carterfamily

Hi all, im a 30 year old nurse. Just wondering if anyone has applied under skilled migrant for visa and done it by themselves without using an agent??
Not sure if i would need a job offer and if anyone can give me a rough idea of costs involved in aquiring visa id be really grateful.
Thanks all,

Reylan

Hi There

We applied through the Skilled Migrant Category and did not use an agent. Check your points total without a job offer and if it's over the limit you can apply without the job offer.

If you take a look at the NZIS website it gives all the up to date costs but I think, currently it's £400 for online EOI, £500 for manual EOI and then, if you are lucky enough to get pickes £705 for an ITA application for visa. I understand that, if you get the visa, there is also a levy to pay but not 100% sure how much that is currently. Basically, it is quite a lot if you do it yourself but a considerable amount more if you use an agent! It seems to me that you need to get all the information and paperwork whether you use an agent or not so it may be prudent to try and do it yourself - just my opinion.

A&F

BEVS

Yes. Lots of us have DIY'd this successfully

Are you after a temporary work visa or do you want to emigrate perminately ?

Pointer

We submitted our EOI in October with 120 points, didnt use an agent but did pick their brains with regards to how many points we could get. we came out of the pool at first time of asking and are currently doing our ITA stuff just now. Form is a pain and time consuming to fill in but it is doable just need to plod away at it. its a lot of money to get an agent to fill in a form for you!!

neither of us have job offers, just going with the flow just now, monitoring the job market to see what region of NZ we have best chance of getting jobs that match our skill set, currently looking like Wellington or Auckland.

as long as there are hills to climb and beaches to walk along and no UK soaps to watch I'll be happy

shelloid

we're also going through the process without an agent....in fact I think most people I've seen here have done it themselves. It seems like you'd only really need an agent if you have a complicated case - I'm not sure if you have or not, but from the little bit you've mentioned it doesn't appear that you have.

We're currently waiting to be assigned a case officer and up until now I don't think there's been anything that's been too horrendous to sort out, and knowing what we've done I'm glad we didn't spend the extra on an agent - I understand that they are expensive and it's a costly enough process without and agent.

There have been a few threads on how much it has cost people to move.....I'll see if I can find some.

Ah yes here they are (bear in mind these threads were started some time ago and so the costs may have increased since then):
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=598317
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=547206

I haven't actually added up how much it hass cost us so far, tbh I'm a bit afraid to as I know it's alot already and we've still got all the big things to come!

And if you're not sure on whether you would need a job offer, have a go on the points indicator on the NZIS website (assuming you're going the PR route)

Hope this helps.

carterfamily

thanx so much for all the information u provided me with there, much appreciated

carterfamily

Hiya, we are hoping to emigrate permanently, just so much to take in but this website is great and have had brill responses from ppl, thanx

BEVS

H'okay.

I think perhaps you should start another thread in the main NZ forum asking about nursing and nurse registration in NZ.
Also about where to look for the job vacancies.
People around here can chat to you about what they did .

You don't have to have a job offer in order to apply for permanent residency under the skilled migrant visa so long as you have enough points to apply, but it helps of course.

Try the Points Indicator from the actual NZIS website. What points do you feel you could get?

bdclayton

Hi there
We did it all ourselves
my wife is a nurse we got in through the skills shortage route
There is a migrant Levy Fee to pay at the end i thinks its £110 each
and now there is even a English test you have to take.
It cost for two of us about £1000 pounds but if you get a job offer they may pay your flight and two week accommodation,
Look on Trade Me and Seek web sites for jobs or try district health boards
don't bother with a agent they cost to much you can do it on your own
Oh and forgot you have to register as a Nurse in NZ as well cant remember the cost of that but you can get that from the NZ nursing council

Tomsk

I'd agree with all the responses so far...you don't need an agent. The forms are pretty straightforward really, just a bit time consuming, but you can do it all online. If you get confused by any of it just pop a quick question on here & I'm pretty certain someone will have some advice for you.

I'd be tempted to suggest that if you're applying as principle applicant on the basis of your nursing experience/ quals, I'd get registered with NZNC first. Registering with them is, again, fairly simple, but it does take a little time. And I know that you now have to pass the dreaded IELTS test first, which some have found a little tricky. There's practice papers for that online, & again I'm sure there's folk on here who are willing to share their experiences of it with you. I'm one of the lucky ones....I got registered before the IELTS ruling came into force. Having NZNC registration gives evidence that you are qualified to nurse in NZ & that you've satisfied nursing's governing body that you're of an acceptable standard to them. Simply telling them that you've got a UK nursing qualification isn't good enough for NZIS. But if NMC accept that you're good enough you'll have no problems with NZNC....except for that pesky IELTS

Can't remember for the life of me what the registration process cost, besides which I'm probably way out of date, but I remember for sure that it was far, far cheaper than the total NZIS costs

carterfamily

Again, thanx, everyone so helpful on here. Luckily a year and a half ago we were supposed to be heading to australia with my bro and his family so i have continued to renew my nursing registration and the other day i found out that i can transfer it to a new zealand one without having to pass that freaded exam, PHEW!!!!

Rich2010

Hi All

This thread has answered a lot of questions I had when I registered for this site.

The problem I have is that I am a HPC registered Paramedic and have yet to find if my line of work is in the "growth" area or "skills shortage" area.

Also, does the skilled worker visa cover your family as well?

I know these are very basic questions but we are at the very start of the process and I'm already experiencing problems getting information on qualification appraisal.

Any advice is very much apreciated.

The Jezzers

We did it ourselves, give it a try and save your money.

RobDon

We also did it all ourselves.
Its time consuming but very doable and saves you loads of money at a time you need it most! .

BEVS

When you say skilled worker visa , are you talking about a temporary work visa for a couple of years, or for a permanent resident visa because you want to emigrate.

Yes. Whichever of the above, your partner will be able to come with you on the back of your skilled migrant or temp worker application. Your children would need student visas if they are of school age.

Paramedic is on the long term shortage list per the NZIS website, so you can claim bonus points for that.

Per NZIS long term shortage list
Ambulance Paramedic (Advanced Life Support) (411112)
Ambulance Paramedic (Intermediate Life Support) (411112)

As you know, your skill and training needs to match that set by NZIS and the profession.

NZIS has this to say about Future Growth areas.

Not sure that paramedic comes into one of the above but you could check this out with NZIS directly by using their query service.

Paramedic doesn't seem to appear in the list of occupations that require NZ registration

Link to Wellington Free Ambulance
This is what it has to say about overseas applicants.

From the above it would seem that an appraisal comes via Ambulance New Zealand. The appraisal needs to match the level set by NZIS to qualifiy for points.