[tea drinker]

Hi All
Just wondering if anyone else was considering selling up and going on a holiday visa with the intention of getting a work permit leading to PR?:exit

Would welcome the thoughts and concerns of others hoping that it will help me.

Ta everso

td:confused:

[vanmarwijk]

Yup, we're doing just that. We don't know about the PR yet, so we rented out the appartement and will be arriving on a tourist visa. Seems to me three months is enough to travel around a bit, find a job and get a work permit arranged.

Bit of a gamble, but if all fails the consequences aren't too bothersome.

[ourquest]

Yes, us too. Our PR application should be well in progress by then but we will essentially be doing the same, hopefully arriving mid April, finding work and getting work permits in the interim or fast tracking the PR with the job offer. As we are from South Africa this might help with the PR interview also as we can be interviewed in NZ, otherwise we have to wait for the next trip NZIS make to SA (with a job offer the need for this would fall away, and there is a chance that PR will be granted anyway during our time on visitor's permits).

Plenty of research later we feel it is as good an option as any although it represents something of a risk, albeit not really a big one. What we have established before going is at least our medicals and police checks are clear, all our documentation is in order etc (we submit ITA once I receive my police check from the UK due later this month), so we have taken some of the uncertainty out of the equation. If we do have an added complication, it is three young boys of schoolgoing age, and a decision to homeschool them for the foreseeable future has solved the problem of schooling and uncertainty regarding area in which we'll settle, although we essentially know we're both happy with Auckland initially with a longer term goal of settling on the east coast of the Coromandel.

Each person's risk profile is different, and we're all at different stages in our lives, but for what it's worth I would encourage would-be emigrants to NZ to use the method which you are. Best of luck.

[jenny]

were doing the same my oh is a bricklayer but he has no certificates etc so we have decided to sell up and go (had viewing on house today - they want our house but have to sell there own ) We will be heading for christchurch as we were there at christmas and loved it . we were hoping for tips /a to z of things to do once we arrive - any advice would be very much appreciated

[Indigoazure]

I was originally planning to do this and I still might. I had a job interview this week but don't know if I got it or not. I have been in the IT industry for over 8 years but of course no certs (they didn't used to be needed if you knew what you were doing). So I'm hoping I can go to NZ and find an IT job. I own a two family home right now and I'm considering keeping both apartments rented here and storing my stuff in the attic until I know definitively if my move to NZ is going to work out. :)

[vixxann]

Yup - us too and we have three kids - are we mad!!:D

[NZ Hopeful]

Yup - us too and we have three kids - are we mad!!:D

Maybe it's a Northern thing? There do seem to be a lot of us either planning to or have already done so!! :D

Although we only have 2 kids so were not as mad as you!! :p

[BkyMonster]

Yup :eek:

No kids, but 2 dogs.

[Moorf]

Yep - we did that :nice1 (no kids or dogs in tow).

[tea drinker]

Wow!
Thanks everyone...there are more of us out there than I realised.:D

I've done/doing as much as I can to reduce anything that might stop me selling and coming over.
I have quals. assessed
I have prof. registration
I have a police check (although that runs out next month so need to redo)
I have an appointment with the Dr this week to discuss THE medical and a condition that I have that has never caused me any problems or cost the NHS any money to treat me! But through that Im hoping to get some of the tests from the medical done before as if anything is going to stop me its the medical.
Im one of those that need to reduce their waistline but I think that my BMI is ok (something else to check with the Dr) so am excercising and trying to lose weight
Have a contact in NZ who has emailed about a job about to be advertised but with my sensible head on I think that the timing is off on that as they want someone to start asap and I still need to declutter and decorate before I can even think about putting house on market.

I think that deep down I know that I am coming over and will need to sell up and come (my work is on the ISSL) but need to get my head around the best time so that I dont lose out financially here. Im flexible as to where I go and its just me so no dogs/cats or children to worry about!

I dont feel so on my own know with all of your comments so thanks very much everyone. :nice1
Hope that it all works out for you.

[red]

We're doing the same! and we are from up north!

