Four steps to complete

Come prepared

We’ve outlined in this section, the steps you need to complete to take up a teaching job in New Zealand.  To avoid frustration, complete everything before you leave home – and bring several certified copies of ALL documents with you!!

If you’ve locked your originals away in a relative’s attic, it’s rather difficult to retrieve them from 12,000 miles (more than 20,000 kms) away when the New Zealand Qualifications Authority requires original documents before proceeding with a qualification evaluation.

It’s also particularly important to obtain a police clearance before you leave.  It’s so much easier to pop in to your local police station and they’ll hopefully be able to issue it within a couple of weeks.  If you leave it until you arrive in New Zealand, you may experience considerable delays as overseas requests go to a central point for processing..

The four steps you need to complete

There are four steps that overseas teachers must complete if they wish to teach in New Zealand.  We suggest you carry out the steps in this order to make your move to New Zealand easier.

1.    Have your qualifications assessed

• Your qualifications must be assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority for the purposes of teacher registration and starting salary.
• This process involves producing evidence of having a teacher education qualification in the form of a degree or diploma. You will need to provide originals of all documentation to the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).  This includes providing original transcripts for the full length of your relevant qualification. These things take some time to complete and there is a cost involved. Check NZQA's website for more details.
• For more information about the UK-based Graduate Teacher Programme (GTP) visit the New Zealand Teachers Council website.
• An NZQA statement is also required to ensure that primary and secondary teachers receive the correct salary. When you start teaching in a primary or secondary school you will be paid as an untrained  teacher if the NZQA statement is not available (although you will be back-paid when it comes through).
• For the salary assessment, you also need to provide a certified statement of all your teaching service, something which is much easier to organise before you leave rather than sending back to your home country for documents. This certified statement must be on letterhead from the school or teaching authority and be signed by a person of authority. It needs to include a start and finish date and either that you were employed in a full-time position or, if part time, the number of hours you worked per week.  

2.    Register with the New Zealand Teachers Council (Steps 1 & 2 may be started at the same time)

• All teachers at primary and secondary level, and at supervisor level in early childhood services in New Zealand, must be registered with the Teachers Council before beginning teaching employment in New Zealand. You will need to apply for registration using the TC0 form, and provide them with your NZQA assessment report and other documentation. Overseas teachers who are registered will get either of two categories: provisional or subject to confirmation.  To be eligible for subject to confirmation you need to supply evidence of at least two years of supervised teaching, holding a senior position, and satisfactory appraisal material.  To be recommended for full registration, you need to have completed at least three months of supervised teaching service in New Zealand. Application forms and information on registration are available on the New Zealand Teachers Council's website.
• Teachers with overseas qualifications need to supply evidence of their English language proficiency. If you have completed your teacher education qualification in English in a country where English is an official language, you would meet the requirement. You would need to supply written evidence from the institution.  If not, you need to pass an approved English language proficiency test such as IELTS.

3.    Apply for a job

• Once registration is completed teachers can apply for any teaching position in New Zealand. All vacancies are advertised in the official publication The New Zealand Education Gazette or you can visit the Education Gazette online.   There is a search engine which makes it possible to search by subject and geographic region (and you can subscribe to be notified of vacancies meeting your criteria).
• In New Zealand, schools are responsible for employing their own staff. There is no central staffing agency and no government department responsible for staff placement. All applications should be made therefore, to the employing school.  In early childhood services, teachers are employed by the licensee or owner of the service.
• However you can work through approved teacher recruitment agents. They will help you with the assessment, registration, immigration and application processes. Their services should be free as they are paid by schools using them to help fill vacancies.

4.    Obtain a work permit (does not apply to Australian citizens or permanent residents)

• The final step is to obtain a work permit from Immigration New Zealand.  Currently for both early childhood and secondary teachers, you only have to produce evidence of registration and a letter of a job offer in order to get a work visa.  The visa allows you to enter New Zealand where a work permit will be issued.
• From 30 July 2007 primary teachers (with a minimum of three years relevant teaching experience) are listed on the Immediate Skill Shortage list and therefore will have a similar immigration status to early childhood and secondary teachers.  Check Immigration New Zealand's website for the latest details.

        Information on other options such as: 

• residency
• work to residency
• working holiday visas

       can be found on Immigration New Zealand's website.

Note 1:  Work permits for more than 12 months and residency applications will require medical information in support of the application. More stringent conditions apply to applicants coming from high-risk TB areas. (Details can be found on the Immigration New Zealand website.)

Note 2:  A new police clearance will be required if the clearance submitted to both Immigration NZ and the Teachers Council is now more than 6 months old.

Note 3:  A work permit will not be issued unless a job offer has been received and “employer supplementary form NZIS 1113” included with the application form.

If you are serious about coming to New Zealand in the near future, then view steps 1 and 2 as an investment and get the process started and completed.  It would be useful to have these completed when you start applying for jobs.  Principals will take the fact that you have made this investment as an indication that you are serious about a job here, but it also means that you won't experience delays waiting for the steps to be completed.

Remember it’s far easier to sort documentation, police clearance and other requirements out before you leave the country.  It’s that much harder doing it from 12000 miles (more than 20,000 kms) away.