vonrikety

Hi im new to sight im an agricultural mechanic by trade though have worked with plant machinery and tools. after about 15 years of telling myself things will improve in uk i have finally accepted they can only get worse and both me and my wife are taking the plunge and aiming to get into new zealand via the skilled migrant category.

having never been throught the process and looking in to it im still left scratching my head. i understand that i will need an agent to get me over there and they have to be registered i was wondering if anyone could recomend a good reputable company as we will be pretty much be doing this by the skin of our teeth by that i mean selling up posesions car etc to fund this and ill only really get one shot at it dont want to waste money or get ripped off god knows ive had enough of that from our government.

also i have looked through the skills shortage list my occupation is in category 1 is that a high priority group i appologise for my ignorance all this is new to me and im trying to get up to speed before dealing with agents. any advice would be greatfully recieved and thanks for looking through my thread.
Paul.

Tomsk

I'd suggest, firstly, that most people probably don't need an agent. Completing the forms is a bit time consuming, and can get a bit confusing, but remember most of us posting on here have had some experience in completing the things, so it's OK to ask us questions...generally you'll find there's a helpful bunch of people who will help if we can. I'm sure that agents have their place, if you have a complicated set of circumstances or no time to do the forms yourself. But the skilled migrant category is actually fairly straightforward, if that's the route you're going.

I'd suggest read the NZIS site thoroughly, really familiarise yourself with the requirements for the EOI & work out if you have enough points to qualify. I know nothing about agricultural mechanics, and unfortunately I've had some problems accessing the LTSSL this morning, so I'm not sure if it fits in there. If it does, and you have the right qualifications according to NZQA....you may have to have your qualifications assessed or register with a professional body in order to prove to NZIS that your skills are compatible with what they want, and if you have sufficient experience etc it shouldn't be too difficult. It's even easier if you have a job offer....try checking out on Seek (http://www.seek.co.nz/) to see what job availability there is for your line of work.

There are other visa options, if for any reason you're worried about achieving enough points to qualify for PR on the skilled migrant route one of the other options may suit you better. Possibly

I'm sure agents do a great job, I don't know though because we didn't use one, but if finances are tight the DIY approach is likely to save you some cash......although you may end up with a few extra grey hairs at the end of it!

Good luck

BEVS

It isn't a requirement that you use an agent. You can do it yourself. Perhaps use us at this site to get a better understanding of how the process works under the skilled migrant category and then you can decide whether or not you want to spend money on an agent.

Occupation

By Agricultural Mechanic do you mean like a diesel mechanic please or do you mean more like an engineer.. Sorry to be a bit thick

Is this one you?

233912 Agricultural Engineer
Performs and supervises engineering work related to the use and development of agricultural land, buildings, machines and equipment.

Or do you do stuff like repair farm machinery and if not on a farm then perhaps factory plants etc.

Have a search through the ANZSCO (click the link) type in your occupation or maybe mechanic etc and read through the descriptions of the occupations that are found. Let us know which one best suits what you do for a living.

What trade qualifications do you have?

Having an occupation in List 1 of the recognised skilled occupations doesn't give it more priority.
With the skilled migrant category , it is all about how many points you have in the first instance.
You get points for trade qualifications, work experience, age etc.

Try the POINTS INDICATOR (again click the link) from the New Zealand Immigration website and let us know how you get on.

Any application that also has a job offer would have more priority. That is to help the NZ employer. However, it is perfectly possible to get through the skilled migrant process without a job offer if you have enough points and meet the other criteria.

With regard to agents. They charge money. Some are good . Some are money for old rope and a bit of a nightmare. Be wary of any that offer you a job offer package with the immigration process. Use a recruitment consultant if you feel you need a job offer. Agents cannot speed up the process. It will take the same amount of time and you will still have to do much of the leg work.

Please do come back to us about your occupation and trade quallies and how you get on with the points indicator.

