British Expats

British Expats (https://britishexpats.com/forum/)
-   Immigration, Citizenship and Visas (NZ) (https://britishexpats.com/forum/immigration-citizenship-visas-nz-108/)
-   -   Taking that plunge...! (https://britishexpats.com/forum/immigration-citizenship-visas-nz-108/taking-plunge-692745/)

davros1984 Nov 8th 2010 9:59 am

Taking that plunge...!
 
Hi,

My Partner (Laura) and I are now seriously taking action to emigrate to NZ, hopefully between March and October 2011. We are open to anywhere in NZ, but I suspect the most likely places would be Auckland and Christchurch.
aa
Laura - 27, is a surgical nurse and has been receiving calls from the like of GenevaHealth. From what I can tell, her getting a work visa and securing work is a fairly strong proposition.

On to me... I'm 26, working in IT and have a good honours degree. Also, have worked for the likes of IBM & HP. I'm now in webhosting but am open to a range of things, especially around vmware.

We have been told that I could go on her visa, heck we may even get residency. We went to an emigration expo in London last month and have paid "working-in" to assess our skills/eligibility for both NZ & Aus. I want to go, it will be a great adventure for the both of us (just what we need).

Of course, reality kicks in and one of my concerns is being able to get a job. I hear that the IT market isn't very strong at the moment and that NZ (unlike the UK), really does favour its own over immigrants (including English). I've spoken with a recruitment company Kelly's and have forwarded my details to Absolute IT.

Any insight/advice or guidance would be much appreciated! Including whether we should use someone like "Working-In" to help us with our big life change.

Thanks,
David & Laura.

Sherlock Holmes Nov 8th 2010 10:32 am

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 
Hi David and Laura and welcome to B.E. :)

It's my pleasant duty to welcome you to the forum and give you a point of contact should you need any help with the site in general. You can contact me here.

A list of all the moderators and helpers with their relevant countries includingNew Zealnd can be found here.

I see you have found your way about but if you have any problems, dont hesitate to PM me.

Alistair.

davros1984 Nov 8th 2010 10:35 am

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 

Originally Posted by alistairboyle (Post 8968610)
Hi David and Laura and welcome to B.E. :)

It's my pleasant duty to welcome you to the forum and give you a point of contact should you need any help with the site in general. You can contact me here.

A list of all the moderators and helpers with their relevant countries includingNew Zealnd can be found here.

I see you have found your way about but if you have any problems, dont hesitate to PM me.

Alistair.

Thanks Alistair.

Shingi Nov 15th 2010 3:18 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 
Hi there, we're emigrating in January, hopefully we'll find work in Christchurch as we would like to live in Lyttleton. My husband is an ICT Manager and I'm a Graphic Designer. We're going over on a 6 month holiday visa with the hope of finding a job offer. Alot of the I.T. work is based in Wellington though, so we me end up going over to the North Island. I'll keep you posted with our findings once we've been there for a couple of months, to let you know what the I.T. industry is like if that's any help.

Anyway, I say go for it, you only live once!:thumbsup:

jaynepc Nov 15th 2010 3:41 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 

Originally Posted by davros1984 (Post 8968572)
Hi,

My Partner (Laura) and I are now seriously taking action to emigrate to NZ, hopefully between March and October 2011. We are open to anywhere in NZ, but I suspect the most likely places would be Auckland and Christchurch.
aa
Laura - 27, is a surgical nurse and has been receiving calls from the like of GenevaHealth. From what I can tell, her getting a work visa and securing work is a fairly strong proposition.

On to me... I'm 26, working in IT and have a good honours degree. Also, have worked for the likes of IBM & HP. I'm now in webhosting but am open to a range of things, especially around vmware.

We have been told that I could go on her visa, heck we may even get residency. We went to an emigration expo in London last month and have paid "working-in" to assess our skills/eligibility for both NZ & Aus. I want to go, it will be a great adventure for the both of us (just what we need).

Of course, reality kicks in and one of my concerns is being able to get a job. I hear that the IT market isn't very strong at the moment and that NZ (unlike the UK), really does favour its own over immigrants (including English). I've spoken with a recruitment company Kelly's and have forwarded my details to Absolute IT.

