How to get PR in New Zealand
New Zealand is truly a spectacular land that attracts a massive influx of tourists regularly. What makes the country even more exciting is its recent growth and development as a wonderful and safe haven for immigrants, and how it has become a burgeoning hub of multiculturalism. As per the New Zealand government’s records by Stats NZ, the estimated number of immigrants in the country as of June 2021 was 1.65 million people, including permanent and long-term temporary migrants who have been there for 12 months or more. Of this, at least 228,771 people were Indians, including those who were born in India or had Indian ancestry. Migrants from India have been an important source of immigrants to New Zealand in recent years. Many arrive with the intention to study at the best of New Zealand universities or work in industries such as healthcare, information technology and hospitality. Among this growing community of Indians, you would find many looking for PR benefits in New Zealand or choosing to make the country their home away from home.
If you’re an Indian who has made up your mind to settle abroad, there are a few basic New Zealand PR options for Indians that you may consider in the meantime, including the Skilled Migrant Category (SMC), Highly Paid Work Visa, and Investor Visa. Under SMC, people who have various skills and qualifications besides experience in their fields can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to be invited to apply for residency. For this, you will need to meet certain requirements, including age, English language proficiency and health and other requirements. A job offer from an employer based in New Zealand would also be beneficial in the process.
For a Highly Paid Work Visa, you may have to be offered a job in New Zealand with a salary of NZ $106,080 or more per annum. This visa will permit you to work and live in the country for up to 30 months. You also have the option to apply for residency after 24 months of stay. Finally, for an Investor Visa, you will need to have a significant amount of capital to invest in New Zealand. This visa is specially designed for those who can contribute to the country’s economy through an investment of at least NZ $3 million over a period of four years. After you have held your investment for at least three years, you can become eligible to apply for residency.
While we may find many ways to make it to the country, what we have found and realised is that the study option is the best way to easily get to the country. That is, in New Zealand, international students always stand a higher chance of acquiring residency. While studying makes you gain valuable skills, qualifications and work experience, it can also help you secure a job anywhere in the world, let alone in New Zealand. With the help of a Post-Study Work Visa, you could be on the right path to residency, which will allow you to work in the country for up to three years upon completion of your studies. And if you can win a good job during this period, you may be eligible to apply for residency under the SMC or Essential Skills Work Visa (ESW) category. Now, while you’re already at this, don’t forget to check out the best universities in New Zealand for international students.
As education may be expensive in New Zealand, along with the cost of living, it is quite important to be prudent about the costs and benefits of studying in the country. This, not to mention, goes along with your personal circumstances and goals. Other pathways to New Zealand PR include SMC, ESW, Investor Visa and Entrepreneur Work Visa among others.
Now that we have said enough about how and why you may consider New Zealand as an option in your career, here’s a bonus piece of information for health professionals, exclusively for nurses. Needless to say, there is always a burgeoning demand for nurses in the country owing to its aged population who require personal care and assistance. This growing demand for nurses has attracted many nurses from near and far to the country. The only few requirements are as follows:
- You need to be registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand.
- If you already have a nursing degree from another country, you can apply for registration through the Council’s Competence Assessment Programme (CAP), a process designed to assess the knowledge of internationally qualified nurses and check whether they are eligible for registration in New Zealand. You can apply for jobs once registered with the Nursing Council of New Zealand. From hospital to community-based roles, there are many roles a nurse can take up in the country. After applying for a work visa to work as a nurse, you can also get the ESW or Long Term Skill Shortage List Work Visa. These visas will allow you to work in the country for a specific period of time and can increase your chances of acquiring residency.
The Green List
The Green List is a list of highly skilled roles that are in demand in New Zealand due to a shortage of skilled employees. This list is essential for employers in the country to attract and hire potential employees to hard-to-fille vacancies. Migrants working in the Green List roles have a higher chance and clear pathway to acquire PR. Similar to Green List jobs are Green List courses that enable students to work towards getting employed in jobs on the Green List, which is the most viable way to acquire PR in New Zealand for Indian students. Some of the hard-to-find-skill roles on the Green List are construction roles (Engineering, Quantity Surveyor, Project Manager etc), engineering roles (different types of engineers), health and social services roles (registered nurses, midwives, general practitioners (GP), surgeons, psychologists, psychiatrists, anaesthetists etc.), primary industries and science roles (food technologist, environmental scientist etc), ICT electronic and telecommunications roles (chief information officer, ICT project manager, software engineer etc), trades (automotive electrician, diesel motor mechanic, electrician etc.), agriculture (dairy cattle farmer, farm manager etc.) You will find the requirements for these roles listed on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF).
New Zealand government has an official points-based system for calculating the eligibility for PR in the country known as the SMC points system, which is designed to analyse an applicant’s skills, qualifications and experience among others to determine their ability to contribute to the country’s economy. Applicants are required to score a minimum of 100 points to become eligible. Some of the factors that the system considers are age, skilled employment, qualifications, work experience, family in New Zealand, and bonus points for certain factors such as holding a qualification in an area of absolute skills shortage. You also have the provision for calculating your points using the New Zealand Immigration Points Indicator tool that is available online on the New Zealand immigration website. This tool will specifically ask a series of questions before calculating your total points based on your responses. Now if you’re looking at pursuing higher education, and if you’re eligible, you might even get an exciting New Zealand scholarship for international students to meet all your immediate expenses.
Are all this information a little bit too much to digest? No problem! Contact Derrick Jones, the best immigration consultant in Kochi, and speak with our experts to wrap your head around it all and make a final decision in your New Zealand immigration plan. So, what are you waiting for!? Give us a call right away.
