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Thursday, August 27, 2009

I always thought I had wasted an extra year (and two summers) in Indiana...

New Zealand uses (what appears to be) a very streamlined system for determining who is allowed to immigrate. They don't care where you're from (as long as you speak English); they don't care what you look like. They do care how old you are (sorry to my readers over the age of 55), and they do care about your education/profession. If you're bored, give the NZ Immigration Points calculator a try. If you score over >100, you are eligible for entry (but if you don't have a job lined up, you really need more points, or they won't let you in). If you score >140, you are automatically allowed in...after they confirm you are not lying.

I claimed a conservative 145 points. I was feeling pretty good for four weeks, until someone at a desk in London decided my Doctor of Pharmacy degree did not allow me to 1) claim points for having a pharmacy degree (NZ issues only Bachelors of Pharmacy) and 2) claim any points for being a pharmacist (since a Bachelors of Pharmacy is required to be a pharmacist) and 3) claim any points for a profession on the Long Term Skills Shortage List (since as above, I am not a pharmacist). This brought me down to 60 points. It was recommended that I find a job as a pharmacist, then I can claim points for having a job as a pharmacist...

So I've sent this back to NZ Immigration (copied from their website). As my qualifications have been assessed by the NZ Pharmacy Council, and they have issued me a provisional license, I'm hoping another 4 week wait will take care of things.

If your qualification is not on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment, or the List of Qualifications Recognised as an Exception you will need to get your qualification assessed by the NZQA (unless you have full or provisional registration and your qualification has been assessed by a New Zealand organisation as comparable with a New Zealand qualification on the List of Qualifications Exempt from Assessment).

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