Team Loninia's Journey to New Zealand after 3.5 years....

I am an Electrical Engineering by profession. I am a "Promdi" who graduated in the Province of Palawan back in 2001. I was one of 2 girls in our batch and yeah, studied hard to pass the board exams. 

After I graduated and passed the board, I was lucky enough to work in MERALCO. Back in 2002, I can still recall that working for Meralco when you are an Electrical Engineer is a big deal. I made my Parents proud and not to mention my Alma Mater Professors proud too knowing I work for the country’s biggest Electrical company. It meant a lot.

17 years ago, New Zealand was just a dream. It was introduced to me random flyers when I commute in GLiner to go to work. And yes- I recalled dreaming and wanting to migrate to this country. I can still recall the charges of 75,000 pesos to migrate and how my boss-Val Nicolas reacted when I said, I wanted to migrate to New Zealand and he said "Mas marami pang sheep don kesa sa tao" ( there are more sheep than men in that place). Who would have thought that after 15 years- I would end up fulfilling that dream and thankfully live in this country that I once fancied off when I was in my early 20’s!?

Fast forward -- I didn’t end up practicing my profession. I have shifted to IT and thanks to the Call Center industry- I used to know nothing about what a hard drive or a memory is! But only proves if you put your heart and soul on what you do, nothing is impossible and its not too late to learn. I had more than 10 years of IT Experience prior to deciding to migrate in New Zealand and shifting to IT was one of the smartest move I’ve done my entire life as that skill made us residents of this country.

It was September 2015 when Me and Harris decided to leave our life in Singapore. Both working as IT back then, for almost 6 years, the demand of time and stress from work in Singapore made us realize that there is more to life than just working and stressing our ass out to earn and miss seeing our kids grow up and the kids end up spending more time with the nanny. We are one of the many Filipinos who dreamt to settle down in this beautiful country. Yes, we have gambled and risked but looking back – it’s all worth it.

Not to brag, migrating to NZ was a walk-in the park for us. Being an OFW with Singapore for almost 6 years made us equip with craft and adaptation skills that made our move to New Zealand smooth and easy. I believe all migrants from Singapore will agree with me! We Thank God for being with us along the way and giving us sound mind and decision making that will change our life forever.

Now, how did our journey to New Zealand started? We initially wanted to migrate to Australia but when the sponsorship state failed to open on the year we applied, we got tired of waiting. So when a friend introduced New Zealand to us, we had a thought and had a go. 

In this day and age, we frequently and repetitively read miserable sad stories about students and unsuccessful migrants in New Zealand. Whilst majority of this is true and happening, I also noticed tat majority of us are too engrossed on the bad things thats happening and we are neglecting and choose to ignore the positive ones on the other side. 

I am a strong believer of law of attraction! :) If we attract positive vibes, positive outcomes happen. If we attract negative vibes, you know what will happen next.

We took the Student Path as this was the fastest and easiest way back then. However, this is also the most expensive path. You need to make certain whatever you are studying will give you a path to become resident or if not you, at least your partner which will have a Partnership Work Visa. Ultimately, you have approximately a maximum of 4 years to make it or break it.

Currently, Student pathway is a very sensitive topic in all Filipino NZ Forums, we have heaps of students who were given false hopes and promises by agencies back in the Philippines, there are some who had challenges looking for a job and end up doing cleaning work, dishwashing and all other jobs to earn and to get things by in NZ. However, I believe that we also have numerous success stories which also deserves to be in the highlight to provide glimmer and glimpse of hope to those who wish to migrate in this magnificent country.

Though ideally, Skill Migrant is an ideal choice if you have years of Skill experience, but with the tight change of Immigration nowadays, passing the 160 points seems impossible without a job offer in NZ. Student Visa is mostly discouraged in NZ forums but I am a firm believer that it can be a viable pathway to residency if we plan wisely and strategically. As long as you are aware of the issues, aware of what lies ahead and you are well-informed of the risks. The choice is always yours. There may be a lot of “horror” stories, but it’s not always that bad.

How did we get our residency? While my husband is studying and I am on open work visa, I was lucky to land on an IT Job with Spark New Zealand. The moment I got the permanent offer, I knew that I can lodge our SMC Application even without claiming points for my husband as I have more than 10 years IT Skill experience. We lodge We became residents of this country in our 11^th month.

x

It was a joint effort. We only tried to lodge the residency hoping it will be approved and it did. But in case it didn’t we still have hubby’s point after he graduated to combine in case, we failed on first try. But we were lucky and again, it is the skill that brought us to where we are partnered with luck and prayers.

In conclusion, not because we are lucky meant you will as well. Our “tadhana” will be different depending on our own destiny. Then again, a skill will always be a skill and that’s something that cannot be taken away from you. If you have that, you can aim to dream big. A piece of advice, do not come here with less than a year of experience. “Para kang sumugod sa gera na may baril na walang bala.” (It’s like going to a war with a gun without an ammo). 

Like what I have mentioned on my previous blog, For those who intend to migrate New Zealand - weigh your options. If it's for the money- stay in Singapore or wherever you are if you are earning a lot. If you have kids and family - I think New Zealand is a perfect choice for you. However, like what I've said on my previous post - my fate and yours may be different. Pray to God and ask for signs and he will guide you on the right path. For us, there's no amount of money that can replace the time spent with our kids.

There are a lot more of NZ Life Stories. Good or Bad, it’s meant to inspire us, give us caution and allow us to contemplate whether it is worth the risk to leave everything behind and migrate to New Zealand.

For me and my family- It was all worth it.  We wish you well and luck. 😊
We 💓 New Zealand. Viva Aetorea!



The author: Princess Abigail is now retired from Corporate World in August 2018 after working for more than 15 years in the IT World. She is now a Full Time Mom of 3 kids Juri (16), James (5) and Jennifer Harriett ( 1.5) and now a busy entrepreneur managing businesses in New Zealand and has now 18 Employees to date in their effort to help the Filipino New Zealand Community & Pay it Forward. Her Husband continuously work as an IT for Spark New Zealand and also advocates youth thru sports Basketball.

Fast forward to 2022: 

The author: Princess Abigail is now retired from Corporate World @39 after working for more than 15 years in the IT World. His husband Harris also IT retired @41. Now both enjoying with the freedom of their own time.  

She is now a Full Time Mom of 3 kids Juri (19), James (8) and Jennifer Harriett ( 4) and now a busy entrepreneur managing their Massage business in New Zealand now with 9 branches across the country and has now 81 Employees to date in their effort to help the Filipino New Zealand Community & Pay it Forward.