House sale is going through ok at the moment (looking to exchange on Friday). Many hassles along the way but in the end we decided to just go for it albeit the risk. OH is flying out to NZ end of February to look for a job, if he's successful me and the girls will follow. I feel like I must be mad and hope that it's normal to want to go one day and have cold feet the next! Hopefully it's just last minute jitters now the house sale is finally going through. If we didn't do it though I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that in 3 months time I would be regretting it.

Good luck to you all, :nice1

Helen

[lockstock]

Just remember that if you arrive on just a tourist visa and you have sent your goods in a container - as of last November you have to pay GST on them and you can't claim it back.

[scotsfamily]

Hi all,
were thinking of just selling up too and looking for work when we get there. I'm in IT Indigo, i run my own small IT business, but only have 1 HND in Info systems. We have 2 kids 10,11 yrs and dog. Its a hard decission, how easy is it to get work permit if you have job offer? does anyone know?
If there is anyone with first hand knowledge of the IT market then please enlighten us, pretty pleeeeaaase.
We have not even submitted our EOI, waiting on feedback from the immigrationbureau.com we paid 95pounds to let them assess our qualifications, reply is due soon.

Thanks all

David & Janice

[cathgates]

My oh is a HGV driver, so we are just coming over - we intend to organise interviews before we come out if possible, but we don't expect to have too much of a problem securing work.
Cath X

[dblake78]

We're doing exactly that too. Currently doing the house up to sell in a month or two and coming in June-ish. My wife and I will both be on a 23 month working visa I expect and we'll try to find work in our fields, I'm in IT and she works as a speech therapy asst. I figure it's going to be much easier to interview if I can be there in person.

Will sort out the work permit when we (hopefully) get the offer. From there we'll have a while to figure out if we want to stay for good, the PR application will go in then if we do.

If, for some reason, we decide it's not for us then the money from the house sale that we don't take with us will set us up on our return.

It's a loose plan at the moment...but it means we're flexible and I think that's a big plus.

[kanatakiwi]

Just remember that if you arrive on just a tourist visa and you have sent your goods in a container - as of last November you have to pay GST on them and you can't claim it back.

and for the person with the dog, I'm pretty sure you can't bring your dog to NZ unless you have PR

[dilanium]

and for the person with the dog, I'm pretty sure you can't bring your dog to NZ unless you have PR

You can, I'm bringing my cat with me on my student visa. I even asked my local NZ embassy about it. The only reply I got was that most people don't because it costs so much.

[lockstock]

Oh you can bring your dog - we've got our two here!

[vixxann]

Just remember that if you arrive on just a tourist visa and you have sent your goods in a container - as of last November you have to pay GST on them and you can't claim it back.

We'll be putting ours into UK storage until we've a work permit (or even PR). Is it a 12 month plus work visa you can ship on?

[BkyMonster]

You can bring your cats or dogs without PR, you'll just have to pay GST. I think?
:wah
People bring show animals I'd expect.
As stated, most visitors don't as it is expensive.

[dilanium]

You can bring your cats or dogs without PR, you'll just have to pay GST.

I think this is correct for visitors, but not for people with a WV or a SV longer than 2 years. These people can bring their personal effects without paying GST I believe.

[katiejay]

You only get the tax charge on your container if you don't have a work visa/permit for at least 12 months or residency on the date your goods arrive in NZ. We know this from experience, as we only had 3-month visa on the date our goods arrived, because my husband had been recruited via a recruitment consultant. His contract had to stay with the recruitment consultant for the first 3 months to make sure they got their intro fee, then it moves to his actual employer. This meant Immigration would only give a 3 month work permit, which we then have to renew, pending full PR (fingers crossed). The tax amount varies, depending on the type of goods you have - different rates for different items, and you get a discount for depreciation. NZ Van Lines told us to go down the list of items on our inventory and put a second hand price for each of them (except clothes which don't get taxed). I looked them up on TradeMe (like Ebay) and came up with some rough second hand prices from that. It's a real pain, because they are our own things, all used and all for our own personal use - and we've already paid VAT on them in the UK!! But we're here, and that's more important to us than a bit of extra money forked out! We're just waiting to hear what the total cost is going to be to get our things released by customs - I'll post an update when I find out! :(

[katiejay]

:clap Update on the tax charge - they didn't charge us a penny! They confiscated our artificial christmas decorations because they had real pine cones on them apparently (who knew?), and they insisted on steam-cleaning our swimming pool (although we'd already done this in the uk and washed it with disinfectant), at a cost of $130, and then they released our stuff to us. I think we've just been incredibly lucky, because they are entitled to make the charge under the rules as they stand. I'm counting my blessings.
One bit of bad news, though - we had to buy return flight tickets in order to get out here because we didn't have residency. When I queried Singapore Air about cashing in the return portion, I was told they don't give refunds, so all we get back is the airport tax on each ticket. That means we've lost about £1,000, which would have been pretty useful to us...:mad:

[Ojai]

We are selling up and doing this same thing too!

