[kato33]

:uhoh

My family and I ( of us in total ) have decided to sell up and just go over and find work. OH is a truck driver which is on the immediate skills list. Are we doing it the right way??
Contacted loads of companies and most say come over and see us. With 4 children, financially this would be a nightmare, so we are taking the plunge without any help and keeping our fingers crossed.

Any advice would be very gratefully recieved. :nice1

Kato33

[MattA]

I'm pretty much doing the same thing as is my sister in law. Fulton-hogan offered my brother in law a job driving diggers etc for them after he emailed them.
Get hold of fulton hogan ;)

[Belmont Babes]

You are obviously giving it some thought. Everyone's case is slightly different. I am not sure i would have the courage to do this without a visit first. Is there any chance just your OH could go on his own first?

[speckythecky]

Its a big decision but go for it. There will always be truck driving jobs.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[nickydwuk]

You are really brave - I wish I had the courage to up sticks and just go. My OH just would not cope with that.

Good lick to you all - hope it worls out and keep us posted:)

[spaceman]

Good luck thats what we are doing in around 4 weeks time we have sold everything and yes your mad but wow what a place to be mad in.


all the best
xxxx

[Trigirl]

kato - some things to think about

firstly i'd second BB's suggestion - can your OH go over alone first to check out jobs?

as truck driving is on the ISSL but is not counted as skilled (correct me kim if i'm wrong?) you may find you can get a work visa but can't then get permanent residence

without PR you are not entitled to quite a lot of benefits (family assistance etc) so its doubly important that you do your homework and are sure you can live off whatever salary your OH is likely to get.

also worth a read back of some of kims posts about driving in NZ

[leachio]

Oh dont wanna be a damp squid but Im worryin bout ya readin ur post. I dont know ur circumstances and dont wanna pry but my advice would be to do loads research, and Im hopin that ur gonna have a load of money to bring, like enough to buy or nearly buy a house. We are a family of 4, 2 small kids and have only been here 7wks but Ive so quickly realised the value of pounds versus dollars. We are both workin, we do get family assistance and child care cost help but we still cant afford to buy a house or lavish ourselves with new clothes, shoes etc. We dont drink or smoke either which is now a blessing. It is a lovely country and we have yet to get out and see it but dare I say it on here if I could have somehow livedn this life for 6mths without sellin the UK house etc etc I may not have come.

Please dont be offended by this and I dont wanna burst ur bubble but its a huge undertakin with 2 kids never mind 4. I wish u well and if ur heading waikato way and need any advice just ask,

Amanda :)

[wiki]

I would only consider that as an option if you had a very strong back-up plan and the cash set aside to return to the UK if the dream turns sour.

From what I hear, yes there is driving work in NZ, but the pay isn't on a par to what you'd be getting in the UK and with four kids to think about, that's one heck of a risk to take, and not very cheap having to get six flights home if it doesn't work out.

Good luck, but don't assume NZ is all golden roads and candyfloss trees...

[Scotty69]

good for you, me and my husband are looking into moving to nz we dont have a house to sell or much savings, we've got a 3 year old son,my husband works IT me a croupier, some people would thing we're crazy but being a croupier life is a gamble you'll never know if your doing the right thing or not till you do it so go for it and good luck as we hope to be nz in about a years time. Tash:exit

[zardell]

Kato.

Please take on board what Trigirl says.

My hubby is involved in the trucking/heavy construction machinery both in the UK and here in NZ. He is a heavy duty diesel technician. He also holds a UK class 1 and has done some trucking in his time and believe me, he would not want to be a trucker over here, neither could we afford for him to be one - the wages average out (if you are lucky) between $16 - $20 on average and there are only two of us to support.

Unless you are coming over with a big pot of cash and you wont have a mortgage or rent to pay you'll find that you'll struggle IMHO.

It doesn't matter what country you live in - most of us still have to get up in the morning, go to work and provide for our families and it's easier to do that if you know that you can live (not just survive) on your income.

There are no overtime rates here (non that we know of anyway) so it's flat rate straight through. Do the math - 60+ hours at say $17 an hour less tax and ACC.

Good luck.

Julie

xx

[Kim39]

as truck driving is on the ISSL but is not counted as skilled (correct me kim if i'm wrong?) you may find you can get a work visa but can't then get permanent residence



Please take the advice that one or two folk have given you first and foremost. As Trigirl says, truck driving is not a route to PR for now. Yes its there for all to see on the ISSL, but at the moment it is not classed as a skill. There is pressure being put on the various dept's for the role to be admitted on to the LTSL a.s.a.p. but nothing in the near future i'm afraid. You can get a 2 yr work visa as well as a WTR but it has to be with a accredited company

Now onto the role. I hope your research has given you all you need to know about trucking out here. I researched for around 18 months, but that reasearch counted for nothing as when i got into the swing of the job i realised a big mistake had been made. Without going into a long drawn out story(search trucking threads as all has been said in those), all i will say it is a very antiquated industry that is also very low paid. The only advice i can give you is to look at the medium/big firms, but as soon as an opportunity arises with the Dairy Company Fonterra, then apply. This company is the only one that is run along the lines of a big UK outfit, but the downside is that you are looking at shift work. They pay good and have excellent benefits. I suppose it all depends what you are looking for.

Hope this helps

Kim

[Sam B]

Notice that the people that are saying "go for it!" haven't got here yet, and those that say "beware" are here. I wouldn't have come without research and money behind us, but you may have both those things. Just have a back-up plan, though.

[willowshouse]

My twopennorth!

I assume, as you would find it hard to come for a visit then maybe you don't have an abundance of spare cash ..

PLEASE .. find out what wages you can expect and DO YOUR RESEARCH!

There are lots of threads on this forum which talk about the cost of living and unexpected costs that can sometimes take people by surprise.

Don't come here hoping that it will be OK .. make sure it WILL be OK. It is a very expensive mistake to make..

Best of luck,
Dawn

[dharder]

With 4 children, financially this would be a nightmare, so we are taking the plunge without any help and keeping our fingers crossed.

I can't comment on the trucking side, but we have four kids and everything apart from a job lined up: school, kindy, house, cash to tide us over once we've sold the house, we've been already where we are going, have relatives in the country, etc. I've talked to people (and agencies) who think I shouldn't have any problems finding a job relatively soon, although we could afford not working for a bit. And I am still panicking that we won't make it!

So I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to uproot a large family without a more precise idea of where you are going, what to expect and a safety net to fall back on.

Please look carefully at everything others have said, and if you still think it is worth it, go for it. But going for it and hoping for the best is one thing if you are single or even a couple, it is quite another with children in tow.

Good luck with your journey :)
Daniela