Immigrating Clinicians

Come for the career stay for the lifestyle! New Zealand is a renowned lifestyle destination – where your quality of life and career opportunities are vast. It’s no surprise that we get interest from clinicians all over the world, wanting to make New Zealand their home.

At Lumino, we’ve been successfully bringing clinicians to NZ for over 10 years, and we’re here to help support you with your move here.

Most clinicians in New Zealand practise within the private sector, although there's some government support for low-income patients for treatment within the dental departments of local hospitals.

Teenagers from the age of 13 to 18 are also covered for free dental treatment by the Ministry of Health.

As the emphasis is on private work, there's also a lot more importance put on quality over quantity, as well as long-term treatment planning, and the opportunity to spend more time to consult and advise clients of the options available to them.

Clinicians that have immigrated to New Zealand from around the world comment on the quality time they are able to spend with patients to educate and give them preventative advice.

How to get here

There’s two key components to your relocation to New Zealand: 

  1. Registration to practice in your Dental Scope with the New Zealand Dental Council (DCNZ)
  2. Your eligibility to work in New Zealand.  

Registration to practice in New Zealand. 
If you have trained outside of New Zealand, to be able to practise as a dental professional here you are required to register with the  New Zealand Dental Council. 

To find out more about the pathways to NZ Dental Council registration – please click here.  

Lumino doesn't have any direct input into your registration process and doesn't act as an advisory body in your registration process, but we're able to give you general practical advice about practising in New Zealand. 

We encourage all Immigrating Clinicians to undertake this conversation with the Dental Council as soon as possible, as it will dictate your process and relocation timeframes. 

You can find out more on the Immigration NZ website here.

Obtaining a visa – your eligibility to work in New Zealand.  
If you're considering a relocation, you will need to have current and accurate advice, and this information either needs to come from Immigration New Zealand or your licenced immigration specialist. In New Zealand, it’s illegal for anyone unlicenced to provide advice.

  • For up to date Immigration NZ information – please visit.

Immigration Fast Track Scheme

The immigration fast track helps overseas workers have a more immediate path to residency in New Zealand, known as a Green List​.

The green list has a total of 48 health roles including:​

  • Dental Specialists​
  • Dental Technicians​
  • Dentists​
  • Dental Therapists​
  • Oral Health Therapists ​

Before an applicant can apply for residency, they must meet the requirements set out in the Green List. If registration is required, this must be obtained before submitting a residence application.​

Daniel

Accredited Employer

Lumino The Dentists are an Accredited Employer with Immigration New Zealand.  

What this means is that should an individual meet the specified criteria for a Talent (Accredited Employers) Work Visa, they are able to come in under Lumino's Accreditation, which is a smoother process in obtaining the ability to work in New Zealand. 

  • For more information on this type of visa – please visit. 
AKL Central Preeteesh 03

Based on requirements from DCNZ, overseas clinicians need to have one of the qualifications below.

  • An Australian Dental Council (ADC) accredited undergraduate dental degree from an ADC accredited dental school in Australia
  • A GDC accredited dental school in the UK
  • Western Cape - completed and satisfied all programme requirements before 1 January 1998 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • Hong Kong - completed and satisfied all programme requirements before 1 January 2001 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • Singapore - completed and satisfied all programme requirements before 1 January 2001 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • Witwatersrand - completed and satisfied all programme requirements before 1 January 2001 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • Pretoria - completed and satisfied all programme requirements before 1 January 2001 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • Stellenbosch - completed and satisfied all programme requirements before 1 January 2001 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • Medical University of South Africa - completed and satisfied all programme requirements between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2000 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • Malaysia - completed and satisfied all programme requirements between 1 January 1997 and 31 December 2000 (Commonwealth dental school accredited by GDC)
  • A five year undergraduate dental degree and a pass in the Australian Dental Council licensing examinations (Administered by the National Dental Examining Board of Canada on behalf of the Dental Council since August 2015)
  • A five year undergraduate dental degree and a pass in the USA licensing examinations
  • An accredited undergraduate dental degree from the Commission on Dental Accreditation in the USA or the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada
  • A five-year undergraduate dental degree and a pass in the National Dental Examining Board of Canada Equivalency Examination Process (A pass in any of the National Dental Examining Board of Canada Equivalency Examinations after 3 March 2014)
  • An accredited undergraduate dental degree from the Dental Council of Ireland
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Settling into New Zealand

Once you've secured your job offer, and your relocation and immigration processes are underway – you will need to begin researching the various areas that will help you settle in your new home.  

