Recognition of foreign qualifications in New Zealand

Hello,

It depends which industry you are in, what are you looking for?

Otherwise yes most Mauritian certification and diplomas are void once you are in New Zealand. Mainly due to different country, different policies and regulations. Even a hairdresser has to relearn her trade in New Zealand and Australia - different hair types and styles!

Only if you have a higher degree than it is possible. But again it depends on which trade you are referring to.

Hi Lisa Ellapen,

Thank you for your contribution.
However, do note that i am a member of the Expat.com team and i launched this topic in order to gather information and to make them available to our dear members.

Have a nice day,

Priscilla
Expat.com team

hello Priscilla, everything recognized in NZ, and yes need to be translated in English,  u just need to find job and apply for work visa and in 1-2 months u get the visa for 1 or 2 years, is easy finding job online too, thats how i got my visa, and after u can renew easy the work visa, i come from Macedonia (fyrom), i applied for work visa as Tiler, and im qualified in my country and nz accepted that, good luck 🤞

Hi. I am very bitter about NZ now. I have been living here for almost 3 years and I have two teaching qualifications (CAPES from France and PGCE from the UK). I have been a qualified teacher for 15 years in total, but here I can't teach.

I need to be a registered teacher and in order to be one,  I have to go through a series of hurdles which would be quite comical if they weren't so costly and time-consuming.
They are really not making it easy for overseas teachers, I can tell you that.

So far I'm about half-way through the process. It's taken me 6 months to gather all the evidence they requested. My qualifications haven't been fully recognized as they said they were not exactly the same as NZ qualifications.
I've spent $2000 in the process so far.
Now I have to take an English test despite having a PGCE and living 10 years in the UK. So that's another $400 and 3 months to wait to sit the test.
Then they will probably send me on a refresher course costing $4000 (Yes, that's right!) before I can be on the register.

Oh, and every two years you have to pay $500 to stay on that register. Yes, pay to be able to work ;-(

In the best case scenario I will be able to teach in about one year's time. And that will probably be part-time only...

Hi Priscilla,

Thanks for the clarification.

There is no blanket rule for the entire NZ working industry, and as I mentioned previously, different fields have different requirements so you would be best to investigate with better clarification on NZ immigration website.

Even the hospitality and healthcare industry for foreign workers requires additional training, again best to be 100% per industry according to the immigration website. This has the most detailed and current information, and bear in mind elections are coming up so that may also change.

As a kiwi, with a mauritian husband, naturalisation into NZ does time, and can be expensive initially, however the return on your income over time and future visa and work opportunities are far superior to anything that is be available in Mauritius. Eg a qualified Plumber earns a higher annual salary than the Mauritian Prime Minister.

It does take time, committment and hard work  - everything comes after that.

Good luck x

There is an INZ list of recognised qualifications and if not listed require NZQA assessment and certain professions like medical and engineering require professional body registration. Once in the job market it will depend on your work experience and academic qualifications whether employers place any value on it. There is some bias based often on ignorance, like assuming industries in some countries are not as sophisticated as in NZ.

Hi
You do. As some one said in this thread, not all overseas qualification is recognized in NZ. Not all overseas professional degree will allow you to practice your profession such as medical degree and qualification. You have to go through a tenacious process which could be a mentally drowning experience. I do not know others but I gound that way myself.
So being careful and doing a thorough home work before moving to this land is absolute necessary, I think.
Cheers
Niranjan

Hi. I'm a UK expat and have been in wellington for 4 years.  I'm beyond exasperated with the apparent mindset here with overseas work experience versus not being a kiwi! I've got 20 years of solid administration and business experience, Prince2 qualification but still don't get called for an interview.  Currently I'm a receptionist.  There definitely feels like there's an arrogance here that if it's not kiwi certified,  you're not good enough, even though the education system is at best half the standard of Europe,  US and Asia. I've had conversations with a few medical consultants who say they had to go to the UK to get the best training.  What immigration say is a million miles from reality.  I would think very carefully before moving to nz sadly!