My wife has an interview set up already (which I am hugely impressed by), and she is firing off more applications as we go. I am also supposed to talk to an IT recruiter once I get there.

Medicals and FBI record are all done, so we are packing up the household and flying out. It's quite a gamble, but one we have considered and feel is well worth the risk.

I will be able to report back in a few months on progress. It's so close!

[JandM]

All the best, Ojai.:)

[Red Devil]

... we're tempted at going down this route, but exactly what do we have to do/have prior to arriving in NZ. We're getting confused (it doesn't take much) with regards whether or not to submit our EOI, ITA, etc. whilst living in the UK.

I'm I right in saying that as long as we have our Police clearances and Medicals in place, then there's nothing stopping us arriving in NZ, commencing work and sorting out our relevant Visas whilst in the country.
We have our 5 year old to think about... I seem to have read somewhere that we require a visa (possibly student visa) in place prior to arriving in NZ to enable our son to attend school, is this right?

Just to confuse matters... my wife is a nurse and I'm sure she has to be registered with NZNC prior to accepting any offers of employment... hopefully someone can clarify, thanks.

Apologies for hijacking the post :)

This immigration malarkey gets confusing by the minute... heeeeelp :eek:

[dusk]

for the nurse registration part - yes that's a definite and can take a few months to get through the registration part (especially as the department that deals with it currently has a backlog to get through)

as far as the visa application once in NZ - yes you can apply for PR/WTR once you get there as long as you are still within the 3 month expiry period of your medical (6 months for police check)

not sure about the student visa, but I do seem to remember reading about it somewhere on here too..

[NZ Hopeful]

You only get the tax charge on your container if you don't have a work visa/permit for at least 12 months or residency on the date your goods arrive in NZ.

I'm sure I read on here that there has been a recent change in the way they charge GST if I remember correctly if you don't have PR the tax is payable from the date YOU arrive in NZ not your goods?

I will try and find the post.

Edit: here is the thread I was thinking of

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15729

As with most things concerning immigration it is as clear as mud! :D

[Ojai]

We found the websites incredibly hard to use. We have been in close contact with the NZ Consulate and they have answered everything very clearly.

[katiejay]

Ooooh - lots of questions to answer!
First, we came from the UK on visitors' visas, ie nothing but our passports. As UK citizens you are allowed to stay 6 months (not sure about US citizens), as long as you don't do any paid work in that time. Once you get here, you'll need to get a work permit to enable you to start work. The quickest route to a work permit is a 12 month permit, because you don't need a medical or a police check. What you DO need is a job offer and a declaration completed by your new employer explaining that they have not been able to fill the role with a Kiwi. My OH went for interviews as soon as we arrived in NZ and got a job offer, and that's how we applied for our permits. Work permits can take up to 2 weeks, but we were able to get one within 24 hours, so it depends on your circumstances.
HOWEVER, if you are going to simultaneously apply for residency when you get to NZ, make sure you bring your police checks with you. That saves alot of time.
There is no reason to have your medicals completed in the UK/US, unless you particularly want to. NZ medicals are quick and easy to arrange with your own GP, and they are far cheaper than in the UK. All told, ours took about 3 weeks and a total cost of NZ$1,080 (2 adults + 2 children under 12) - I think that's about 1/3 of what it would have cost in the UK (again - not sure about costs in the US).
We have 2 children, aged 5 and 8, so both have now started school. We just needed to obtain student visas for them - these are done on the back of my OH's permit, and we just needed to provide the children's passports and FULL birth certificates (very important that the birth certs show the names of BOTH PARENTS) - the short certificates you can get in the UK are no good because there are no parent details on them. Again, these are quick to arrange at the same time as the work permit. That said, my childrens' school have never asked for evidence that the children have student visas!
Nothing is ever guaranteed, but in our experience, we found the whole thing very straight-forward, and as long as your trade/profession is on the long-term skills shortage list, I think you would find it easy to find work. Once you do, the work permit is simple to arrange. Fortunately, my OH is in a trade which does not require registration, so I can't help you on that front.
All the best...
Katie x :)

[katiejay]

I'm sure I read on here that there has been a recent change in the way they charge GST if I remember correctly if you don't have PR the tax is payable from the date YOU arrive in NZ not your goods?

