Where to begin...

[Burnsie75]

Hi everyone...

Hoping for a bit of advice please...

As a family of 4 - myself (2ndry school teacher), wife (pharmacist), 2 kids (age 8 & 4) we were hoping to move to Aus or NZ in the near future - we have lots of family in both and love both countries.

I was recently denied an Australian skilled migration visa as 5 of my last 10 years work had been as a "personal tutor" as opposed to a secondary school teacher - despite teaching kids that had been refused access to mainstream school, teaching the same (current) curriculum etc.

After this knock back, we have decided to try for NZ but this time with the use of an agency so hopefully we don't fall into any misunderstandings with regards to points etc again.

After an initial appraisal I have been identified as being the best option for the main applicant.

The agency we are hoping to use also offer a job assist program (sorting CV, searching for jobs, liaising with employers etc etc).

Obviously the costs involved (as expected) are quite substantial and having already lost a small fortune in our failed Australian attempt we wondered how other folk have gone about applying to work/move to NZ? Obviously the main difference is needing a job offer - has anyone used the job assist routes? Or has anyone had success going alone, and if so how/where did you start?

Thanks for any advice, its the beginning of a "new" long road for us, but one we know we will get to the end of one day

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

I'm wondering - how did you come to know about and contact that particular agency? And have you been put in touch with past customers, to know how they got on?
I don't remember seeing on the forum in (literally) years that anyone has used that kind of service.

Also, is the agent a Licensed Immigration Adviser? https://www.immigration.govt.nz/cont...gration-advice

That was bad luck about Australia. I see that you've been told you would be a good bet as principle applicant for NZ; have you looked at what you will need to do in order to become registered as a teacher in NZ? https://teachingcouncil.nz/content/overseas-teachers It is quite a length process, and you have to have registration before your visa application can go through.

[Gunkub]

It does sound a little sketchy...

From my experience most adviser/lawyer are very careful not to get themselves involved in any other matters that is not related to the application.

I honestly would recommend finding a proper LIA and reevaluate your options and also doing some self-research on your options and what you'd need to get there.

Immigration website has a very clear instruction about what you need to do - and I know it's a lot of information to take in but it's a lot better to know what's going on.

And it's always good to get second opinion on things like these anyway.

[Divesnowboy]

Read the articles on this website before you come here....If you have a spare few hours, I'll tell you our story.

https://e2nz.org/

[JandM]

Be aware - life in every country has good and bad sides. If you hear from someone who is having a happy life, it sounds good, and/but there is no guarantee that if you follow in their footsteps, exactly the same things will happen to you. If you hear from someone who is having a bad time, you hear about the depressing and the unfair, and/but there is no guarantee that you will get the same experience. That other website mentioned seems to collect stories of bad things that happened - okay, sympathies due for any victims anywhere, but it's not a rounded picture.

[newarrival]

Read the articles on this website before you come here....If you have a spare few hours, I'll tell you our story.

https://e2nz.org/

I remember that this website has come up here and in other forums- it seems to be a collection of very bitter people who have had bad experiences, plans that didn't work out and they are now stuck in New Zealand, desperately wanting to go home.

A step like emigrating is massive and for very few all goes smoothly, there are bound to be hurdles and frustrations. But for lots of us it has been worth in the end.

[Burnsie75]

I remember that this website has come up here and in other forums- it seems to be a collection of very bitter people who have had bad experiences, plans that didn't work out and they are now stuck in New Zealand, desperately wanting to go home.

A step like emigrating is massive and for very few all goes smoothly, there are bound to be hurdles and frustrations. But for lots of us it has been worth in the end.

Yes I have no interest in reading it tbh, I know things dont work out for everyone but we've made a decision as a family to move there (hopefully) and so dont need any "horror stories" if thats what it contains!

[Divesnowboy]

We had quite a few tough years, firstly a business failing was partly due to my poor judgement of the business partner. Mother nature also had a major effect...
I took a job and the company has been getting slowly worse and is on the brink of closing, not paying at times and a general below standard work environment.

Our perspective has slowly got positive once more, getting out and seeing the country, trying out new places and seeing which ones suit us best.
We narrowed it down to 3 places, then 1. We plan on moving there as soon as possible.

Then residency happened and the weight lifted, the imaginary trap door beneath us disappeared, uncertainty turned into excitement.
New jobs and location on the horizon and life changes for the better in an instant.
Be strong, be patient, be positive and NZ will be the heaven you imagined.