I have an elarborate plan of an epic journey. But I need help please :)

[Minicat]

So... A little background. I met someone that I really like, and we decided that I should somehow come live in NZ ... I really want to. Not just because of this lovely person that I've been with, but I have always wanted to get away from denmark and move to an english speaking country. NZ, UK and Canada was on my list(australia tries to kill you and USA has messed up government/politics).
After getting to know my LDR partner and having been introduced to NZ culture and pop culture and all that, I am simply in love. I wanna move to NZ no matter what it takes :)

Now.. As for my current situation... It's complicated. I need help with this, so please stick with me here. I have have considered the many various roads to take. Silver fern, work holiday, work visa, residence visa, studying....

At first I was leaning towards silver fern, but then I investigated a bit and.. things might not be that simple. I hold a degree that we refer to as "professional bachelors". It's Professional Bachelor of Web Development to be exact ... They are not university studies. You gain them in profession-oriented academies. However they are nationally regarded as the same level as normal bachelors(even though personally I do not think they are). In any case. I have seen many threads about such 'dodgy' degrees that are there but not quite there. And usually the forumite replies later saying "Boo it was only accepted as level 6 :(" or lower even. I am not holding any high hopes that this one would be accepted as level 7 equivalent(because it really isnt). Scratch the surface, and you find that the education is unfocused and too "easy" in a way. I have both good and terrible grades though, which is annoying. Because I devised a perfect plan. That doesn't need the silver fern visa. I am currently employed as a web developer. I probably have a little over a year's worth of work experience with web development from jobs and internships.(Do internships count as work experience btw?).

Anyway. My plan is simple. I would like to apply at a university in NZ for a level 7 diploma or certificate of one year. I can work and save up just enough that I can afford that year and whatever costs that comes with it. So it's perfect. However in this regard, I would like to know... How hard is it get into university in NZ when you dont have a particularly good school record(i foolishly jumped directly to the professional bachelor before I finished high school equivalent. Meaning I have a degree in a higher education but no high school diploma). And the bad grades stem mostly from the fact that all exams were oral, and I had presentation anxiety. You can imagine all of them with me standing there, stuttering out all my words while forgetting half of them. I know I hold the knowledge and intelligence to complete a diploma of level 7. No problem there, but I have to convince the university of this. And if anyone has any advice regarding that, I would be extremely grateful :)

oh... So lets assume that I got into university and complete that one year diploma(my preference is Computer and Information Sciences). This degree would be within the skilled migrant category in immigration as well, right?
Then I saw that people who successfully complete a degree or certificate in NZ can gain the work after study visa which seems to work much like the Silver fern visa. Would my plan so far grant me this visa?


Anyway, so based on this visa, I find a job, work and then extend it to 2 years(i can do that, right?).

So I have worked for about 2 years in NZ doing ICT stuff, which is conveniently in the skilled migrant category :)
My next step is to gain a Masters degree(I always wanted one) ... Only now I have both my dodgy web development degree of 3½ years. the certificate in Computer and Information Sciences and i have basically 3+ years of work experience. My thought is that surely that would be enough to gain access to a masters degree... And if not, I will simply do a one or half year certificate that will prepare me for one :) No problem there as I have saved up for 2 years due to the study work visa. It is also convenient that the danish government will pay a lot of my tuition fee.

So assuming I complete the masters degree... Would it be possible to do the study to work visa twice? I have seen nothing that indicates that you cant... cos if so, then I would totally do it. The rest would be history as All this combined would surely give me the 140 points that I need... maybe.



In any case... Thank you SO much for sticking all the way through. And I have a question to all of you experience immigrants and immigration-know-it-alls: Is this plan way too farfetched? Is my dream to be accepted in to a proper university, or nay.. even an institute, too farfetched? What would your general experience tell you? Or gut...
Any answers are appreciated... even if they burst my bubble and break my dreams ._. (an leave me whimpering for weeks)

[Karen Phillips]

Wow - it is a long story - but I can assure you that there is hope! Firstly, with the degree you describe the easiest option is probably a one year Graduate Diploma in Computing (or whatever). This is Level 7 and so you would be eligible for the 9 month Graduate Job Search Visa followed by the 2 year Graduate Work experience Visa once you found the right job that was related to the Graduate Diploma. By this time you should be eligible for residence. If instead you try to get into the third year of a NZ degree you will have to go down the cross-credit or Recognition of Prior Learning route and, I can tell you that this is complicated, time-consuming and an be expensive. (I worked in Higher Ed in NZ for many years). You would have a very good chance of being accepted so long as your English is up to it (seems pretty good from what I have seen but you would have to prove it). If you choose to go on to masters afterwards then I would wait until you can pay Domestic fees and possibly get a Student Loan (it will be 3 years after you started living in NZ as a resident before you can get a student loan). Where does the partner fit in? Is this person a Kiwi - I wasn't certain from what you said. It makes a lot of difference to the other possibilities, so it's pretty key information. Hope this is a start.

[Minicat]

Yes. partner is a kiwi through and through :) He has a huge amount of years of experience in IT and he thinks I should easily be able to gain residence... I wish everyone held his opinion.

Anyway so.. You wrote:

"Firstly, with the degree you describe the easiest option is probably a one year Graduate Diploma in Computing (or whatever). This is Level 7 and so you would be eligible for the 9 month Graduate Job Search Visa followed by the 2 year Graduate Work experience Visa once you found the right job that was related to the Graduate Diploma."

