The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : The ABCD and NZ of Overseas Education

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

The ABCD and NZ of Overseas Education

WHAT does a student really want when he decides to study abroad? The understanding is that he/she is looking for these absolute imperatives - A. The quality of education, B. Part-time work possibility while studying to support oneself for living expenses without having to depend on parents, C. Student friendly policies to seek jobs after studies and get a permanent residency (green card) or long term work visa and D. Safety in terms of racism and crime and a good economic landscape to find permanent jobs.

A combination of all these will ensure that the huge investment made by a student in terms of money, time, effort and emotions begets the real reward of a satisfying career preferably at the international level. Nobody pursues expensive studies aboard to only come back with a fancy certificate to hang on the wall. The explicit but sometimes unsaid need is to pathway into a global career which will translate into good earnings and a satisfying lifestyle. In such a scenario choosing the right destination becomes very important. And New Zealand would be a good choice as it rates well along all the parameters mentioned above.

The government of New Zealand considers attracting good international students into their country as one of their top priorities. Array, during interactions with leading government officials of the New Zealand High Commission in India and also twice with Ministers from the government of New Zealand, this point is borne out clearly by their words and actions. They are coming out with international student friendly proposals to achieve this. There is an automatic 6 months `job search visa' granted after successful completion of a course. And if a student does find a job relevant to the course of study, the work visa is automatically extended for 2 more years. Getting a permanent residency during these 2 years is a cakewalk.

Contrary to popular belief New Zealand has a booming economy and there are plenty of jobs available especially in critical shortage areas like IT, biotechnology, food science, teaching, creative areas and many others. For a full list of the skills shortage areas, visit www.immigration.govt.nz and search for `Long Term Skills Shortage List'. The rules also permit students to work 20 hours per week during studies and full-time in the summer vacation which can last up to two months.

The other positive policy change they have come out is to allow a full-time work permit for spouses of students who are pursuing post graduate courses or for any student pursuing a course (UG or PG) in any subject that is on the Long Term Skills Shortage List.

This means that a spouse can work full-time and support the student while the course is being completed. Considering that the student is also working part-time, it is literally a case of both working and getting an international qualification too. If the spouse gets a steady job, then the chances of getting a permanent residency even before the course is complete is also very high.

Immigration NZ and NZ Trade & Enterprise Department (which operate out of the New Zealand High Commission in Delhi) along with Education New Zealand have put together a group called New Zealand India Education Representatives (NZIER).

Array is proud to be the only Hyderabad based agency to be part of this elite group. This means they have faster processing of student visa applications and also their staff is regularly given training and updates by the NZ visa officers in terms of the requirements for successful student visas.

This enables Array to have a very high visa success rate and they are also amply supported by the various NZ institutions in their marketing activities in Hyderabad.

As a final word, it is appropriate to say that New Zealand offers that an international student seeks and Array will be able to get you there. Array looks forward to assisting you to have a positive Kiwi experience.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh

News Update

Stories in this Section