[cherries002]

Im in a quandry and not quite sure what to do first! ! !

My OH would be the main applicant and would need a job offer... should we sell up here in the UK... go for a visitor visa/work visa to NZ and see what happens and then apply for PR over in NZ? If we visited and got a job offer we are still left with the house still to sell and would need the finance from the house to set us off in NZ..

Am i being neurotic in thinking that if you need a job offer before leaving the UK that you have to take the risk of basically selling up in the UK and see what happens and do the rest of the process in NZ??

As you can probably tell I'm a newby and although I have read stacks of interesting threads I feel Im missing something...

My OH currently works for the local council and falls under 'Highways Maintenance' also using his HGV Class 1 licence and other work experiences etc....I have seent plenty of jobs via Seek as well as others but they generally want you to be available for interviews and immediate start so being in the UK looking for a job seems to be a non starter in my OH occupation.

If anyone can give me any info I would be really grateful :cheers

[sophiedb]

hi Cherries,

Other people know far more than I, but I know what you mean about the whole how to sell house, buy house, get job etc in a logical order without losing the plot *lol*

Our plan - such as it is - is to sell up, move to NZ and rent until we find a house we like. Probably. We're hoping to have 2-3 houseless months before emigrating, which are supposed to be for one last roadtrip round Europe (or some of Europe) while the exchange rate is still on our side (relatively speaking). If the house sale takes longer, the trip will get shorter.. Either way our worldly possessions will be making their own way to NZ.

That's the plan, anyway.

Regards jobs, you could try going to something like NZ Expo (http://www.expo-newzealand.com/) and seeing what's on offer for both yourself and hubby. I imagine Immigration are there too, to confirm (or estimate) whether you would meet the right points requirement. We're hoping that hubby might at least get some interest for his CV there, as he's both Kiwi and on the shortage list, but if not.. we'll go anyway!

Soph x

[JandM]

I feel Im missing something... Yes, any feeling of certainty!;) It isn't neurotic. There's a big leap of faith to be made in starting the process, however you do it, and there isn't a right way, only the way you feel least uncomfortable with. Good luck.:)

[cherries002]

Thanks Soph :) we are of to the Expo at the end of the month, so hopefully we'll be able to get more advice. .

Whereabouts are you planning on heading for? we intend to go towards the Touranga area. We have 2 girls who are 11 and 12 and so we really want to get out there ASAP before the hormones start kicking in :D they are both really looking fwd to it but if we leave it any longer I fear they will not be happy (theyre very level headed so I'm sure they'll be fine).

It can be so daunting when you have to consider everyones feelings, I'm sure that within time it will be the best for us all.

Good luck with the future . . .Debs x

[TheNaylors]

Hey Debs,

Just wanted to stop by and say Hi & welcome to the forum from just down'road! :D

I can't really help with the visitor visa/work visa route as we aren't doing that. How many points do you & OH and get on the points indicator (on NZIS website) with him as the principal applicant...does he really NEED a job offer first or would you be able to get over 100 points without? Many people have had their EOI selected on just over 100 points. Any subsequent offer of employment could be added onto your application and will speed things up and having already started the application may be more favourable to a potential employer as they can be given a timeframe. ha...At least if you do submit your EOI here and get selected, you're not far from the panel doctors for your medicals being in Huddersfield (Lindley Group Practice next to HRI)!!!

Julie

[victoria24]

we too have lived with both the chicken and the egg!
our recent experience from expo until now is here http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=23845

[sophiedb]

We're planning to go to Christchurch to start with at least, as that's where hubby's mum, brother, etc live :) Regards kids - less to worry about on our part, as she's not even 2!

Might see you at the Expo.. we're hoping to go, but will probs depend on grandparental babysitting willingness *lol* They love to have her (it'd be a day, poss overnight trip for us), but don't want us to emigrate.. small conflict of interest!

[L00pback]

Hi Debs and welcome to the forum.

Thought our story might help you because your situation is similar to ours in that I need a job offer to get PR but this meant being in NZ to get the job offer - its actually a very common situation to find yourself in.

The solution to our problem was to commit to the move fully which meant:

[1].. We employed a consultancy firm to take care of all the paperwork and also signed up for the job search and resettlement programs. This can be done yourself and the pro's and con's have been discussed here many times before.
[2].. We sold our house and move into rented accomodation for 6 months (minimum term available).
[3].. Opened a bank account and sent the money form the house sale over to NZ as we are getting a better interest rate than in the UK.
[4].. Fixed a date for the move by getting our plane tickets booked. This gave us the motivation to get all the little things we've been meaning to do done and it has given everyone else (family and friends) time to adjust to the fact that we are actualy moving half way round the world! Don't forget that if you go over on a visitors visa you need to show you have onwards travel booked (a return ticket in other words).
[5].. Arrange for our stuff to be shipped/stored. Here the options are about if you pay tax or not on the container - if you have PR (or a work permit I think) before your container arrives you pay no tax otherwise its tax time.
[6].. Arrive in NZ and get a job offer ASAP and get PR - you only have 6 months (can be extended by a further 3 months).
[7].. Sit back and relax...

The biggy I've missed out is the 3 week visit to check out NZ before we move. We decided not to do this and save the money so we replaced it with lots and lots of research.

We're at step 5 now and have just a couple of months left in the UK - its getting very real for us now - and a bit scary.

Hope this helps in some small way but all the best for what ever you do.

Any questions (doesn't matter how daft it may sound) just ask.. someone here will no doubt be able to help.

Cheers

Alan