energysolutions

Hi all,

This is my first post on this section of the forum as I was previously focussed on Australia, but, it seems that it may be experiencing a "dip" on the economy front just now and I cant afford to head from one recession straight into another - particularly as its sooooo expensive to live there (in the event you cant find work/earning)

So, I began to explore the options in New Zealand and from what I can gather its in a better place for my chosen profession (electrician)

I had planned to go to Oz on a 457 sponsored visa which would be pretty fast, cheap and guarantees employment/income from day one - perfect

Does NZ have an equivalent to this type of visa - I have looked on the NZ immigration site and the closest thing I can see is the "Work to residence" visa which I should qualify for as my job is on the "Long Term Skill Shortage List" or LTSSL

So is the first step to find an employer who can/will sponsor and then apply for this Visa?

I also know I have to be licensed to work in NZ and as I understand it I supply my credentials (qualifications etc) to the necessary licensing body who issue me with a provisional and I then have 12 months to sit/pass the exam to have this upgraded to a full unrestricted license - is this correct?

Thanks in advance

MrsFychan

Welcome to NZ part of BE.

Your best bet is to see how many points you would get so fill in the online EOI points indicator. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/pointsindicator/

then have a look at the selection points indicator http://www.dol.govt.nz/immigration/k...base/item/5907 to see what your chances are before you start paying out for money.

In short it is much easier to be issued a visa with an offer of work from an accredited company. There are a few electricians on here that maybe able to guide you but I see that your reason for looking is here economic, unfortunately the whole world is going through issues and from what I understand from other peoples posts NZ is more expensive to live in and wages are lower than that of Oz.

God luck

energysolutions

Thanks for the reply

From doing the online points test it would appear I have 130 so the outlook is pretty good

I am surprised that NZ is more expensive to live than Australia - I was aware that the wages are lower but I expected that this would be offset by lower cost of living as Australia has got pretty expensive due to the "boom"

So what is more expensive? Housing? Food?

Cheers

BEVS

No.
With New Zealand you look for a possible NZ employer and then you uplift a temporary work visa. You need to have provisional licensing in place first.

If you want to live here as a resident then you would apply for NZ residency under the skilled migrant category.

Depends on what points you get. Points mean prizes. The more points the better .
Applications with a job offer go to the top of the pile. You have over 140 points that is an automatic pull from the EOI pool.

Yes.
HERE


No. NZ is not a cheap place to live. It is quite expensive these days. Cost of living has gone up lots. Trade wages have remained the same for years. Husband is a plumber here.