Any insight/advice or guidance would be much appreciated! Including whether we should use someone like "Working-In" to help us with our big life change.

Thanks,
David & Laura.

hi guys, just to let you know i am also a surgical nurse and was offered a job in auckland (i worked there in 2005 but at that time contacted the hospital directly)......i applied for my residence visa 2 weeks ago and had it approved last wed, so it is deffo possible!:thumbsup:

tht Nov 15th 2010 3:57 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 

Originally Posted by davros1984 (Post 8968572)
Hi,

My Partner (Laura) and I are now seriously taking action to emigrate to NZ, hopefully between March and October 2011. We are open to anywhere in NZ, but I suspect the most likely places would be Auckland and Christchurch.
aa
Laura - 27, is a surgical nurse and has been receiving calls from the like of GenevaHealth. From what I can tell, her getting a work visa and securing work is a fairly strong proposition.

On to me... I'm 26, working in IT and have a good honours degree. Also, have worked for the likes of IBM & HP. I'm now in webhosting but am open to a range of things, especially around vmware.

We have been told that I could go on her visa, heck we may even get residency. We went to an emigration expo in London last month and have paid "working-in" to assess our skills/eligibility for both NZ & Aus. I want to go, it will be a great adventure for the both of us (just what we need).

Of course, reality kicks in and one of my concerns is being able to get a job. I hear that the IT market isn't very strong at the moment and that NZ (unlike the UK), really does favour its own over immigrants (including English). I've spoken with a recruitment company Kelly's and have forwarded my details to Absolute IT.

Any insight/advice or guidance would be much appreciated! Including whether we should use someone like "Working-In" to help us with our big life change.

Thanks,
David & Laura.

Not sure if it would cause an issue in terms of "intent". But the working holiday visa would be easy to get assuming you have no children, and would allow you to go over and find jobs etc and apply for PR (with extra points for being employed in NZ).

I did WHV to Work visa to PR , and it was very simple and fast (about 3 months total for PR), and I did not need any help from outside consultants (The NZI website gives lots of information).

In terms of when you move, the optimal date (as both NZ and UK run a similar tax year) is around the 5th of October, and the weather starts to get better not to long after.

Enjoy,

tht

davros1984 Nov 15th 2010 6:37 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 

Originally Posted by Shingi (Post 8983251)
Hi there, we're emigrating in January, hopefully we'll find work in Christchurch as we would like to live in Lyttleton. My husband is an ICT Manager and I'm a Graphic Designer. We're going over on a 6 month holiday visa with the hope of finding a job offer. Alot of the I.T. work is based in Wellington though, so we me end up going over to the North Island. I'll keep you posted with our findings once we've been there for a couple of months, to let you know what the I.T. industry is like if that's any help.

Anyway, I say go for it, you only live once!:thumbsup:

Hi Shingi, that sounds great! Good luck with the move and I hope all works out. I am surprised you say Wellington, I always thought the majority of IT jobs would be in Auckland!

Please, please let us know how you get on and any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated. We are really set on this now and are getting ready to take the plunge. My only concern is landing work, but maybe once Laura has sorted her nursing side, I've just got to get out there and try to land a job.

Thanks!

davros1984 Nov 15th 2010 6:44 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 

Originally Posted by jaynepc (Post 8983297)
hi guys, just to let you know i am also a surgical nurse and was offered a job in auckland (i worked there in 2005 but at that time contacted the hospital directly)......i applied for my residence visa 2 weeks ago and had it approved last wed, so it is deffo possible!:thumbsup:


Originally Posted by tht
Not sure if it would cause an issue in terms of "intent". But the working holiday visa would be easy to get assuming you have no children, and would allow you to go over and find jobs etc and apply for PR (with extra points for being employed in NZ).

I did WHV to Work visa to PR , and it was very simple and fast (about 3 months total for PR), and I did not need any help from outside consultants (The NZI website gives lots of information).

In terms of when you move, the optimal date (as both NZ and UK run a similar tax year) is around the 5th of October, and the weather starts to get better not to long after.

