New Zealand Silver Fern Visa

The name alone is enough to make you want to know more.  "Silver Fern" refers to a plant found in New Zealand (Cyathea Dealbata) which is green on top and silver underneath.  From the pictures I was able to find on the Net, it looks very similar to ferns from my part of the world (the Pacific Northwest) though ours certainly never get as tall as 10 meters. According to this site "The underside glows brightly in moonlight providing excellent track markers in New Zealand's native forests."

On this blog we've shared a lot of information about selective immigration programs in well-known and popular migrant destinations like Europe and North America but there are other places that are a bit off the beaten path that might be just as (perhaps even more) interesting.

I've never been to New Zealand but I've heard that it is a stunningly beautiful country and these pictures and this video seem to confirm that.



But I never thought of it as a country interested in attracting global migrants.  After visiting the official government immigration website, I had to think again.  It appears that they are interested in attracting global talent and they are not shy about saying so:

"New Zealand – a great place for you to live, work, study and play.  To help you take the next steps to joining us in New Zealand, this website provides you with practical and helpful visa and employment information from Immigration New Zealand. With just 4 million people in NZ, we're looking for the skills, qualifications and experiences that will ensure we continue to prosper well into the future."

There are three categories of visas open to foreigners:  Resident, Temporary Work and Investment.  Under the Resident category foreign talent can apply under one of three programs: Skilled Migrant (points system), Entrepreneur, or an Investor (1.5 to 10M NZ$).  The benefits of Residence status are clear: 

"With residence status you can live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely.
The benefits of being a resident include being able to work for whomever you want, having full access to funded (government-paid) healthcare, having access to all courses of study without the need to pay international student fees – most of the rights of a citizen, in fact, including the right to vote."

Including the right to vote?  Perhaps someone should point this out to Mr. Mariani here in France.  If France won't give migrants voting rights, it appears that other countries not only will do so but they also have no hesitation in advertising it and using it to differentiate themselves.  If I were writing up an MBA case study could I cite this as an example of "Competitive Advantage"?  You bet.

I have to admit that I was so intrigued by what I read that I sent off an EOI (Expression of Interest).  

Now I don't qualify for their Silver Fern program since I am well past the cutoff age (35 years) but I know some of you might.  Here is the offer:

• This selective immigration program is designed to bring skilled young people (20 to 35 years of age) to New Zealand.
• The young migrant does not need to already have a job to qualify.  The Silver Fern Job Search Visa allows a young person to enter New Zealand for 9 months in order to look for a job.  
• The program is capped at 300 people. 
• Every year on April 27 at 10 AM they open the program up and start accepting applications.  Apparently spaces go very quickly so it is not surprising that right now the website says "No spaces available."

Definitely worth a look.