I had no idea. I wonder where you read that from. It just seemed like a waste of money, time and hassle to do one even though my university is accredited. I wonder why it would add points?
I had no idea. I wonder where you read that from. It just seemed like a waste of money, time and hassle to do one even though my university is accredited. I wonder why it would add points?
I hope this is incorrect. According to the "Essential Skills in Demand List":
If a principal applicant does not have skilled employment in New Zealand in an area of absolute skills shortage (see SM8.20), they will be assessed as being qualified in an area of absolute skills shortage if they meet the specifications in Column 4 of the Long Term Skill Shortage List (see Appendix 6).
Column 4 of Appendix 6 Reads:
In order to claim bonus points for qualifications in an area of absolute skill shortage under the Skilled Migrant Category or the General Skills Category, applicants must meet the following specifications:
A Washington Accord accredited engineering degree
I have a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Washington in Seattle, which is an ABET accredited, part of the Washington Accord accredited progams.
Can you point me to a link that says I still need a separate NZQA assessment? I'm worried now that we've just sent in our ITA!
Thanks,
Brian
I'm just guessing here, but my thinking is that NZQA assessment is required even if your university is on NZIS's list because they need to check that the degree is relevant to your occupation. Therefore, if you are simply claiming points (not bonus points) for a degree, then just having a degree from an accredited institution is enough: if your university is on the list, then it's all done and dusted. if, however, you are applying for a career in a particular area and saying that your degree is relevant to this area, then NZIS need to know that it is relevant which requires checking.
For example: in my case, the nearest career on the careers list is web designer (I'm actually an interaction designer though I am working exclusively on websites). I have claimed for my degree and PhD but not for bonus points because I am not claiming that my job is on any skills shortage list (I got enough points without them). Therefore, the degrees could be in anything so I would not need to get them assessed.
If however, I claimed that my job was on a skills shortage list somewhere (along with the bonus points that I would get), then NZIS need to check that my degree and PhD are relevant to my job - and this needs assessment by NZQA. It might turn out that my qualifications are in theology which is not relevant to web design so they would not count as bonus points, but I would get the basic points for them.
Like I said, I'm just guessing at the thinking behind this: but if we can nail down the reasons for NZIS's policies, they'll be easier to understand. Please feel free to correct my mistakes here.
Last edited by welsh_italian; 20th April 2009 at 10:25 AM.
Not quite correct, although possibly right for the majority, some qualifications are automatically assessed as being valid to support the absolute skills shortage list. As an example, in Civil Engineering (in my case Transport LTSS) then if a degree is from a 'Washington Accord' course then it counts as bonus points without NZQA assessment.
However, there is a temporary glitch in the LoQOA which means that UK MEng and MScs from virtually all universities apart from the American University in Richmond and 4 scottish ones do need assessing. This is hopefully being reversed in August back to where it was pre May.