We're all happy to help if we can and it'll give you something to work on and get you started .

vonrikety

Hi guys thanks very much for the quick reply.
had a look at the job catagory website the closest thing to me is agricultural engineer however....
what my job entails is me repairing and fixing farm tractors and machinery i would class myself as a diesel mechanic as i have worked on diggers diesel and petrol pumps road rollers etc. i also have a couple of years experience working on h.g.v vehicles as a mechanic.
the qualifications i gained when through college are city & guilds parts 1 and 2 in agricultural mechanics i gained a credit in some of the core subjects. but as i have said i have a lot of experience in other fields im glad to hear this would count to extra points.
i believe i would need these qualifications verified and an agent wants to charge me £160 to do that (initially)
i have been on the nz immigration website but am not sure how to complete E.O.I letter.
i feel the agents are trying to scare me in to going that route some are claiming 99% sucess rate if we were to go with them.

the only real sticking points i can see is that i have legal custody of my eldest daughter from a previous relationship and my wife has just found out she is expecting our 2nd child. im not sure what the position will be on that one.

thanks very much again im so glad i have found some real people to talk to about this instead of sales men. i greatly appreciate your advice
best wishes Paul

Tomsk

Hi again, I believe that NZQA are the guys that need to verify your qualifications...you can deal with them direct, it doesn't need to be an agent, and doing it yourself is likely to be a fair bit cheaper.
The EOI is a bit long-winded, but it's fairly straightforward, it's a while since I did ours so I'm a bit rusty now, but you can do bits of it, then save it and go back to it at a later date. Ask us on here if you find any questions a bit tricky, there's bound to be someone who can help
I know for sure that there are people who have emigrated during pregnancy, although it's really not unusual for the process to take considerably longer than 9 months, so chances are you'll be arriving as a family of 4.
I don't know anything about the process of bringing over a child from a previous relationship, certainly that's something that NZIS would be looking at, to be sure that you have legal custody and that the other parent, who will inevitably find it harder to see the child, isn't going to lodge any objections. Again, I know that there are people on here with experience of that scenario...there's a couple of threads around on that very topic.

vonrikety

hi tomsk thanks for getting back to me. yeah i have kind of got my stategy sorted out in my head wether or not it works out like that i dont know. i think the first step is to get my qualifications verified once i know the equivelant N.Z qualification i can then continue with E.O.I letter i have done the point scoring test and as i worked it out i was up to 120 points but didnt count work experience and had no job offer so once my qualifications are sorted i will look for work and a job offer. also my wife has qualifications from doncaster race school and has worked with race horses all her life so im thinking this might be a plus. lizzy just has to find the qualifications she hasnt seen for 10 years and were sorted .
i am so excited to have finally decided to go for this i was wanting to do it when i first finished college but have put it off for so long now i know its right for us. is there anything you miss about uk apart from family etc. i must admit im finding it hard to think of anything i would miss but im sure there will be something... thanks as always Paul

Persephone

Hi there Vonrikety,
Welcome to the site. I would definitely recommend looking at applying yourself. The cost of agents is astronomical given what they actually do for you
You still have to gather all the documents and go for the medicals and so on, you're really only paying them to fill in a form and tell you what to do.
Though if you do have a difficult case then it may be worth considering an agent.
Tomsk is right. Register for an EOI and start filling it in[ free until you hit submit and you can't submit till it's filled in fully!]. It will tell you how many points you have and you can save it midway through. It is reasonablyeasy and ask on here if you get stuck, however simple the question may seem. There are a few questions that always catch people out
There is an ongoing post on here about taking children abroad which may or may not be relevant, I don't know a lot about this. The thread is here: Step Children
Ask away if you have any queries
Sue

BEVS

Hi there.

Just to say that as an Agricultural Mechanic you shouldn't need to have your qualifications assessed by NZQA provided you have the correct C&G certificates to keep NZ Immigration happy.

It's worth 50 points straight off.

See below

Your work experience is also worth points.

You won't be able to claim any bonus points as the skill isn't on the shortages lists that I can see.

