Migrating to New Zealand, anyone?

Here is a bit of public service to people wanting to migrate to NZ, especially my kababayans.

If you want to migrate to NZ as a skilled migrant you have to meet the criteria set out by NZ Immigration, which uses a point system for assessment.

You gain points depending on your work experience, educational background, age and other factors.

Work Experience: 2 years gives 10 points, 4 is 15 points, 6 is 20 points, 8 is 25 points, 10 years is 30 points.

Education: Bachelor’s Degree gives 50 points, Masters/Doctorate Degree is 55 points.

Age: 20-29 years old gives 30 points, 30-39 is 25 points, 40-44 is 20 points, 45-49 is 10 points, 50-55 is 5 points.

In addition to the above points, you can also gain bonus points if you have a close relative living in NZ (10 points), have a job offer in NZ (50 points), from your spouse's qualifications (10 points), or the occupation you are in is in an area of absolute skills shortage in NZ (10 points).

The minimum points you have to get is 100 points before even being allowed to file an application. For most Filipinos who are college graduates below 40 years old, 100 points is easily obtained even without bonus points.

Say you have 8 years work experience (25 points), with a Bachelor’s degree (50 points), and between the age of 30 to 39 years old (25 points). This gives you a total of 100 points, enough to pass the threshold set by Immigration for your application to be considered. It doesn’t mean though that you automatically acquire residency if you acquire 100 points. It only means you have a chance, because if there are 10 thousand applicants all achieving 100 points and only 1 thousand can be granted residency then your chances is but 1 of 10 or 10%. The higher your points, the better your chances will be. Like if you have a job offer which is 50 points, you get 150 points easy. That is an almost 100% probability of success.

This is the NZ Immigration points system in a nutshell. If you want more information about migrating to NZ, the best site to go to is the NZ Immigration Website. You can download all the forms from the site or even lodge the application on-line. My advice is for you first download the "Self Assessment Guide for Residence in NZ" from the NZ Immigration website. And if everything goes well and all your documentations are in order, you can be in NZ in 3 to 6 months time. And you know what's great about that? You AND YOUR WHOLE FAMILY will be migrating and living together. Compare that with working as an OFW. You might be earning big bucks but the years you spend away from your family is precious time wasted. Let's enjoy life.