To Filipino Nurses in NEW ZEALAND? Have questions please..

[nina9404]

Good day!

I am considering trying my luck as a nurse in New Zealand.

Can anyone here help me and tell me what to expect in the 2-3months competency assessment? Is it really like attending formal school where you have lectures, exams, reports? Anyone ever failed that??

How long does it take to get a working visa after registering with NCNZ, provided of course one passed the assessment? How long does it take to get permanent residency?

How do I find a good consulting agency that can help me with the processing? Or dont I need one anymore?

I also would appreciate it if Filipino Nurses can share their experiences in NZ. Was the transition hard? How do you like the weather?

Any practical tips about starting my application to work as a nurse there besides looking at the NCNZ website?

Thanks a lot in advance!

[oneproudigorot, MSN, RN]

hi there big heart.

I am a second courser, my first course was a degree in medical technology. I took my BSN for 2 years. I attended all my classes and duty hours. I am disappointed that NZNC allegedly does not allow second coursers to practice there. I tried to email the NZNC to inquire about the matter but they haven't sent me any reply. Would you be so kind to do a bit of information gathering if they really absolutely won't accept second coursers? Thanks in advance.

I'm ok with the IELTS. I actually also started for an immigrant visa for the US and sat in both CGFNS and NCLEX and passed both, but since I may have to wait for 5 years or more for a chance of working in the US, I would like to try NZ or OZ...

[big heart]

Hello to oneproudigorot,

Interesting you've ask me about second courser, bec that is my next info to share.

OK, it's not about second courser. It's about your training as a nurse, knowledge, competence, post grad. experience, general safety, etc.

As I have explained in my previous entry, NCNZ is aware of the growing no. of school of nursing in the Philippine. They don't really know who monitor our standard of teaching(specifically nursing). I can't explain further in this matter as it will cover a lot of areas. So, the NCNZ assess every applicant in an individualise basis.

Refer on the application form of NCNZ, there is a specific part there that only applies for Philippine applicants and that is about authentication(red ribbon, stamps here and signatures there,etc)bec. of fake documents, now they require the school course outline/syllabus apart from the TOR and RLE. This is one way for them(NCNZ) to assess if the school(in the Phil) has taught the standard equivalence of the nursing school of NZ.

Post Graduate experience is also important (even volunteer is good). This is the transition stage from student nurses to staff nurses. This is where they can perhaps assess your ability to work independently, confidence, decision making, trouble shooting, interaction with your own patient/s, etc. That's also why Prof reference is required.

I'm not saying that a new grad is not accepted as I said they assess it individually. If you have all the gear then you're ready as they say.

I'm not sure what you're doing now in terms of work, but I guess if you're interested to work in NZ, give it a go.

All the best

[big heart]

Hello once again,

Another information I need to share, perhaps advise.

Please do not take any offer from an agent or agency to come to NZ as a Health Care Assistant.

Some agent offer Phil. Registered Nurses to come to NZ to study a short course, which is the HCA(healthcare assistant course). As mentioned on my previous entry, a course that only takes 3 months or less is possible on a Visitors Visa. Agent will enrol you to this courses and get you in NZ, they lure nurses that has an IELTS score below 7 (score that is not accepted with the NCNZ). NCNZ do not regulate HCA. Anyone can take this courses. The agent will tell these nurses to complete the course, there's job in NZ, take the IELTS in NZ if you wanted to continue your RN dream in NZ, then submit your application for registration as a nurse while you're in NZ.

What if...what if you can not pass your IELTS test, what if the NCNZ decline your application bec of some reason.

The pay for HCA is not that great, what if you have a family to feed back in the Phil., what if you have loan money for all the expenses to come to NZ, and lastly what if immigration NZ only give you one year work permit. Think about the cost living in NZ and at the same time supporting family back home.

So my suggestion is, pass the required score for IELTS, work or gain some experience even a little( rather than nothing), ask your school to prepare a course outline/syllabus,

be good to your work colleague (bec they're the one to give you your references),gather the necessary documents for application for registration to the NCNZ, and of course prepare financially.

If you need an agency to process your application, then find one that is a POEA approved agency. Generally they should charge a what they call placement fee, which is equivalent approx. to a one month pay as a nurse in NZ. They will do the authentication of your documents, arrange your travel, communicate to NZ base agency(if there is one). in this way you can continue to work while your application is in the process.

To everyone who wants to work in NZ, give it a go it's worth. Good luck.