And I don't know if I made myself clear enough. But that's what I meant. I am interested in this degree in particular:
http://www.aut.ac.nz/study-at-aut/st...ation-sciences
I havent seen degrees that are just called "computing" :) But who knows. But what you said is exactly what I wanted to do...

However, given that my country will probably pay roughly 75% of the tuition fee(and give me a monthly income on top of that) I think I don't need to wait for domestic fees... unless they could be combined. That would be awesome.

You seem to know what you're talking about, Karen. :) So in terms of having... not very favorable grades.. How screwed would you say I am? I completed 1½ years of my education in English. Would that suffice as proof enough?

Also thank you for your reply :)


Edit: Oh and in terms of my partner.... I'd have a place to stay, and he would likely help me financially where needed.

[Karen Phillips]

Hi. I think you stand a good chance (and hopefully I am reasonably well informed as I was the head of IT at a NZ Polytechnic for many years until 2012). As your partner is a Kiwi have you looked at partnership options? I am guessing that you haven't lived together at this point (assuming LDR = Long Distance Relationship). However, if you went on a Danish Working holiday Visa you could work and live together. Once you have been living together for 3 months he could sponsor you for a temporary partnership-based work visa that would allow you to work for any employer in any job. Once you have been together for 12months, he could sponsor you directly for residence - then you are free to do what you like. Just a few thoughts....

[Minicat]

Wow that feels really good to hear :) about the university thing. But since I am only going to apply for probably march 2015 i have plenty of time to prepare. What would you say is important to show on an application? Could I for example complete some online courses(there's this website I use a lot called Coursera.org). It has a lot of computer-related courses of about 6-11 weeks depending on which one. And if you complete the exams you can get a statement of accomplishment with distinction :)... I mean I know that online certificates dont mean a lot in any sense, but in light of my somewhat holed educational background, Im thinking it would at least show whoever is processing my application that I'm serious about it. And motivated. I honestly love everything to do with IT. And a year would give me time to complete many online courses/certificates .... I do it for fun anyway :p Anyway, got some tips? Should I create some solid IT solutions that I can show? Would it be silly to make my previous teachers write some kind of statement about me? :) I just really wanna make sure that my chances are as high as possible. I dont wanna take a chance on fate this time. I have always dreamed of studying at a proper university.

As for the partnership thing.. I thought you had to live together for 12 months... didnt know you could do it with three. Could you possibly refer me to some kind of information about it? That would simplify things a lot(but Id still wanna do the university bit.. i guess I could go the partnership router if my university application fails).

[JandM]

Partner-sponsored Residence requires proof of 12 months' living together. But a partner-sponsored temporarary work visa http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...milystream.htm is a kind of stepping stone on the way, and, as Karen says, can be applied for with about three months' proof.

If you intend to apply for the various partner-sponsored visas, have a look at the various threads here see the top hit https://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&...tnership+proof - about the kind of proof that needs to be supplied, so you can take care to gather it from the very beginning. Bear in mind, if you get the partner-sponsored work visa, you still need to keep on collecting evidence, because you'll need to show that you've still been living together while on that visa in order to qualify for partner-sponsored Residence when you have 12 months to show.

[newarrival]

Yes. partner is a kiwi through and through He has a huge amount of years of experience in IT and he thinks I should easily be able to gain residence... I wish everyone held his opinion.

Anyway so.. You wrote:
And I don't know if I made myself clear enough. But that's what I meant. I am interested in this degree in particular:
http://www.aut.ac.nz/study-at-aut/st...ation-sciences
I havent seen degrees that are just called "computing" But who knows. But what you said is exactly what I wanted to do...

However, given that my country will probably pay roughly 75% of the tuition fee(and give me a monthly income on top of that) I think I don't need to wait for domestic fees... unless they could be combined. That would be awesome.

You seem to know what you're talking about, Karen. So in terms of having... not very favorable grades.. How screwed would you say I am? I completed 1½ years of my education in English. Would that suffice as proof enough?

Also thank you for your reply


Edit: Oh and in terms of my partner.... I'd have a place to stay, and he would likely help me financially where needed.

Sorry for 'interrupting', just a really curious question - how is it that your country ( I assume it is Denmark you are talking about?) pays for you most of your tuition fee as well as a monthly income? That seems extremely generous....?

[Beachcombers]

OP - Your use of different sized fonts has given me a headache.

Come over on a WHV, live together for 12 months, become a resident. Easy as.

I know of a Danish expat that has her Masters degree funded by the Danish government, there is an application process and you have to demonstrate you are a good bet.

[sbranca]

Minicat, I can't comment on the substantive aspects of your situation but if I can just make a suggestion. I read through your original post in its entirety even though about a third of the way through I wanted to stop - it's tough going. Your situation is complicated, but it would help you a lot if you could tell the story in a clearer, more understandable way.

I am suggesting that you do, indeed, write it out as you have done here, but providing some structure, and clarity to the sequence of events. Maybe having a native English speaker help you edit would be useful. I'm not saying your English isn't good - it's waaaaay better than my Danish! - but you're going to be telling your story to a lot of people, some of whom listen to such stories all day long as part of their job and would appreciate a clear one.

Maybe things have changed in the 6 years since I got PR, but I would not encourage you to think that getting residency is "easy." It's easier for some than others, depending on circumstances, but Immigration can throw a lot of obstacles in your way. They are in complete control of the process. Get to know the options and their details very well. There are a lot of opinions out there, but only Immigration's opinion counts.

Good luck. Hope to bump into you at an All Blacks game.

[Minicat]

Trust me.. i wanted to try and rewrite it, but I cant edit my post it seems o_o