From the Lion City to Kiwi Land
by the Tan family
It all started in early 2005, when we decided to leave Singapore for New Zealand. I had been navigating through the NZIS website and to be honest, found it slightly confusing. We were then undecided whether to go about the immigration process on our own, or to engage the services of an immigration consultant. Being Singaporeans (tight-fisted as we are!), we hesitated on the latter as we didn’t want to pay the “exorbitant” fees usually charged by these consultants.
Strangely enough, during those few days that we were debating on the appropriate course of action to take, we saw an advertisement by IMMagine Immigration for an immigration seminar that coming weekend. It cost $20 to attend, plus a free DVD (which we never did get to watch!). We thought that was quite reasonable and so off we went to have a listen.
The seminar was conducted by Iain, and to be honest, it wasn’t what we had expected. We had expected the usual sales pitch about how wonderful the country is, how easy and effortless the immigration process is going to be if we engage his services, and in no time, we’ll be granted residency. In short, just show him the money. However, it turned out otherwise. While he did talk about what New Zealand had to offer, he also warned us about the difficult journey ahead, the pitfalls and obstacles that new migrants would face and have to negotiate, and most importantly, the difficulties of dealing with the NZIS. He also reiterated that this would probably be the most stressful period of our lives if we chose to do it, and we would never want to go through it all over again. On that sombre note, we went away from the seminar thinking that this guy’s really honest about the process and it is really something to conduct a seminar and possibly frighten off potential clients with the horror stories of immigration. To us, it just shows his integrity and responsibility in dealing with his clients.
We decided to book a consultation with him and at the end of the consultation, we were convinced that Iain definitely knew what he was talking about and again, his honesty about the whole immigration process most impressed us. Subsequently, we decided to fork out the “exorbitant” fees and engage Iain as our immigration consultant.
We then went through the process of submitting our EOI, getting all the documents ready, etc. Unfortunately, the NZIS took a long time to verify the information provided and we waited almost 6 months to get the Invitation to Apply for Residency. Throughout this period, there was constant contact between Iain and us, and he updated us whenever there were any new developments.
Towards the end of the year, we decided that I would quit my job and come over here, in an attempt to obtain employment, despite having neither a work permit nor a residence permit. Iain had warned us that it would be almost next to impossible to get employment without either of the above documents. But I decided that I would defy all odds (wishful thinking on hindsight) and went ahead anyway. Leaving the family behind, I left for Auckland.
Within the first week I arrived, I must have sent out close to a hundred job applications and contacted almost all the recruitment companies in Auckland. I even applied for jobs in other parts of the country on the assumption that if I widened my net, I stood a better chance of getting something. All my efforts came to nought, as nobody wanted to even speak to me or grant me an interview, let alone offer me a job. This went on for almost 6 months, without any success in obtaining a job. The reality is that, without a work permit or a residence permit, it would be extremely, extremely difficult for me, given what I do, to obtain any form of employment. Even with the necessary documents, there are other obstacles, such as employers requiring candidates to have local work experience and employers’ perception that Asians can’t speak English. In the first place, if nobody’s going to offer you a job, how do you accumulate local work experience? This is a real Catch 22 situation.
These are the very real challenges that immigrants have to face in our quest to obtain a job, and unfortunately, many of us (myself included) brush this aside when we are made aware of them, as our perception is that we have the necessary skills and qualifications which would make us highly employable over here. This is the reality of the job market here and in many situations, we have to be able to take a step back and lower our expectations in order to move two steps forward. As for me, the silver lining is that within two weeks after obtaining my residence permit, I was able to obtain a job with one of the bigger corporates here, though I have to start off at a lower level than my previous job in Singapore. My example is to illustrate to you the potential and very real challenges/obstacles that we, as immigrants, will face in attempting to obtain employment. It is not meant to frighten you but for you to be more aware of the situation that you would potentially face and to be prepared mentally and emotionally, as it can be very disheartening to face constant rejections.
Despite the harrowing experience of attempting to obtain employment, I have very good experiences to share as well. During the course of my stay thus far, I’ve had the opportunity and privilege of meeting and getting to know some very good people (Kiwis), whom I now consider my good friends. I’ve been invited to participate in activities with them and even to go on short holidays. This is typical of the Kiwi hospitality, generosity and friendliness.
I must also add that Iain and his team here at IMMagine Immigration have been extremely helpful, supportive and encouraging throughout my stay thus far and they have never failed to provide assistance and advice when I needed it. This reminds me of a question which I asked Iain before we decided to engage his services at the beginning; I asked him, “When does this consultant-client relationship end? When the residence permit is granted?” His reply was, “When you don’t need me anymore.” I think that this speaks volumes of his character, as a helpful, generous, honest and trustworthy man. I will not hesitate for one second to recommend Iain and his team to anybody planning to immigrate to New Zealand and who need professional advice. They are a very professional team who will be able to offer you appropriate advice on any problems that you might face along the way in your immigration process. In that sense, the fees they charge are not “exorbitant” as it is worth every single cent!
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