sallysuzie

hello, I am Sallysuzie and I currently live with my husband here in the uk. We are new on here and my husband and I need to know something but cannot find the answer anywhere!

We are thinking of emigrating to New Zealand, my husband wants to get a qualification which will enable us to move to New Zealand. By the time he has achieved this he will be 54/55 and I will be 61.
If he is accepted into New Zealand permanently and gets residence can I also go with him as his wife, bearing in mind I will be over the age limit for moving to New Zealand?

Tried to explain it as best as I can and I hope I have achieved this.

MrsFychan

to gain a visa the main applicant needs to 55 or under, partner ages as far as I am aware doesn't really come into it.
as for what to retrain for, some you would need to of worked in the occupation for a certain amount of time as well as the qualification.
Also depends how long any qualification you take and if within that time it stays on the skills list.

Do you have any skills that could get your over without having to retrain?

sallysuzie

MrsFychan,
My husband is a fully qualified welder and blacksmith, but can no longer do this due to repetitive strain in neck & shoulders. he is now wanting to be a joiner/carpenter and he became 50 years of age, two days ago.

elaineesther1953

I don't believe there is an upper age limit if you want to emigrate!!!!!

MrsFychan

there is upper age limit on certain visa's so yes there is but there are alternative routes available if you are older, have the money and the staying power

BEVS

Hhhhm. I admire your determination.

Are you a stand alone couple with no immediate family in New Zealand please?
Have you checked out the investor category and determined that it is beyond your means?

From what you are writing you are looking to gain NZ residency via the Skilled Migrant Category. As you may or may not know, for this category points means prizes with 140 points being an automatic pull from the pool. It is certainly the case that a job offer improves the quality of the application no end.

There are a couple of things to bear in mind when thinking to retrain like this, particularly where the aim is to come in under the skilled migrant umbrella with time against you.

1 - The shortages lists . These can mean valuable extra bonus points BUT these lists can and do change. What might be in shortage now for any given area could certainly change in six months to a year.

2 - Carpenters/Joiners are only in shortage in the Canterbury region and that is right now. You are looking 3 to 4 years ahead by which time it may be the case that there is no longer a shortage in that area.

3 - Work experience. One gains points for work experience. Your OH would be very short on this even after gaining the NVQ3+

3 - Age does come into this and not just for points. You would likely need a job offer to make a quality application but your OH , lovely though he is, may be up against it for two reasons

Age: Carpentry and joiner can be a hard manual job here. It is this trade that physically build the houses here.

Experience: NZers tend to look to home growns to employ unless there is a shortage going on. The rules , regs and methods are different here than for the UK & so training would be needed.

Yes. If he could gain a visa , you would be able to also apply for a visa on the back of his application.

Another thing to bear in mind is the medical. Depending on the level of RSI , this may need to be declared & could have the application referred to a medical assessor.

I'm not wishing to put you off. I was 50 when we emigrated 12 years ago. Husband was 45. There again he is a time served plumber and gasfitter with a few decades of work exp under his belt at that NZ trade boom time.

Come back with your thoughts.
Sometimes writing it down helps the decision making process.