Manchester18

Hi there! Me and my partner are currently looking at emigrating to Christchurch from the UK. I have a degree (learning disability nursing/ social work). I started working in September ‘17 and we are looking at moving in March ‘19. My partner has a sister out there and so we want to go for a year with a plan to stay if we settle in. We have been to a ‘live down under’ event and got some positive feedback but I am finding it hard to find information pertaining to my degree and the actual need for foreigners that are qualified social workers. Does anyone have any experience/ advice? It’s a very daunting prospect to move abroad and not know whether we’ll be able to stay!

Thanks in advance

BEVS

Hi and welcome to BE and this NZ forum.

It is a great idea to come & get a feel for a year. Would that be a working holiday visa then?

Neither nursing nor social work are deemed to be in shortage here at the moment so care needs to be taken to ensure you find full time permanent employment which would be acceptable to both the Immigration Dept and the Labour Dept .

It may be that you might have 160 points under the SMC category without a job offer but at the end of the day you still have to earn and live.

BTW. These road shows always give anyone positive feedback.

Gill and Rob

Check out the Nursing Council of New Zealand website for information on registration requirements as a starting point.

Gill