Occupation Equivalency

[weidenba]

Hello all,

It's been a while since I last posted (at that time I was concerned about the work visa process). I've since been working and living in New Zealand for a little over two years, and my partner and I are ready to apply for residency.

I've a little quandary though, as I'm not sure about my career experience from INZ's perspective.

I'm currently working as a software developer, but have no formal qualifications in software. I came over on the strength of my previous work history, and fit in very well in my company (very few of my colleagues have qualifications, and most of them have residency now--but they got in under the old rules when two years of work experience in New Zealand was enough to get them over the hurdle). I do have a Master's of Fine Arts degree from the US, in the field which my company works in, but not in Computer Science. Most of my professional experience is in tertiary education in the US. I taught programming and game design part-time at the University level for 8 years, three years of that full time as the School Chair for Information Technology (the equivalent of Head of Programme here). Aside from that, though, I only have about 4 total years of actual full-time Software Development work experience before moving here (plus 2.5 years here), and I was hoping to use that towards my points. I saw in the requirements for the Skilled Migrant Category that you need 5 years of experience prior to the years you are claiming for points, if you don't have the relevant qualification for that field.

The question is, does anyone have an inkling of whether experience teaching Software Development at the university level would be considered as relevant experience for this role? I'd rather not try to file for an IQA for my degree if it's not going to help me towards the goal. If it is considered relevant, I can definitely put the whole thing together, just trying to get an idea. I do have enough experience with government agencies to have seen where this would be problematic though (teaching is a completely different discipline, but you have to know the material backwards and forwards for it to be successful, and the teaching experience has always been a bonus to employers), so hoping someone here has experience that they could relate.

[param912003]

Hi weidenba,

One of my close friends is in a similar situation. He holds a degree in economics and statistics but is in a data-analytics+computer science based role.

So, your master's should be evaluated by NZQA, if it is not exempted, so that you can claim appropriate points for your qualification (70 points for master's and 50 for bachelor's/postgrad diploma). This is irrespective of what field your master's is in and if it is relevant to your job here in NZ.

Also, see condition S.M. 7.10.10 of the ops manual about being suitably qualified for your work experience. If you think that your Master's in Fine Arts/other qualification you held was in any way an important factor for your employer in hiring you into the role you want to get work ex points for, then you can try to attain a letter from the manager/HR person regarding this.

I believe this will be a strong piece of information to show that you were suitably qualified for the role. This can, then, as mentioned in the ops manual, be a step towards getting points for work experience.

[weidenba]

Thanks for that, param912003!

I looked further into this, and it looks like it is indeed the right approach. From what I'm seeing, I can basically claim my education and my NZ based experience for all of the points I need, and not even have to bring the more confusing aspects of my career journey into it.

One question on this, does anyone know if for the NZQA I'd need to submit my bachelor's degree as well in order to get my Master's recognised? I see that it allows multiple qualifications to be submitted for a single IQA, but it doesn't seem to be clear on which parts need to be submitted.

[weidenba]

One other question, it appears that the IQA is taking quite a while (It says 35 working days, which is 7 weeks, but I'm seeing 2-3 months on here?). I'm hoping to start the SMC process soon, so that I (with luck) don't have to worry about doing another work visa next year (we're finishing up the new one now). 7 weeks is one thing, but if it's taking longer, is the advice to still wait for the completed IQA before submitting my EOI? Or do I just need to have started the IQA process?

Also, is the fast-track option more inline with the 20 working days that are specified on the NZQA site?

[Gaida]

Hi weidenba - Regarding regular vs. expedited processing, you're talking about STARTING an EOI. I don't believe any proof of qualifications is required for an EOI. Then, once submitted, you have 4 months from ITA invitation to lodge the ITA. So, you have plenty of time to get IQA via regular processing -- if you wish. I have seen on this forum that regular processing is taking 2-4 months.

I just submitted an IQA for an exempt qualification earned in the U.S. The CO said the IQA was required because my qualification is in an area of skill shortage, and so even though the degree, year, and institution are exempt, INZ is requiring an IQA. I paid for expedited because I don't want this dragging on. I mention this because I did my EOI over a year ago, and submitted the ITA nearly a year ago. INZ never noticed that I needed the IQA when I filed the ITA -- or I would have done the IQA earlier and saved the rush fee. (Also, I submitted only the qualification from the skill shortage list -- not my Bachelor's as well because it doesn't mean anything to INZ.)

So, at this point, you have a choice about processing speeds. Note that NZQA state that if your IQA is not completed in 20 working days, they will refund the rush fee.

Good luck!

[weidenba]

Thanks Gaida, for the info. I went in and started working on the EOI, and it appears that you DO have to have an actual IQA reference number and result in order to claim the points now (I'm guessing they've changed the process slightly, as a coworker who just got his residency said the same thing you did on just getting the IQA once the process was started). I'd say that to save time I'll just do the IQA up front and expedited so I can get the process rolling.