sonia.staker

Hi guys,
My name is Sonia. I'm 40 years old now and have been trying to emigrate to NZ for over four years

I'm happily married to my hubby, Stephen, and have a beautiful, eight year old daughter called Niamh

We'd tried for nearly two years to apply for vacancies in NZ online but to no avail so we were advised to visit NZ as job offers are much easier to get when you are there in person. So this is what we did. We both gave up our current jobs in the UK to visit NZ in November 2009 in search for a job offer. We booked a touring holiday for two months to give us sufficient time to apply for vacancies and attend interviews, etc. We thought that in the two months that we were there, we'd be offered a job and would then be in a position to start the proceedings to stay in NZ with a work permit, purchasing a house, etc. We were so committed to this move that we used all our life savings (just over £22, 000), informed Niamh's school of our intentions not to return from NZ, put our house on the market, had our house belongings all boxed up and ready to be shipped out to NZ with a haulage company, gave away our special bonsai tree collection as we couldn't take them with us to NZ, (all 37 of them, which, as you can imagine costs a few thousand pounds) and said our farewells to our families and friends. Unfortunately we didn't get any secure job offer at all and had to return to the UK. We had the harrowing thought of unemployment to return to, no school for our daughter, not to mention everything else we had given up beforehand. That was the worst day of our lives as you can imagine :curse: :curse:

Neither of us have skills on the shortage list so we are really struggling to find a job as no-one will employ us without a work permit yet we can't get a permit unless we have a secure job offer, as you will probably know

After returning from NZ and after nine months of unemployment, I now currently work as a Teaching Assistant in a primary school but I'm also fully qualified as a Massage Therapist, Aromatherapist and I'm also a Reiki Practitioner. My husband worked as a Prison Officer for over 20 years but now has a heart condition. He is on medication but does not require any hospital/medical support so this would not be an issue for the NZ health. He now works as a Key Worker for the child and youth services.

We've been back in England now for almost two years and are still struggling to find someone who will employ us. We'd like to live in the North Island and absolutely love Taupo and it's surrounding areas but anywhere with lovely scenery that is ideal for families and where there is little crime would suit us all. We are desperate to get out there but need a job offer first

Anyway, We need some inspiration guys please as we seem to be coming to a stand still. Does anyone know where we go from here??

Please help

P.S. We are enrolled with a migration company called "Working in Visas" but they cannot assist us until we have a job offer. We've applied for hundreds of jobs all over the country but are met with the same (or similar) replies as I mentioned above!

Charismatic

Given how patient you've been I could suggest an additional option could be to use the 'back door', exploiting the agreement between Australia and New Zealand about freedom of citizens to move between countries. Also New Zealand companies may be more receptive to employing someone living in Australia even if you only have a PR visa? You could interview for more jobs here (it's only 2.5 - 3 hours by aircraft from Sydney to Auckland).

Jobs will be easier to come by in Australia (Tasmania is Australias own version of New Zealand anyway, much as kiwis would hate to hear that ), even if it's only for a short time. I'm sure you'll find a way .

Kija

Hi and welcome to the forum

It's such a catch 22 isn't it?! No visa without a job offer and no job offer without a visa. My OH applied to dozens if not hundreds of jobs and was invariably told they were interested in applicants from within the country.

You've been through the wringer and back haven't you! I'm sorry I don't have any advice to give as I'm a bit clueless with what INZ wants (We used an agent) but I just wanted to wish you the best of luck and hope you find a solution soon

sonia.staker

Thanks for your advice Charismatic but we can't apply for Australia even if we wanted to 'cos my hubby is 46 :'-(

sonia.staker

Thanks for your support Kija. Are you in NZ now and did you have to go through the same (or similar) thing??

If so, what did you do and how did you eventually get there??

Which company did you go with and did they help you to find a job?

Sorry, so many questions I know but we've run out of ideas ;'-(

sonia.staker

I've been reading other people's threads and quite alot of people have visas without a job offer!

I'm confused

I thought you couldn't get a visa unless you had a job offer?

Where am I going wrong? My family and I have been trying to emigrate to NZ for over four years but have got absolutely nowhere because we are not qualified for any jobs on the skills shortage list.

