Internationally trained healthcare professionals seeking to work or holiday in New Zealand may continue to use their OET results as evidence of English language proficiency for visa and immigration purposes.
Immigration New Zealand, the government department that looks after New Zealand’s border security and grants visas to eligible applicants, recently signed a deed of agreement engaging Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment (the owner of OET) to continue to provide English language test services for Immigration New Zealand.
The deed was signed by Immigration New Zealand and OET CEO Sujata Stead.
“We have enjoyed an excellent relationship with Immigration New Zealand since they first recognised OET in 2016. The new deed is evidence of their continued trust in OET as a highly secure and reliable English language test for the purposes of meeting their English language requirements,” said Stead.
She added: “New Zealand is seeing a rise in demand for skilled healthcare workers with an aging population and increase in chronic illnesses – so there is a growing demand for skilled workers with strong communication skills.”
“OET is unique among international English language tests in that it replicates real healthcare communication scenarios and the clinical communication of test-takers, to ensure they are best placed to deliver quality patient-centred care."
Immigration New Zealand has made no changes to its OET requirements. In the Skilled Migrant Category, healthcare professionals require grade B or higher in all four skills (Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking) and test results must be no more than two years old at the time an application is lodged.