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Thread: Singaporean couple looking to migrate

  1. #21
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    OK, after more online and email application for jobs, it's still a same "we do not have any vacancies at the moment" reply.
    Anyway, I reckon I won't be in NZ anytime if I keep applying jobs in Singapore and wait. So I have started the ball rolling by filling in the EOI to at least try for a visa first.

    Wife just had a skype interview with Christchurch City Council this morning, hopefully this will be the path to NZ. Anyone has any idea about working for city council?

  2. #22
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    Any outcome with the Chch council? All the best.

    I think working with a city council is fine and has a certain stability. The two city councils (New Plymouth and Lower Hutt) I've interacted with both and they have good and helpful people. I do feel they have good culture and vibe. However, I'm not sure they're the most competitive in salary.

    Have a look at Trademe website on housing prices and availability in Chch or anywhere else. I would advise, think twice if you're thinking of moving to a city with population under 100k. This is simply for reasons of job opportunities, Asian supermarket and general genki.

    Having access to a good Asian supermarket does wonders.

  3. #23
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    Hi everyone,

    This is my first post and I hope I got the right thread.

    We are also a Singaporean couple looking to move to NZ. We attended an immigration seminar by an immigration specialist from NZ and were considering to go with the consultant (who quoted us >NZ$10k) as we thought it would be more assured and was "recommended" by INZ and it would be very difficult to do it ourselves as we are not familiar with the NZ immigration laws (TBH we have not done in-depth research). That was until we stumbled upon this forum and read of many people who managed to just DIY the process, and advised against using a consultant as it would be a waste of money unless it is a "complicated" case - to which we generally agree with the reasons cited by others that we still would need to do the paperwork and checks ourselves anyway.

    Just wondering what would be considered a "complicated" case where it would be helpful to go with a consultant? My husband and I are in our 30s, both with university degrees from AU. He would be the primary applicant as his skills are under the LTSSL and he has 10+yrs relevant technical experience (whereas my work experience is only adminstrative/general), however because his degree is not recognised by NZQA he only has 110 pts and he would need to secure a job offer either before we go or in NZ (more likely the latter) in order to make up the points. Health wise nothing major as listed on INZ list, though there are some blips between the two of us e.g. mild hypertension, thalessemia (non-threatening), scoliosis (discharged many years), and a brief period of psychiatric treatment 4-5 yrs back (no further symptoms or treatment since), but nothing that would impact NZ health services greatly. We note that we will still need to disclose these and get the relevant doctors' letters to state that we are cleared etc, consultant or not.

    Would greatly appreciate any advice on whether we would benefit from/need to go with a consultant before we respond to them. We hope to arrive in Auckland early next year, with or without a job offer. Thanks for reading!

  4. #24
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    None of that sounds complicated - it'd just be a case of taking each step steadily and assembling the evidence required. 'Complicated' is when there is something that might not fit obviously with the requirements.
    however because his degree is not recognised by NZQA he only has 110 pts
    This is the one thing that doesn't make sense. Any genuine degree from anywhere reputable has its worth for INZ. There are SOME degrees which have in the past already been checked out, so those are the ones on the list exempt from assessment http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/35171.htm, but that doesn't mean that other degrees, not on the list, are somehow inferior, or can't get you the points. You check the country where you got your qualification, then find the awarding institution, then check to see that your degree (with the same title) is mentioned from that institution, and finally, that the dates in the last column cover the year when you got the award. If your qualification is not there, you can then apply to NZQA to have an International Qualifications Assessment done http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/qualificatio...ns-assessment/ (don't bother with PAR, which is not an in-depth assessment and can be subject to variation when they do the full analysis). This involves looking at all the details of what you studied - what subjects, to what depth, for how long - and will result in a statement of what Level qualification (NZ levels) your qualification reaches, and, if there is one, what NZ qualification your is equivalent to.

  5. #25
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    Hi, thanks for the reply! Wow you really get replies in no time at all on this forum.

    Sorry what I meant was his degree is not recognised as a full-fledged engineering degree under the list exempt from assessment (he has a Bachelor of Engineering Tech from USQ), so he doesn't have sufficient points to go for Tier 2 entry with no job offer required - as you can see we're still learning the processes and terms (which is probably why we thought we would need to engage an adviser). Also his degree was obtained through distance learning in Singapore, if that makes a difference.

