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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

CH89: Plan Ahead or Ahead of Plan?

I posted on my Facebook and Twitter about a week back about how I managed to get one of the 300 slots for the Silver Fern Job Search Visa in New Zealand.

NZ, yearly, opens 300 doors for would be migrants. The visa, once you get a slot, allows you to submit evidences to prove your claims. Once you qualify (qualifications are more lenient than their Skilled Migrant to Resident visa), you get to have a visa that lets you go in and out of NZ for a period of 9 months to look for work.

Once you find a job there, you qualify for a Silver Fern Practical Experience Visa which will allow you to work in NZ for two years. And from there, you can apply for a Skilled Migrant to Resident visa - or have your company sponsor you. But, the 2 years spent working in NZ will earn you higher creds/points to better qualify for the Skilled Migrant visa (and the 2 years spent in NZ I believe is credited to the 5 years minimum residency requirement to become a citizen - so you're in a way PR if you get the Skilled Migrant visa).




Before, I mentioned in this blog, that my goal was simply that I should be working for IBM Singapore after 5 years of work experience. I was able to achieve that goal with only 2 1/2 years of experience. It was a milestone for me.

What I should be doing after the 5th year goal was still unclear for me then. But when I achieved it earlier, I figured, after much contemplation, that what should have come after the 5th year was to work my way for more experience to get to work in Europe. After that, what I wanted to achieve was to work in Europe for 4 years max and move to a country to settle or retire in - which was either Australia or New Zealand. The two, I chose primarily because of geographical proximity to the Philippines (compared to Europe or America) - and climate as being the secondary choice.

But then I realized after my trip to NZ last December that if I wait that long to move to a country I want to settle in, then it will be a loss on my part. The amount I would have been paying for rent, could have been spent paying off a loan I applied for to buy a house/condo in AU/NZ.

In fact, I could play around with the sequence. I realized that I could actually move now to NZ/AU if there are opportunities and then consider working in Europe (or maybe just go on a vacation to get that fix) but not to be based there permanently.

So this is one of the bigger and more crucial update on my end. The deadline for the submission of 'evidences' is August 4 2012. After the visa is approved (and I hope it will be), I could look for work online first for 6 months. If nothing comes my way online, then on the end of the 6th month, I could move to NZ and look for work from there. Thankfully, my brother is based in NZ, so there will be no issues with regards to housing. And from there, I will have 3 months to look for work. Based on my timeline, hopefully, the start of the 3 months will coincide with my 2nd year of working in SG.

Like always, with big changes, the big question everyone faces is: "Are you ready?" Am I ready to take the leap after the stepping stone I call SG? Am I ready to actually start thinking about mortgages, house financing and application for citizenship? Or is this just me thinking ahead and going too fast? The good thing about this decision is my parents support it (I'd like to think so). Since they would prefer for me to settle and live in a country where there's actually family within reach.

But, regardless of my concerns and fears, what I know is, this is a decision I have to make and act on. Only time will tell whether it is right or wrong (pertaining to timing).

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