Enjoy,

tht

jaynepc - that's great news, you're giving us some optimism! I'm 99% confident Laura will land a job out there. Can you give a list of any hospitals you'd recommend to work at? Maybe Laura can contact them directly about finding work. Can I also ask, how different are the hospitals out there? Is the health system better? I know Laura is hoping for a better patient/nurse ratio!

tht - So you went out there on WHV, did you have trouble finding work? Was it then quite easy to go from WHV to Work Visa, did that require an offer of employment? We talked more about this today, Laura has her english test booked for Jan 15th (so she can get on the nurses register). Timeline wise I'd say it'd be April when we make it out there (gives us more time to save up some money). Do you have a list or any advice on what we should take/plan for?

Again, thanks for both of the replies, moving to the other side of the world can be quite scary!

David & Laura.

tht Nov 15th 2010 6:58 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 

Originally Posted by davros1984 (Post 8983650)
jaynepc - that's great news, you're giving us some optimism! I'm 99% confident Laura will land a job out there. Can you give a list of any hospitals you'd recommend to work at? Maybe Laura can contact them directly about finding work. Can I also ask, how different are the hospitals out there? Is the health system better? I know Laura is hoping for a better patient/nurse ratio!

tht - So you went out there on WHV, did you have trouble finding work? Was it then quite easy to go from WHV to Work Visa, did that require an offer of employment? We talked more about this today, Laura has her english test booked for Jan 15th (so she can get on the nurses register). Timeline wise I'd say it'd be April when we make it out there (gives us more time to save up some money). Do you have a list or any advice on what we should take/plan for?

Again, thanks for both of the replies, moving to the other side of the world can be quite scary!

David & Laura.

Yep, went out on a WHV, had friends that had moved down there a few years before. Did not really go there with the intention to settle. When I decided I did want to stay a while I got a short term contract/consulting job through Hudson, in business Analysis and Forecasting, they asked me to apply when it was advertised as a permanent job, they got me a work visa (so I could accept the job), and I used the same offer letter and back-up material to apply for PR on my own.

I think the WHV is good, because it alloys you to prove yourself to an employer (and is not tied to 1 single employer, so you can find one you like). I had another friend and his partner go (she is a nurse) and she found work in Auckland with no problems.

Think about your timing carefully, going from winter to winter is not fun... I liked that I got there and that the weather got great within a few months... if I had faced 2 back to back winters I may never have decided to stay and get my PR.. perfect sunshine, and fun on the beach is weird at xmas... but I got to liking it...

tht

jaynepc Nov 15th 2010 8:23 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 
hi, glad to be of some help. I worked as a plastic surgery nurse here so found out where the plastics department was in auckland and contacted them directly....cuts out all the middle man stuff. I found nursing much better.....more staff, more resources, more doctors......i was able to do a lot more in NZ than i was here. The whole place was just better run and if someone was off sick there was always a 'bureau' nurse brought in (what we call bank nurse). Education is very prominent too and we would have had weekly teaching sessions. Where in NZ are you hoping to go???? I have a good friend nursing in christchurch at the mo and she loves it.

davros1984 Dec 9th 2010 10:38 am

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 
All,

Thanks for your replies and comments already. I've been in contact with shingi, good luck with your move!

We paid "Working In" - the immigration agents to perform a skills assessment. They confirm that I have 135 points and Laura 120 and that I should apply for PR via EOI as soon as possible (me as the main candidate).. We are going todo the

I have a question, can I apply for the PR (I know this may take 12 months) without a job offer, but apply for a Skilled Working Visa as well (this will last for 2 years, correct?). Any idea how long this will take?

Laura has her english test booked in January, we will be booking flights very soon (we aim to make it out there in April). Once she has done this and made it on to the nursing register, she believe thing will move very quickly. GenevaHealth are being of great help to her.

So we are now set on this, just trying to figure out the best way to get Visa's. Obviously Geneva Health will help Laura with her visa, apparently I can use her visa too, but I have read that I would need to apply for a "spouse" visa for me to use her visa.

Thanks for any replies/advice!