What are we doing wrong and how the hell can we get there

It's such a beautiful country and the people are so fabulous but we can't seem to reach out and grab our dream

Debbie2NZ

I totally sympathise with your predicament. Jobs you don't like and your life savings used up. Is it to late to start up your own business for your Reiki and other therapies in New Zealand ? Sorry if you've already thought of this. Would your husband get a job as a key worker in NZ ? Would it be unrealistic for him to get his Family Support Worker or Social Work qualifications ? Social Workers are in short supply in NZ. Could he get into the Education Support side of social services ?

martyc

The first thing that comes to my mind would be to re-train or add to the skills you already have. How about physiotherapy or something along those lines. Sorry if I am way off the mark and I wish you success.

sonia.staker

Hi Debbie,

Thanks for your ideas. We were thinking about me setting up a business out there but wasn't too sure. I suppose I just needed a kick up the back side and some motivation again.

Stephen has applied for a few key workers and youth justice work they want someone with specific youth work qualifications so we're looking into that side of things too.

Thanks again for your help, it's made us more determined again xx

sonia.staker

Thanks Martyc, you're not way off the mark. We've already looked into the re-training side of things in that field but haven't got the patience to wait a couple of years for the training but thinking about it now, we've waited this long haven't we!!

DandJMay

Hi sonia.staker

So sorry to hear your sorry, we were in roughly the same position, we applied and applied and applied for roles, that we knew we could both do hands down.

If you are a TA is not worth doing your PTTLS and seeing if that opens a few more doors, or look on the NZ Immigration website for the Accredited Employers List, they understand more of what it means to employ people from overseas and the visa process etc.

Just a thought

J x

sonia.staker

Thanks J, I will look into that.

I've just read that D is in the UK. Did you go out before and D is gonna follow as that was an idea for us too?

DandJMay

Hi Sonia

Yes Darren is still in the UK, I don't have to long to wait, he comes out soon. When he does get here we would have been apart 115 days, but I am not counting

We came out here last year on a four week honeymoon; it was a recci really instead of a holiday. The most excellent people of this forum gave us some brilliant advice and we took it all on board

When we arrived back home we honestly thought Darren would be the principle applicant as his job was/is on the skills shortage list.

Like I said despite applying for I don’t know how many jobs he got knock back after knock back. We then start working with an immigration consultant, she assessed our CV’s and said that mine was the stronger of the two and I should apply for jobs.

Well I work in HR, not in a million years would I ever get a job, or so I thought. I applied for a role with Southern District Health Board, and the rest is history really. The day our visas came through was pretty surreal and I just had to leave, I basically packed my suitcases and six weeks later I was away. Darren was left to do EVERYTHING, whilst studying for his degree and working full time. Bless him

Had I not got this job we were planning on Darren taking two months off of work and coming out here by himself to basically do what you and your family did. We had permission from his boss and was half way through sorting out the costs, but my job came through.

Some other suggests why doesn’t your husband get in touch with Department of Corrections and explain his career, have a chat with their HR people. Also why don’t you get in touch with the Health Boards and see if any of them offer patients complimentary therapy. I don’t think the one I work for does, but it’s worth a go.

The consultant we worked with was spot on and gave us pretty sound advice, whilst not cheap, and as loads of people will tell you, you don’t need a consultant all our circumstances are different that’s why we went that route. She is small professional outfit and whilst she comes across laid back she really helped us.

I also have a huge list of recruitment agents that I will gladly send to you if that would be helpful.

Jo xx

sonia.staker

Wow, Jo I'm so jealous of you but also well done girl.

Stephen has already wrote to the corrections departments explaining his career but that was a couple of years ago. Your idea is great and I 'm gonna ask him to write to the corrections departments again cos you just never know, do you. Huge changes can happen in a couple of years. I'm also gonna get in touch with the health boards like you suggested so thanks for that advice, I really appreciate it.
I'd also love the list of recruitment agencies please. <snip>

Thanks Jo, you've been a huge help xxx

BEVS

I'm moving this thread to the main NZ forum as I feel it deserves to be there.