You get points depending on your age

You can possibly get 20 points for your wifes quals.

vonrikety

thanks bevs i miss read this and thought it meant that the qualifications i had needed to be checked but your right i have saved $400 nz dollars straight off thanks very much. i had a guy call me tonight from an agency but if its how it seems and i end up doing all the leg work then i may as well crack on myself thank you all very much for your help it is much appreciated i am off to fill in an E.O.I form wish me luck. i am in no doubt ill be back am bound to come unstuck somewhere thanks again to all you guys that have took the time to help me out it is much appreciated.. Paul

vonrikety

wow that eoi drains you but good news is im up to 130 points
will finish it off in morning wow my brain hurts

Persephone

130 points is great. You have a good chance of being selected reasonably quickly with that amount.
Yes the EOI is quite long but it's not that bad and certainly not worth paying someone thousands to fill it in for you. This way you save money and get the satisfaction of doing it all yourself
Just ask if you need to know anything
Sue

vonrikety

thanks sue im on compiling a list of questions am not sure how to answer one thing though. how precise do you need to be with work history im not really sure about start dates and end dates but i know how long i worked for companys for. i have the mind of a goldfish where dates are concerned. will i get knocked back if my dates are not right i really dont fancy ringing up formerer employers from 5 to 10 years ago asking them when i started and finished. althoough i have contacted a couple of recent ones to ask for references that sort of thing. Maybe im worrying about nothing
i see diesel motor mechanic is on the skills shortage list i have claimed points for this as due to my work experience i dont hink there is a type of diesel engine i havent worked on in some form or another hope this is ok...OHHH im starting to flap i know

Persephone

You will need to put a start and end date into the EOI for each period of work experience that you are claiming for. You'll also need to prove that you worked for each company for the dates claimed for eg payslips, references, contracts etc. It may be worth phoning your previous employers if possible and seeing if they still have the information and can provide references. NZIS will not accept that you have the work experience if you cannot prove it.
I was lucky, I was only claiming for my current job and my previous job [only had two relevant jobs] so didn't have many to ring round! Also my employer at the time knew what was going on right from the start so there were no issues there

You can only claim bonus points for work experience on the LTSSL if you have the relevant qualification. For diesel motor mechanic this is "National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Heavy Engineering) Level 4"
Long Term Skill Shortage List

Good luck! May be better to ask further questions in the Immigration section so more of us will see it and answer
Sue

vonrikety

Skilled employment – This means employment in New Zealand, or an offer of employment In New Zealand, that requires specialist, technical, or management expertise. Your expertise may have been gained either through a relevant recognised qualification, relevant work experience, or a combination of both a relevant recognised qualification and relevant work experience.

i have tried immigration thread it says thread closed Help!!
this says i can gain points through my work experience im claiming these points because i have done these jobs in the past theres a couple of more too if i supplyed proof eg: company references stating i have done the work i say i have surely i can still claim these points even though i have no formal qualification it was on the job training if you like.. im leaning towards an agent now but think its just me being lazy its a mine field this eoi form.

Persephone

Hi, looks like I confused things more! Sorry

You can certainly claim points for work experience as per the following

Work experience in skilled employment
2 years 10 pt
4 years 15 pt
6 years 20 pt
8 years 25 pt
10 years 30 pt

But, you can only claim the extra bonus points available for work experience in a job on the LTSSL if you have the relevant quals. For diesel motor mechanic that is the "National Certificate in Motor Industry (Automotive Heavy Engineering) Level 4" So even if you have worked on diesel motors then you cannot claim the bonus pts unless you have the above.
You will just get the points for work experience.

Hope this makes it all clearer

There are plenty of people on here who can help you with the forms. I think the whole site was closed for a bit yesterday and Immigration is now open for business as usual.
Have a look on the immigration part and you'll see many threads about using agents. All in all they seem to be very expensive, quotes for their use have been in the thousands and that doesn't include NZIS fees. I moved over last year and it cost me around £2,000-2,500 just for all the visa stuff and I didn't use an agent. So it's expensive enough as it is! I did mine using help from on here and the NZIS website.
Hope this helps
Sue