Below are a few aspects to think about, that you can begin before your journey.  

  • There is excellent information available online for anyone wishing to relocate, and  this site   is a great place to start.
68 Paroa Bay Bay Of Islands Shaun Jeffers

Lifestyle in New Zealand

In New Zealand, we're fortunate to be able to enjoy a diverse, relaxed, and quality lifestyle with a wide variety of things to do and places to visit. New Zealand is one big natural playground with an abundance of beaches, national parks and mountains to enjoy in summer and winter.  

As New Zealand is a relatively small country our great outdoors is easily accessible, for example the furthest you could ever be from the sea in New Zealand is 120 kilometres. 

New Zealand has a vibrant arts scene, encompassing art, music, theatre, film and comedy. We have an array of excellent galleries and museums in most of our main centres, world-class festivals, food and wine and a music and comedy scene that is being increasingly recognised on the international stage.

Most New Zealanders prefer to buy their own home, however as house prices have increased over recent years, more people are finding renting a more suitable option. Property outside of the major cities is markedly cheaper and while 85% of overall property sales are made up of urban properties, people are increasingly seeing the benefits of living in rural or semi-rural areas. 

  • For more detailed information about housing, visit  New Zealand  Now. 
  • If you are considering short or long-term rental accommodation as you get settled,  this site  is a great option to find rental options in your chosen location.

New Zealand has a comprehensive health system that enables everyone to receive life-long medical care. Essential healthcare is provided free through the public system which means that while some routine services, such as visits to a local doctor, must be paid for, more costly treatments like hospital visits are predominantly paid for. 

If you injure yourself at work, at home, in the car, playing sport or doing any other activity, our government-legislated accident compensation scheme (ACC) will help pay for your hospital, doctor, physiotherapist or any specialist treatment.  

If the injury is serious, payment will also be made to offset the loss of wages so that expensive and time-consuming legal action isn't required if you get injured through the actions of others.

New Zealand's government funded schooling system provides a comprehensive curriculum of academic, sporting, and skills-based learning options. There are also many private schooling options available. 

All children, with very few exceptions, are required to attend school between the ages of 5 and 16. Young adults wanting to go on to further education have a wide range of options available to them. New Zealand's higher education system includes universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and private training establishments, all of which provide a high level of tertiary education and internationally recognised degrees and diplomas.

Find out more

There are several childcare and early education options available if you have children five years or younger. You can enrol your child full-time or part-time in a childcare centre (crèche), kindergarten or Playcentre.  

These early education centres are regularly audited by the Education Review Office to ensure high standards are maintained. Other care options include hiring a nanny through an agency or arranging home-based care for your child at an approved caregiver's home.  

For more information on early childhood, services contact your local  Ministry of Education  office.

How New Zealand's cost of living compares depends on where you are coming from and where you decide to settle in New Zealand. While you may find some things more expensive and others cheaper, overall, the cost of living in New Zealand is comparable to what you'll find in any OECD country. 

There is some good information available online, we’d suggest reviewing: 

Financials

Everyone in New Zealand needs to pay tax on income they earn, whether they're an individual, business, or organisation. To find out more about this – please click here.

To find out more about how to apply for your own IRD (Inland Revenue Department) number – please click here. 

Note: this process is often easier once your NZ Bank account is set up. 

Many NZ Banks will allow you to apply/ set up an account whilst still overseas. The process for this is slightly different for each bank and we do not endorse any specific organisation.  

Below you’ll find links for this process for several of our largest banking organisations, but this is by no means an exhaustive list and we encourage you to do your research. 

  • Kiwibank – please click here. 
  • ANZ – please click here.  
  • BNZ – please click here.  
  • ASB – please click here.  
  • Westpac – please click here. 

Register your interest to find out more

We have practices all over New Zealand, with exciting ongoing growth, opportunities and vacancies that are changing regularly.

Because of the timeframes and process associated with your registration and relocation process, we suggest people get in touch via the form below or via our to learn more.

Once we have your details we will get in touch with you and see how we can assist.

01 Wellington City Hamish Johnson

Learn more

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