# Advice for new life in NZ



## Fountain30

Hi everyone!

I’m hoping to get some honest advice here. I’ve been considering a move to NZ on a permenant basis and I’m now at a stage where I want to make this a reality. I am at the very beginning stages of looking at my options.

I work as a recruitment consultant and work for the world leading provider of H&S/HR services to businesses. My company have offices in Auckland and also in Australia and Canada, we are extremely reputable, award winning and have a good international footprint.

I’m 27, and I know the 18-30 work-travel visa would be an option and I am open to consider it, although I know I want this to be a long-term reality, with a focus on making a difference and supporting myself.

I don’t know if ‘recruitment consultant’ Is considered skilled work. I couldn’t see it on any lists. I’ve been doing it for 4-5 years with solid job tenures (nearly 2 years in current role and 2+ in previous). 

I’m also concerned my employer will reject the idea of my transferring to NZ. From a business perspective, I’m needed here in the UK and im concerned to ask the question in case it causes an issue in my current employment.

Finally, I have a bipolar disorder diagnosis. No hospitatisations and medication taken for maintenance. I’ve not had a spell or illness for a long time and it has never impacted my employment.

Any advice would be so massively appreciated, and I think you all for taking the time to read over my post.

I’d love so much to make this a reality and I’m at a state in my life where I feel so ready to do it.

Thanks again.


----------



## escapedtonz

Hi and welcome to the forum,

Recruitment Consultant is classed as a skilled occupation by Immigration NZ, however it does not appear on any skill shortage list so there is no easy pathway to living and working here. Your only chance would be to get a job offer and apply for a Temporary Work Visa and hope in the future that it'd lead to something more permanent.
It sounds pretty straightforward that you could transfer in the same role to working for the same company in NZ so in my opinion that'd be the easiest route to take, however I hear your concerns with reaching out to your employer to help this work. That's a decision you must take whether you do or not. Personally speaking I'd be pretty upset working for an employer that wouldn't support you in any decision you made on your future. It isn't as if you are tendering your resignation. All you are doing is asking to work elsewhere. You could probably even do the same job but from NZ so you could do a slow transition until they got someone to take your place ?
If all that fails then the WHV would be ideal for you at your age as you'd be pretty much guaranteed approval to live in NZ up to 23 months and work for 12 months. In that time all you'd need to do is get a job offer and apply for a temporary work visa and then hope you could go for something more permanent in the future.
You only young once. I'd say jump at the opportunity and if your employer isn't appreciative of your development then you're probably better off leaving them anyways.

The health issue may not cause a problem for a WHV application or even a Temporary Work Visa application since they are only short term visas. The condition would be flagged in a medical report and Immigration would have to seek the advice of a medical assessor, however with no hospitalization or ongoing medication the future should look good. All depends on how the MA sees your future prognosis and the total dollar cost of it.


----------



## Sherwood Botsford

If you are well regarded in your company now and have a good relationship with your management, might the following work:

Propose a "culture swap" Swap jobs with someone in the NZ office who would like to come to England. But make it more general: Each office should be swapping staff with each other office.

From both countries perspective, it's close to neutral: No job is being lost to a foreigner.

I don't think either country has a provision for this, but with world markets, the demand for people who know more than one nation's culture is increasing. Might not take much persuasion to create a new category of visa.


----------



## Fountain30

Hi all,

Thanks for the kind responses. I have discussed with my management team here and they have confirmed that it is certainly an option, and they can discuss with the team over there. I appreciate it won't happen quickly, so I'm going to save and plan towards it from Jan 2020 onwards. I'll be 28 at this point. 

I'm just really concerned my Bipolar diagnosis will go against me. As previously stated, I've had no hospitalizations and have held a full time job down with no issues whatsoever. Purely maintenance medication to keep my mood balanced, which it does. Providing I take my medication (which I do) I am very high functioning.

I don't want to go through the heartbreak of getting rejected on these terms, so it is making me consider things a little more broadly. I don't know, maybe I just need to go for it as this really is what I want.


----------



## Fountain30

To be clear though, the medication is a long-term thing. I think I'll probably need to take it for the rest of my life.


----------



## escapedtonz

If moving to NZ is something you wish to do then your only option is to suck up all the concerns and go for it. There is no testing the water, there is no running it by an immigration officer first, there is no pre medical assessment and absolutely nobody on any forum can give you any indication of how your application would progress. Each application is considered individually so you'll only gain answers to your concerns by applying and going through the process.


----------