[susanhamburgerz]

Hello once again,

Another information I need to share, perhaps advise.

Please do not take any offer from an agent or agency to come to NZ as a Health Care Assistant.

Some agent offer Phil. Registered Nurses to come to NZ to study a short course, which is the HCA(healthcare assistant course). As mentioned on my previous entry, a course that only takes 3 months or less is possible on a Visitors Visa. Agent will enrol you to this courses and get you in NZ, they lure nurses that has an IELTS score below 7 (score that is not accepted with the NCNZ). NCNZ do not regulate HCA. Anyone can take this courses. The agent will tell these nurses to complete the course, there's job in NZ, take the IELTS in NZ if you wanted to continue your RN dream in NZ, then submit your application for registration as a nurse while you're in NZ.

What if...what if you can not pass your IELTS test, what if the NCNZ decline your application bec of some reason.

The pay for HCA is not that great, what if you have a family to feed back in the Phil., what if you have loan money for all the expenses to come to NZ, and lastly what if immigration NZ only give you one year work permit. Think about the cost living in NZ and at the same time supporting family back home.

So my suggestion is, pass the required score for IELTS, work or gain some experience even a little( rather than nothing), ask your school to prepare a course outline/syllabus,

be good to your work colleague (bec they're the one to give you your references),gather the necessary documents for application for registration to the NCNZ, and of course prepare financially.

If you need an agency to process your application, then find one that is a POEA approved agency. Generally they should charge a what they call placement fee, which is equivalent approx. to a one month pay as a nurse in NZ. They will do the authentication of your documents, arrange your travel, communicate to NZ base agency(if there is one). in this way you can continue to work while your application is in the process.

To everyone who wants to work in NZ, give it a go it's worth. Good luck.

just a question, why would we need an agency to process our application even if they are POEA approved. I do not agree that I should pay them equivalent of 1 month worth of NZ salary that amounts to more than 3knzd. Authentication of docs wont cost me 10k pesos. One can easily arrange for his/her travel to nz, and we do not need an agency to help us to look for work in NZ. I would rather use that amount as pocketmoney while doing CAP in NZ. Well its my opinion anyways.

I suggest that RNs do the processing themselves, do their research and save some money.

But everything else you shared is all true and much appreciated. Thanks

[big heart]

Hello susanhamburgerz,

Of course you don't need an agency or anyone to process your application if you can do it yourself. I just mentioned that if anyone wants to use an agency (since a lot of Filipino still do) then a POEA approved is better. You can go back to them in case you're not satisfied with the whole processing of your application, you can report them to the proper authority. And in regards to the placement fee(or agency fee), under POEA regulations- a 1 month salary equivalent is the cost of their fee. This is to give the applicant/s an idea how much should they be paying to avoid these agency to charge enormously.

Thank you for your comment, I guess this is one way to clarify my view. I do respect your opinion as well.

[susanhamburgerz]

Hello susanhamburgerz,

Of course you don't need an agency or anyone to process your application if you can do it yourself. I just mentioned that if anyone wants to use an agency (since a lot of Filipino still do) then a POEA approved is better. You can go back to them in case you're not satisfied with the whole processing of your application, you can report them to the proper authority. And in regards to the placement fee(or agency fee), under POEA regulations- a 1 month salary equivalent is the cost of their fee. This is to give the applicant/s an idea how much should they be paying to avoid these agency to charge enormously.

Thank you for your comment, I guess this is one way to clarify my view. I do respect your opinion as well.

The question is are there agencies out there for NZ (even thou they are registered with POEA) that can be trusted. I think many Filipinos still use agencies because they are unaware that its very easy to process the application for NCNZ... They are made to believe that you need an agency to process the papers and look for work in NZ, when in fact you do not need them. Last time I heard, there are numerous complaints against licensed agencies that recruits RNs for NZ.

Weather its POEA regulation or not (that they can charge 1 month worth of salary) (which is still overpriced in my opinion) I still wouldnt pay them a single cent / or hire their services to process my application for NZ...Its a total waste of money in my opinion.

Its still the applicants decision if he/she will use an agency.

Thanks to your inputs. I hope that with your inputs , Pinoy RN's will realize that its very easy to apply for Registration with NCNZ. Do not go to NZ as HCA. Thanks for your concern to our kababayans.

