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allsopp89
17th May 2006, 01:16 AM
Hello all, :laugh

I have been using this site for a number of months now and have found it very useful however I have never posted my own personal post before so here goes.

Me and my husband are looking into immigration to New Zealand and have been researching for months but things are still not clear.

My husband is a fully time served fabricator welder, but his only qualifications are NVQ's and I am told they are not recognised over in NZ so because I have no qualifications that strikes out the idea of Skilled Migrant Process. So now we are looking into the Work to Residence Option. All seems ok and I am willing to wait 2 years before applying for residence but am just scared of making that move and then being refused residence.

My husband is 26 and I am 21 we have no children but will be bringing our dog over (that is one of the things that needs answering, as much info about bringing dogs over would be great). I am told that you would be granted Residence so long as you are in continued employment, earning over NZ$45,000 (I presume that this is each?) and you have not got into any trouble whilst over their.

My only problem is that I am not sure what income we could expect to earn, as mentioned above my husband is a fully time served Fabricator Welder, I have worked in Law for 4 years and most recently joined a financial Advisors but doing more business management, so I could do either.

Does anybody know what income we would be expecting to earn. I have seen an Advertisement that scared me a little which was for a Welder in Christchurch - it was for $18.47 per hour, which only works out at £6.10 which is only £12,370 (NZ$37,462) which is not enough for residence to be granted. Furthermore we are scared that we will live a much poorer life over their, we are not moving for money, we are moving for lifestyle, but it would be nice to have money left over to actually go out and life our lives. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Another question is regarding mortgages, does anybody have an idea on how much we could borrow, I presume we can only lend once residence is granted that not a problem, its just so we can see what sort of property we would be looking for.

And lastly sorry, I know I’ve been going on a little, but my husband want to take his car over to New Zealand. Its a Smart Roadster, I believe there is only one over their and he want to make that two, because it is his pride and joy. Any advise on costs, and process?.

Any further advise, about just about anything would be appreciated.

Thanks Cheryl.

:clap that clap is for me finally finishing.

gil
17th May 2006, 02:07 AM
Hi Cheryl and welcome!
I can't answer some of your questions (about Welders or cars) but might be able to provide some info on the dog front. If you do a search about pets on here, you'll find loads of helpful info. For what it's worth, we will be shipping our Staffie with Golden Arrow, as they have given a reasonable quote (not the cheapest, also not the most expensive, but seems very good value) and are soooo helpful on the phone. Their number is 01588 680240.
I'm sure lots of people on here will be able to help,
Good luck!
Gil

wilson182
17th May 2006, 07:44 AM
Hi Cheryl
Welcome. I can answer at bit on your hubby as a welder. Firstly, $18.47 per hour for Christchurch IS probably about average. I'm not sure about work to residence, I dont think as a welder he qualifies for that (but I am happy to be corrected) However, OH is a welder and he had no trouble finding work over here. We came over on 'holiday' got a job, got a work permit and then eventually applied for residency. As far as quals go, how many years work experience has he got. Points for a job offer and work experience may be worth exploring. Although OH has city and guilds I didnt need to use them for our residency cause we had enough points with the fact that he was working here and had 10 years work experience we could claim for. Your standard of living is a much harder question to answer, as everyones expectations are different. :nice1 Hope this helps a little bit,
Debs

allsopp89
17th May 2006, 10:24 AM
Thanks for your help all of you,

Debs - in answer to your question my ho has 10 years work experience - just. Can you tell me $18.42 is that a reasonably good wage over their or is it below average?.

Anymore help on all topics would be of help guys.

Thanks

Smiler
17th May 2006, 01:48 PM
Hi Cheryl

Welcome to the forum. :clap:clap

Can't help with the welder/dog ship, sorry but there is a Smart dealer in Auckland if that helps OH.

There also lots of info on shipping cars etc on here. You can search using the button at the top of the page.

Good luck with your journey.

Diny
17th May 2006, 03:41 PM
Welcome to the forum !!!

wilson182
17th May 2006, 09:15 PM
Thanks for your help all of you,

Debs - in answer to your question my ho has 10 years work experience - just. Can you tell me $18.42 is that a reasonably good wage over their or is it below average?.

Anymore help on all topics would be of help guys.

Thanks

I have checked with Hubby on this. He works for one of the main three structural steel welding firms in Christchurch. He says that (and bearing in mind we can only speak for structural welding in Christchurch) $18.42 is around the average wage.

marcia
17th May 2006, 10:02 PM
Hi welcome to the forum!

Whilst we were out there in Jan, Kev talked to a few agencies and the man who lent him the stock car was a welder, the average wage for a welder is $18 -$20 per hour. There was loads of opportunties, loads of work (can only speak about North island though!)

Kev unfortunately doesn't have the qualifactions for welding though hes been doing it since he was about 15, and run his own fabrications company for the last 11 years!!

But we haven't let that stop us in our quest - where theres a will theres a way!!! :yes

Good luck!

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