    Our adviser had told us that he could either go with securing a job offer (which would get him enough points to file EOI and resident visa application, and also would be faster) or get his qualification assessed by IPEN - is this the same as the IQA? Also, would it be necessary or helpful to do the IQA given that he would need to secure a job offer anyway (unless that means that he has a better chance of getting a job as an engineer rather than an engineering technician)?
    Last edited by Christplanet; 27th July 2014 at 05:16 AM. Reason: Add info

  6. #26
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    Wow you really get replies in no time at all on this forum.
    That depends who happens to be online at the same time as you - don't forget, there are people in all time zones. I've sometimes had someone on the opposite side of the world posting and re-posting, wanting me to reply, which I'm not likely to do from the middle of 'my' night!

    Certainly getting a job offer is a way through this situation, and likely to be quicker than the alternative. No, IPENZ http://www.ipenz.org.nz/ipenz/ is the professional association for engineers, and if they say someone's qualification is sufficient for an engineer, it bypasses the need for exact equivalence as assessed by NZQA following the IQA. Engineers now in employment in NZ may tell you what they've found when job-hunting, but the impression I have from stories on the threads is that employers out there are more likely to trust to your knowledge which becomes obvious when talking to you on technical matters in person, and your references and previous experience, than any formal assessment.

  7. #27
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    P.S. Have a look at the hits on this list - there are several old threads from people who used the IPENZ assessment procedure. https://www.google.co.uk/#q=site:enz.org+ipenz

  8. #28
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    Thanks JandM. Yes we do sleep too In the meantime we have read through the IQA process and rescrutinised and recalculated our pts, which we believe to be 100 on the safe side.

    It seems then that there are 3 options for us:

    1. To go to NZ on a visitors visa, secure a job offer and apply work visa, which would give us 150pts, file EOI and follow up on SMC visa application from NZ while living in NZ (faster, but with less financial security as it depends on the time taken for the job search)

    2. To do IQA and hopefully get at least 40 bonus pts claimable from the assessment outcome, which would give us 140pts, file for EOI and hopefully get ITA and resident visa thereafter while still in Singapore, before doing the job search in SG/NZ (less risk but may take longer for us to end up in NZ)

    3. File EOI now with less than 140 pts and do job search to top up pts (which would bring us back to 1), or hope that we get selected and given visa to go NZ (less certain and might also take longer if not selected)

    Options 2 and 3 are just based on our own analysis and were not suggested by adviser (who only recommended option 1). Is this correct? Of course none of this stops us from still going to NZ on our planned schedule yes?

  9. #29
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    1. Yes in theory, but obviously don't know how your points stack up, not knowing your whole situation.

    2. Yes, again, and/or with the possibility of the IPENZ check if necessary.

    3. There is hardly any chance, with the way NZ government quotas for immigration are set at the moment, that anyone with as few as 110 points is going to get their EOI selected from the pool. If you went this route, you would need to be either fairly sure there was a job offer up and coming quite soon, before your EOI's six months in the pool would run out, or resigned to losing the time, money and effort spent on submitting.

    And as you say, you can go to NZ on a visitor's visa whenever you decide - what you have in mind to do afterwards, dependent on what job offer may arise, doesn't affect that.

  10. #30
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    Thanks, after discussing we think we'd probably go for the IQA assessment here, then go to NZ at the start of the year to secure a job (after hopefully setting up some interviews from here).

    Pts wise currently as a quick breakdown we get pts for age, my degree being recognised on the LoQEA, his work experience of >10yrs (relevant to his qualification), and >6yrs in an AASS, plus qualification in an AASS. His qualification is listed under Engineering Technician, but the qualification is not on the LoQEA, so we thought it might be better/nec to do the IQA to secure the pts for qualification. Of course, as you said, getting a job in this area might bypass the need for this (as it would add 60pts), but we figured it'd be an added safeguard, and perhaps lead to more bonus pts which might fast-track our application. Plus even with the IQA it'd still be cheaper than the consultant fees.

    After some research and discussion, it seems like we don't really need to go with the consultant anymore.

    We'll now try to look for threads on how people go on a visitor's visa to do job hunts and what do they tell the customs immigration officers (we read that people might get turned away for citing job hunt reasons on a visitor's visa, but might get into trouble when they apply for a work/resident visa later if they lie at customs about just visiting).

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