[susanhamburgerz]

Hello cioman94,

I'd like to answer your question in many ways. First, given that you're holding a visitors permit(suggested in my previous entry as Visitors Visa) then either you convert it to a work permit or extend your visitors permit. If you have a work permit, you have to convert it to a work visa so you can travel back in the Phil. and when you're ready then you can use it to come back to NZ(as long as it's not expired). If you have an extended visitors permit, your stay in NZ is basically extended (and you're legal to stay) once you leave NZ, your visitors permit also expires. Which means you have to find a way to come back easy to NZ.

Now, you can apply online to job vacancies in NZ. If the unit thinks that you are an asset to their department(with all your experience and reference check are excelent)then they can give you a job offer which is good bec you can use the job offer as a tool to apply for a work permit/visa to come to NZ.

In regards to employment with only one year experience, I'm sure you can still get a job (global shortage of nurses) one year is better than nothing. The important thing is if the NCNZ will approve your qualification in the Phil and ask you to take the CAP. Once NCNZ is please to say that they're happy for you to take the CAP then thats you key for a bright future.

Before I end this, I'd like to thank Brian(owner of allnurses.com) for giving me the opportunity to share my view/s, I'd like to thank the moderators too, and to you all who are a member of this site and participated in this forum.

Also if I may, I'd like to tell everyone that I'm a nurse in NZ for 16 years now. The reason why I want everyone to know is that all info that I put in this site are all genuine. We have also help considerable no. of Phil nurses to come to NZ.

Once again, thank you.

I would like to know mam , how were you able to help considerable no. of Phil nurses to come to NZ? Do you know of any POEA approved agencies that we could approach in case we need one? thanks

[suzanne4, RN]

NZ has a limit to the number of visas that are issued per year, it is not unlimited first of all.

They are not accepting second coursers from the Philippines, and that has come directly from them; they are not even going to consider them for licensure there. As well as the fact that they require a full year of paid work experience before they will accept them as well. They are not accepting any new grads from the Philippines either.

Please take into account that if you do not meet the requirements, then that is money that is wasted; it is not returned from any country when you apply and are not accepted. So a complete waste of time and money to submit when you know that you are going to get an automatic denial.

With the exponential increase in RNs in the Philippines that are unemployed, there is absolutely no reason for them to make a change to what they have in place and in effect. That just makes no sense at all since they can easily get people that meet all of their requirements.

A key thing to remember is that when one applies to another country, one must meet the requirements that are in place there; the country does not need to change their rules and regulations to accomodate you.

[big heart]

Hello Everyone,

In respond to the entry of our Moderator,suzzane4

All internationally qualified nurse applicants are required to have an educational qualification that is equivalent to a NZBN. In the Philippine, the 4 years BSN degree is equivalent to a level 7 NZBN according to the NZQA. NCNZ still assess each application individually. For the so called "second courser" the NCNZ would be looking the BSN transcript to ensure that there is evidence that the applicant has completed the equivalent subject and clinical hours that meet the requirements of a NZBN. Hence, NCNZ require the applicants a course outline/syllabus of the entire nursing programme.

Thank you.

[kit25]

Hi everyone,

I have a question to all nurses working in New Zealand. I am planning to be licensed in Queensland, Australia. I would want to keep my options open. I have a lot of friends in New Zealand and would want to work there instead of Australia. Do I have the option of endorsing my Australian license to NZ through mutual recognition even if I am an overseas educated nurse? Can anyone shed a light on this? Thank you so much.

[Silverdragon102, BSN]

Hi everyone,

I have a question to all nurses working in New Zealand. I am planning to be licensed in Queensland, Australia. I would want to keep my options open. I have a lot of friends in New Zealand and would want to work there instead of Australia. Do I have the option of endorsing my Australian license to NZ through mutual recognition even if I am an overseas educated nurse? Can anyone shed a light on this? Thank you so much.

This will be a decision of the NZ nursing board, probably better asking them. If you haven't worked in Au then they may require you to file as International nurse

[cioman94]

Hi everyone,

I have a question to all nurses working in New Zealand. I am planning to be licensed in Queensland, Australia. I would want to keep my options open. I have a lot of friends in New Zealand and would want to work there instead of Australia. Do I have the option of endorsing my Australian license to NZ through mutual recognition even if I am an overseas educated nurse? Can anyone shed a light on this? Thank you so much.

ur questions and plans are also in my mind, it makes me wonder indeed if NCNZ will accept our application for mutual recognition of australian license eventhough we never had worked in aus and that we are not aus residents/citizen.. i just hope the answer is yes, at least its an option for us as you have mentioned..