~Jaynepc, I think we will be looking at Auckland or Wellington, although everyone seems to say Auckland is most likely our best place to start! Still enjoying the life/work over there?

David & Laura.

davros1984 Dec 9th 2010 12:59 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 
to do the EOI in the next 2 weeks*

BEVS Dec 14th 2010 9:46 pm

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 

Originally Posted by davros1984 (Post 9030581)
.....the immigration agents to perform a skills assessment. They confirm that I have 135 points and Laura 120 and that I should apply for PR via EOI as soon as possible (me as the main candidate)..

You can check your points entitlement yourself ,for free ,using the official NZIS website.
Please try THIS

Are you saying that you could have 135 points, as principle applicant, without an NZ job offer?

Ref. your OH, Laura, as possible main applicant, is that 120 points without an NZ job offer or with ?

Please read HERE for an explanation about how New Zealand Immigration choose Expressions of Interest (EOI) to Emigrate from the EOI pool.

You will see that NZIS will favour an application that includes a job offer. An EOI that has 140 points is an automatic selection from the fortnightly EOI pool.


I have a question, can I apply for the PR (I know this may take 12 months) without a job offer,
Yes. If you have over the 100 points threshold for an EOI then you can apply by submitting an Expression of Interest EOI . Whether or not your application would be chosen from the pool is another matter. NZIS do favour the applications with job offers. Your EOI stays in the pool for 6 months. If it is not selected within that time , then it is removed from the pool and you start again. Selections are fortnightly.


but apply for a Skilled Working Visa as well (this will last for 2 years, correct
You can't apply for a temporary work visa without an NZ job offer in place. It is job offer first and then apply for the temporary work visa. Not the other way around. The visa would last for 1 , 2 or possibly 3 years depending on what NZIS decides. Currently I am hearing that temp work visas are being issued for 1 year at a time only.


So we are now set on this, just trying to figure out the best way to get Visa's.
If your partner gets a job offer & you wish to arrive sooner rather than later you could choose to go forthe temporary work visa first. She will be main applicant. You will apply for an open work visa , under family, on the back of her application.

There is nothing to stop you also starting an EOI at the same time or after you arrive.

Please be aware that police checks and medicals have a shelf life .



Obviously Geneva Health will help Laura with her visa, apparently I can use her visa too, but I have read that I would need to apply for a "spouse" visa for me to use her visa.
Yes. That would apply to both a temporary work visa and also to your PR application .


I think we will be looking at Auckland or Wellington, although everyone seems to say Auckland is most likely our best place to start!
Who is everyone ?
If your partner is offered a job in Auckland , then you will need to start there.
There is nothing to stop your partner applying to any District Health Board direct as well as enlisting the help of Geneva.

However, I had a notion ,from what has been written here, that many of the IT jobs are in Wellington although prospects are quiet right now..

You might find contact with this site ref. IT professionals in Wellington helpful.

I'd also suggest you start a couple of new threads in the main NZ forum about work & job prospects. One for nursing and once for IT.

davros1984 Dec 15th 2010 7:06 am

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 
Bevs - fantastic post - you've answered my questions.

To clarify, we already paid an immigration agent so that we had a fair skills assessment and had an idea of what we actually have. I received 135 points without a job offer, Laura 120 without a job offer.

So I am going to submit my EOI at the same time that Laura gets on the nursing register (so we can apply for visa's at the same time).

Everyone being the majority of posters on posts I have read (from searching) on this site.

According to GenevaHealth, Laura will probably have the option of Welly, Auckland & Christchurch, hence my questioning around which place makes more sense. To me it's logical that she takes a job somewhere where I have a good chance of obtaining work.

Thanks for clearing up the temporary visa option. I'll create a new post on the main NZ forum enquiring about IT positions. Great find r.e. the IT Pro's in Wellington.

David.

bolton1 Dec 15th 2010 8:29 am

Re: Taking that plunge...!
 
HI
Have a look at Zest4life this is three or more ( I forget) of the District Health Board jobs - you can register your details or contact them directly.

:fingerscrossed:


All times are GMT. The time now is 11:43 pm.

Powered by vBulletin: ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.