I will try and find the post.

Edit: here is the thread I was thinking of

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=15729

As with most things concerning immigration it is as clear as mud! :D

We were told by Dunedin customs in January '08, that the relevant date is the date our goods arrived in New Zealand. Maybe it's changed since then? It does seem to be something of a moveable feast!! There was a time, not so long ago, when you didn't have to pay if you were intending to apply for residency, and if you did get charged, you could claim it back when you became resident. Not so, now, it seems!! :roll

[smileyfreckles]

Hi all, we're planning a sort of "risk it all" route. OH is going out to NZ on a visitor visa having taken a career break (if all else fails he has job to come back to) , he is currentley a store manager for a large UK supermarket chain,securing a job and hopefully without too much hassle a work permit I then sell the house, luckily we are in a fast selling area, pack up our belongings and 3 girls and join him.
However I'm getting a bit confused over whether to submit an EOI now with the minimum points required and update once OH has job offer, or wait to do it once he has job offer. Also should I apply for mine and the childrens visa's here or wait until we get to NZ.
Katiejay, you mentioned about not needing medicals etc for a 12mth permit, would these be required for a 2-3year permit.
I'm also a bit worried about not getting PR even if OH gets a work permit, what are the chances of NZIS turning you down for PR if you have a work permit. The thought of rejection upsets me!

[cathgates]

Well, I've just come off the phone to Sean at customs in Tauranga, they are still getting used to the new rules, and they don't understand why they have been changed either:yes
I was told that the duty is charged on items in four different categories:
Furniture, Tools, Electrical and ornaments.
He said in a very friendly tone, that they are not 'hitlers', and was implying that they do not treat their job in a pedantic fashion:cheers , (unlike uk gov officials I have had the pleasure of encountering in the past) but do have to charge some duty (reading between the lines:yes )
They will need a list of all items - which is provided by the shipper in most of our cases, and if we can provide receipts, or prices paid plus age then they should be able to work out costs taking into account depreciation for age of goods - so if we all have really old furniture (that looks almost new 'cos we've taken such good care of it!!!!) then the duty should be less scarey - hopefully:yes

[katiejay]

You will need a medical if your work visa/permit is for longer than 12 months. I can't speak for Immigration, so I can't say what the likelihood is that your PR will be rejected. However, if you meet all the requirements, and can substantiate everything you've put in your EOI, there's no reason you shouldn't get PR. If you don't get full PR, they may offer you a Work to Residency Visa, which I gather means you get residency automatically (provided you don't break the terms of your visa) after a period of time - a bit like a probation period, I suppose. We submitted our EOI in the UK, and then updated it online in NZ when Chris got his job - updating was easy to do, as we'd done all the hard part before we came. The main thing to remember is to bring everything you need to submit to Immigration when you get your Invitation to Apply - you must have FULL birth certificates for example, and your job references must state the beginning and end dates of your employment, as well as your job role. I think those are the biggies. You'll also need to prove you've been in a stable marriage/partnership for the last 12 months, and a marriage certificate is not sufficient for this. We provided photos of us as a couple, and I wrote our a 'timeline' of our time together with key dates, like when the children were born, holidays, etc. We included some official letters, addressed to both of us at the same address - council tax bill, solicitor's letter etc. We also brought out evidence that English is our first language - I had my 'A' Level English exam results slips for example. Don't take anything for granted - be prepared to provide proof. If you're like us and pared down the amount of stuff you transport over, make sure you include in it all the paperwork/photos/documents you need for your supporting evidence. Make sure you pack the documents in your luggage when you fly out - you don't want to be in the position of not having things because they are still on the boat or stuck at customs!
Katie x