New to the forum and loads of questions

[daleanthony]

Hi All

Totally new to the forum, just found it whilst researching moving to NZ.

Well last year was a bad year for me, gave up my job in the UK due to ill health in the family and a few other reasons. Were due to take two months trip to NZ and South Africa then the OH employeer said no at the last min so we cancelled.

Anyway i went to the NZ expo last year and got talking to a company and since then have had several "phone confrence" intervies with them and various emails. They seam keen and have taken references up as well and looking at puting a package together.

I am an Environmental Engineer with 10 years UK experience in Waste Management.

Many question if anyone can hep with any of them:

1) The position will be based in Manukau City, were do we live? I want a beach/rural area and dont mind a reasonable commute, been doing it for 10 years so to get the house and lifestyle i don;t mind doing it some more.

2) What is Manukau city like? Heard it is developing and moving up-market? Is this the case.

3) Best route of entry working visa residency? my OH ony wants to move for 2 years but i think once were there then we will stay.

4) Pets, we have a dog, looked at the other posts. What are the approx charges and how long does it take.

5) Salary expecations and assitance to move. I earn ?47k in the uk. Will i get anywhere near this. Plus my wife has'nt a job offer so will need to find work once out. Is this easy. She does work in a similar field to me.

6) THANKS FOR GETTING THIS FAR



Dale

[MotherBear]

Dale and welcome.

Sorry to read that you had a bad 2007. Let's hope 2008 will be a fresh start for you and your family, starting with a job offer in NZ for you. Fingers crossed.

Here's some background info on Manukau and a list of suburbs you can look into. I don't know if you can glean anything from this neighbourhood support site . There are problems with gang wars in areas such as Otara, Mangere, Papatoetoe and Otahuhu so, places to avoid.

Some more info on the area which is aimed at the tourist but may give you some idea of what's available and this is the local council's site. Here's a map of the area that you can drag around and zoom in on to see where the various suburbs lie.

Apologies for no personal experience of the region.

You may have to hunt around the job market to get a salary anywhere near the one in the UK as they are often notably lower in NZ, but that's not to say well-paying jobs don't exist, especially in the cities.

If your OH isn't too sure about staying long term in NZ, perhaps you'd be better off looking at a Work Permit to begin with. The process is a lot simpler and much cheaper than going for one of the other 'heavyweight' visas and will give her time to see for herself how she likes the country. You can always go on from there to apply for PR if things go well and you will have some NZ work experience under your belt by then to help with your application.

Shipping a dog? I think it can cost around the 2k+ GBP mark including vet's fees, but others can help better with this.