[5kings]

Hi everyone,

We had a day at the Expo yesterday, and have a couple of plans in mind. I wondered if anyone would be so kind as to give their opinion on them for me.

I spoke to immigration, apparently we have 125 points which is good. Unfortunately at the moment neither of us are working my husband was made redundant 4 weeks ago, although I do have an interview for a temporary Christmas job next week. To cut a long story short to apply for PR would cost us a lot of money, there are 5 of us, so we estimate around the £2500 mark. As we have no real income at the moment, to go for PR we would have to use some of my husbands redundnacy money.

We are just about breaking even money wise once the jobseekers allowance/council tax benefit and our income protection is finally sorted out. So in theory we could do this and manage.

Plan B is sell the house and move, then apply for PR once we are in NZ. I think this is a bit more risky, and if we can manage without the £2500 redundnacy money would rather apply for PR.

Any advice appreciated, I guess whatever way we go could be considered a gamble, but I am thinking having PR could give us a more certain start in NZ, whereas my OH would rather sell up and go, and sort everything out from there.

Either way we have to sell the house first, so that is still our first step. Hoping it wont take too long to sell, one on our road sold within a week last month so you never know!



Helen

[TrentBridge]

Hi Helen

This might be muddying the waters for you but I thought it would cost quite a bit more than £2500 when you take into conisideration the costs of the application process itself, medicals and flights etc.

Getting to NZ sooner rather than later seems really appealing but I suppose it hangs on your house sale. Are you certain that you would gain PR if you went without it. What are the job prospects for you both in NZ?

What are your OH prospects in the job market in UK? Maybe if you could both get jobs you could protect the redundancy money and save a bit more while waiting for the house sale? All depends on timings I suppose.

Sorry, don't think this has been much help. Difficult decisions for you both, but good luck with whatever you decide.

[TrentBridge]

Just found this thread on costs

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17565&highlight=costs

Not sure if it's included but there is the cost of moving your stuff too.

[victoria24]

what about going down the accredited employer route? what do you guys do for work?

[5kings]

Hi Helen

This might be muddying the waters for you but I thought it would cost quite a bit more than £2500 when you take into conisideration the costs of the application process itself, medicals and flights etc.

Getting to NZ sooner rather than later seems really appealing but I suppose it hangs on your house sale. Are you certain that you would gain PR if you went without it. What are the job prospects for you both in NZ?

What are your OH prospects in the job market in UK? Maybe if you could both get jobs you could protect the redundancy money and save a bit more while waiting for the house sale? All depends on timings I suppose.

Sorry, don't think this has been much help. Difficult decisions for you both, but good luck with whatever you decide.

Hi

The £2500 is purely for the application. I think we have accounted for everything, EOI, ITA, medicals, police checks, migrant levy, I didn't count flights as they would be something we could buy with our house sale proceeds. I just didn't want to start the process and not have enough money to see it through.

My OH is a graphic designer, really low chance of finding work where we are in that field anyway, the only jobs he has found are miles away from home. Even if we weren't emigrating we would have to move to find work in the UK.
I am hoping to become a teacher, I have just finished my degree, so I am just trying to find any work to tide us over for a while. Got an interview at Argos next week for Christmas work. Not my ideal job, but any money is good right now.

Job prospects in NZ are quite good as we are prepared to live where the work is. I spoke to someone from the NZ teaching department, and if we move soon I would train over there, if our move is delayed I would train here.
There do seem to be a decent number of design jobs for OH too.

Thanks for your reply, it was a bit of an impossible question in the first place!

Helen

[5kings]

what about going down the accredited employer route? what do you guys do for work?

OH is a graphic designer, and there are 3 companies on the accredited list for his line of work. We check their websites regularly, but they haven't had anything for a while, and without the house sold I dont knwo if they would consider him anyway.

I'm glad you had a positive time at the Expo, especially after the long journey you made!

Helen

[TrentBridge]

Just another thought.... Could OH go first and get a job then you and the family go once the house is sold. We may do that next year and I've heard of others who have done it? Downside is that you don't know how long the separation would be. :)

[JandL]

I won't advise either way but will make a point. Selling your house takes ages, getting PR takes ages if you don't have a job. If you see a job in NZ which will allow you to get your PR fasttracked and are only renting, you can go at the drop of a hat.

[5kings]

I won't advise either way but will make a point. Selling your house takes ages, getting PR takes ages if you don't have a job. If you see a job in NZ which will allow you to get your PR fasttracked and are only renting, you can go at the drop of a hat.

We've been doing DIY today, and will put the house on the market as soon as we can. I am thinking applying for PR from the UK would give us a more secure start in NZ, so we'll have to concentrate our efforts on saving money.
Maybe we'll buy each other police checks for christmas!

Helen

[Flutterby]

knowing the reliability of housing benefit and jobseekers in this country i would say just sell the house and go. there would probably be just as much stress sorting out benefit claims here in the uk as finding work and visas in NZ, plus if you are struggling through here in the uk your employability is low because as soon as employers find out you intend to emigrate they'll back off, knowing that you will only be in the job for a short time.
The issue is of course how quickly you can sell the house!