The China Special Work Category is for Chinese nationals who are qualified as chefs, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, Mandarin teachers’ aides, wushu martial arts coaches or tour guides.

There are currently places available under this category for traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, Mandarin teachers’ aides, wushu martial arts coaches and tour guides.  Applications for these occupations should be submitted to the appropriate Immigration New Zealand Visa Application Centre in China or, if you are in New Zealand on a valid work or student visa, at the nearest Immigration New Zealand (INZ) branch.

Chinese chef applications

All 200 places for Chinese chefs were filled between October 2008 and September 2011.  Further places are being released in batches, to manage demand. On Monday 15 April 2013, a further 33 places will become available. Applications for Chinese chefs under the China Special Work Category should be lodged at the Shanghai Branch. It is expected that the places will fill quickly, so you may wish to contact the Shanghai branch to see if places are available before you submit your application.

 

The INZ Beijing and Hong Kong branches, and Visa Applications Centres in China, will NOT accept applications under the China Special Work Category for chefs. All applications should be lodged directly to Shanghai Branch, in person or by mail/courier, to arrive no earlier than 15 April 2013.

Requirements you must meet

You will need to meet our health and character requirements.

 

You will also have to show us evidence that you have the qualification (and any other requirements) for one of the following occupations.

 

Occupation	Number of people able to hold a visa at any one time	Qualification requirement	Other requirement(s)
Chinese chef	200	Chinese Occupational Skills Testing Authority Certificate Level 3 in traditional cuisine	-
Traditional chinese medicine (TCM) practioner (including a TCM nurse)	200	Higher education degree requiring at least three years’ successful study in Traditional Chinese Medicine from an institution recognised by the Chinese government	-
Mandarin teachers’ aide	150	Higher education degree requiring at least three years’ successful study	The NZ job must require you to carry out a range of language-teaching duties, which support the acquisition of the Mandarin language by NZ school students.
Wushu Martial Arts coach	150	Grade 3-5 Certificate and a post-compulsory education qualification in either physical education or teaching requiring at least two years’ successful study from an institution recognised by the Chinese government OR (below)	-
		Wushu Grade 6-9 Certificate	Five years’ teaching experience
Chinese tour guide	100	IELTS Level 5 in Listening and Speaking English*	Valid Tour Guide Licence in China, and a demonstrated knowledge of New Zealand**.

** Your IELTS certificate must be less than two years old when you submit your application.

* In order to demonstrate your knowledge of New Zealand, you must complete the North and South Island online training modules which can be accessed from the Tourism New Zealand website, www.newzealand.com/travel/zhs/trade.  There are Chinese language versions of these modules. Once you have successfully completed the training, you will receive a certificate issued by Tourism New Zealand.

Requirements your employer must meet

Your New Zealand employer must provide an offer of genuine, sustainable and full-time employment for up to three years in your occupation.

 

Your employer must have previously complied with, and will continue to comply with, all relevant New Zealand employment and immigration law, and immigration instruction provisions.

If you are approved

If you are approved, you may be granted a work visa for up to three years, depending on the length of your job offer. If you are granted a work visa for less than three years, you may apply for a further visa for the balance of the period, as long as you still meet all the requirements of this category.

 

If you work the full three years in New Zealand and later wish to return here under this category, you will need to remain outside of New Zealand for at least three years before you can apply again.

Apply

To be approved under this category you must meet all the requirements. Find out how to apply.