply for a Work Visa in order to attend a public engagement here in February but who was declined by INZ, largely because she was also declined to undertake the same engagement in Australia.

Two similar scenarios, but also quite different in their approach, however both lead me to consider that there is a lot of misinformation out there in terms of what you can and can’t do here on certain visas, and also a lot of confusion in other areas of our visa system that whilst might seem minor, can lead to applicants ending up in very hot water. To that end, I thought I might discuss a few of the key circumstances in this weeks article.

Visitor Visa - Remote Work

Now, I am not about to profess a thorough working knowledge of a “YouTuber” but from what I can gather, our recent arrival, Darren Watkins Junior, known online as IShowSpeed, recently toured the country, arriving here on an NZETA, which then allowed him to secure a Visitor Visa on arrival for 90 days. During his tour, he visited various tourist locations, engaged with a few of the local sporting teams and basically had a good time, many things a visitor would ordinarily do.

The difference however is that Darren (I just can’t bring myself to use the name IShowSpeed), was all the while filming his activities, posting them to YouTube, which in turn then generated him an income. He was, in any interpretation of the word, working, although arguably some of us might not consider it as much work, as a bit of fun. Nonetheless work it was and that is where the problems set in.

Digital Nomads

We don’t actually have a Digital Nomad visa and working here as a visitor, can lead to trouble and strife…

It might surprise a few people to know, but Immigration New Zealand (INZ) doesn’t actually factor in the location of your employer, when they consider whether you are here working or not. In Darren’s case, a lot of people (including himself and his team), assumed that because he wasn’t here working for a NZ employer, but instead effectively working for himself, that it wouldn’t matter. However that is not how the rules work. Our visa system defines work as any activity undertaken within our exclusive economic zone, for any form of gain or reward (not necessarily money) and the location of the employer or where the employer is based is irrelevant. So in short, if you come here, with a view to work remotely, and use a visitor visa to do it, you are most likely breaching your conditions and just like in Darren’s case INZ take a dim view of that.

So what happens if I am here on holiday and check my emails?

Good question and whilst we dont actually have specific instructions to address this growing remote work problem, we do have common sense. Essentially if you come here as a visitor, your main purpose for being here and the activity you need to undertake is that of a tourist (visiting family, beaches, Hobbiton etc.). If on the odd occassion you clear emails or take work calls, but you are here primarily as a visitor, you are probably not going to get a call from INZ.

However if your main reason for being here is to work, and that is what you spend the bulk of your time doing, then you are in fact not a visitor at all. That was Darren’s downfall, so to speak, he came here to continue doing what he does to generate revenue in the nature of a job and hence INZ was right to question him.

However thankfully for Darren, he was let off with a warning, which in reality was the as much as INZ could do without creating a social media maelstrom (Darren apparently has a few supporters). A good lesson in this though, for those looking to come here as so-called “digital nomads”, you might want to wait until we actually have a visa that allows you to do that.

Work Visa Conditions

Check The Details

Most Work Visas have conditions as to where you can work, who you can work for and what you can do.

The next one, which seems to be popping up more and more often, particularly under the Accredited Employer Work Visa scheme, is the conditions attached to your visa and how following them can be pretty important.

When you are granted with an employer supported Work Visa, like the AEWV, this will most likely come with conditions, which specify who you can work for, where you can work (the region or city etc.), and the role you can perform. They will also specify salary conditions in the form of a specific hourly rate that you need to earn and will always confirm that you have to work a minimum of at least 30 hours.

These conditions are exactly that - conditions. If you dont meet any one of these conditions you are then in breach of the visa and like poor old Darren could be facing some consequences. However unless you have YouTube following like Darren, chances are INZ could be a little more difficult to deal with and it is not uncommon for INZ to raise this as an issue during a subsequent application (for Residence etc.) or in extreme cases seek to cancel the visa itself.

If any of the conditions on your visa are likely to change for any reason, you need to first (and before things do change) ensure you have taken steps to vary the visa, which is usually a formal process through INZ. Failing to do this, can cause you a lot of grief and usually the process to change can be managed without too much difficulty.

Travel Conditions For Residence

This one pops up usually around the end of the year (about now) or early in the new year, when people are thinking about travelling either on holiday or back to visit family etc. The problem surfaces when someone goes to organise a trip and then realises at the very last minute that their travel conditions are set to expire very shortly or might have already expired and of course you need those conditions on your Resident Visa, to be able to come back in again.

Exit & Enter?

Your first Resident Visa comes with travel conditions, valid for two years. It is easy to forget that these need to be extended…

This one pops up usually around the end of the year (about now) or early in the new year, when people are thinking about travelling either on holiday or back to visit family etc.

This usually results in some very last-minute and rushed work to try and get the new conditions applied, costing time and money, and meaning less funds for your planned holiday trip. It can be stressful and worrying, going on holiday, not knowing if you will be able to come back as a resident, to your home, family or job.

Why does this happen?

Well, its pretty easy to miss - when your Residence is initially granted (for most applicants), the visa is issued with travel conditions valid for two years. You can live here forever technically but if you want to come and go, those travel conditions are the key. Usually at the end of that first two years, people transition to “Permanent Residence” which is effectively never-ending travel conditions, however sometimes people forget they need to do this and end up travel conditions that have expired, bags packed, flights booked and no way home.

It is something to watch out for and why we provide our clients with a separate guide on approval that clarifies this and suggests that they mark this future date in a calendar somewhere.

We Know What You Don’t

There are plenty of things in the strange, bizarre and often complex world of NZ immigration that people either don’t know, have no reason to know or simply miss and while some of these are of no major consequence, other things can be the difference between staying here or otherwise.

Knowing what you don’t know is often the best thing you can accomplish and the finding someone to manage all of these issues, keeping track and reminding you of when things need to be done, can be a great insurance policy to cover what will be one of the biggest moves you make.

If you need a refresher, are looking for guidance on how to start the process or have come bit unstuck during the process - talk to the team that knows.

Until next week!

Remember - Our last seminar for the year will take place on 08 December 2024 (via Zoom). Register here to attend.