Help me emigrate to AU/NZ

October 13, 2011 2:55 AM

Help me emigrate to AU/NZ!

I want to emigrate to either Australia or New Zealand, but looking at the Skilled Migrants Visa options for both countries, it sounds intimidating.

I am 35, single, and have 10 years of work experience in a prominent academic library. I have a Master's qualification in library management from an accredited UK university.

Has anyone ever used agencies that assist people in obtaining visas? Are they extremely expensive? Scams or actually helpful?

How do I get started? Any advice or help would be great.

posted by Alnedra to law & government (10 answers total)

I went the other way (AU to UK) but am also a librarian. The first thing to do is look at 's website and sign up to any information about filling in job selection criteria. You should note in your applications that CILIP and ALIA have a reciprocal agreement covering recognition of qualifications. For NZ, substitute ALIA for LIANZA.

For Australia, if you want to stay in the same sector, you may find that few academic library employers are willing to obtain a visa for you - many jobs say 'ability to work permanently'. This tends to drop off the higher level you are at. I'd suggest contacting libraries to see whether this applies to the level of job you are seeking - if you are looking at department manager, deputy direct etc, this should not be such an issue.

Can't comment on using a visa agent, although this is very common.

Good luck - it's a good time to go to Australia especially, there are a lot of academic library jobs vacant at the senior level right now.
posted by wingless_angel at 3:26 AM on October 13, 2011 [1 favorite]

I know my dad went through all this when the whole family emigrated to NZ. We tried Australia first but they denied us due to that the kids were over weight. NZ we got in first go. We did not use any agents as far I know.
posted by lundman at 3:40 AM on October 13, 2011

Another option is to apply for jobs and enter on a workplace-sponsored e457 visa (seems to be very routine in academic institutions in Australia- that's how I got here). You can apply for permanent residency later on.
posted by emd3737 at 4:54 AM on October 13, 2011

I emigrated to NZ (from the US, though) in 2005. It can be done. After I was there I worked for a public accounting firm doing, among other things, visas for people moving to NZ.

Immigration New Zealand is, for a government agency, very easy to work with. Many times I called them directly and spoke to them about questions I had.

Here's the resource that got me started: Move2NZ. The resource is free, it's not run by immigration advisors, and it's a community of people who have moved/want to move to New Zealand. You won't regret checking it out. The things I learned on that site and the connections I made there made my move SO much easier.

Generally speaking, immigration advisors are not worth the money. You really can do everything yourself. It's not that hard. The Immigration NZ site is very good, they're willing to answer questions when you don't understand things, and people on the move2nz forums can usually give you even better answers than that.

Of course, that all goes for NZ and not Australia. Good luck.
posted by MoonOrb at 8:07 AM on October 13, 2011

I asked this question once.

I received a lot of BS answers on here.

I can't speak about the AU process. But if you want to hook it up to NZ, I don't think it would be hard for a UK citizen, and MOST of the immigrants to NZ are from the UK.

Talk to the nz immigration office (they have one in london that interviewed us), and they will tell you on the spot if you have a chance of getting in. Really nice and made the process really uncomplicated.

Good luck
posted by hal_c_on at 1:09 PM on October 13, 2011

My friend used to work for an immigration consultancy in New Zealand. He advises it was essentially a scam, as there is/was nothing the consultancy could do for you you that you couldn't do yourself.

He does have some great stories about unwashed Chinese street-person people turning up with massive sacks of dollar bills, though.
posted by Sebmojo at 1:39 PM on October 13, 2011

My experience with the whole Australia immigration process was rather painless. There are firms that specialize in "helping" you through the process for a few thousand dollars, many of my friends used them, but I did it myself just reading the forms and filling them out myself and it was surprisingly straightforward and clear. Anyone that can read and write English won't need assistance with these documents. Yes they feel like a scam.

Some people want to get professional assistance for peace of mind, being afraid they might make a mistake. I mixed up a document somewhere myself (got swapped between 2 different envelopes) and the case officer assigned to me just sent me an email saying it was missing, please resend, and I did, no dramas.

The more interesting knowledge you might gain from going through firm that specializes in this would be the lead-times in procuring certain documents. For example, some people did not know it could take 3-6 months to obtain a certificate of good conduct from their home country.
posted by xdvesper at 3:27 PM on October 13, 2011

Thanks for the answers, everyone! I feel slightly less scared now. Will definitely go through the links provided.
posted by Alnedra at 12:28 AM on October 14, 2011

Immigration advisors in NZ are, indeed, pretty much a scam. One hit the headlines recently when it went broke having failed to file money and applications for clients, leaving them screwed on their applications to come to or stay in NZ.

The New Zealand Immigration Service (a government department) has an office in Singapore, so you can just drop in and talk to people.

As an NZ citizen I've got no experience getting in here myself, but friends who have immigrated tell me it can be very challenging. The fact you have no dependents is a win for you. One option would be to look at a Silver Fern Visa, which gives skilled under-35s 9 months to live here and find work; that's aside from the normal Skiled Migrant catgeory; there's a points calculator that will give you an idea on that front.

Drop me a memail if you want me to put you in touch with archivist/librarian types I know in Wellington, or take a squizz at the National Archives, National Library, and (the holy grail!) the Turnbull Collection.
posted by rodgerd at 6:44 PM on October 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I know people who have emigrated to NZ and worked as librarians, so it's certainly possible to do so. I'm not sure exactly what visa they were on - I'll ask around.

I follow the NZ librarian mailing lists, and it seems as though there are a reasonable number of academic library vacancies at the moment, so it could be a good time to immigrate. If you decide to consider Wellington let me know, I used to work in the Victoria University library so I might be able to offer some suggestions. (I know some people at National Library and National Archives as well, if that interests you).
posted by Infinite Jest at 6:16 PM on October 16, 2011