Hello - thinking of making the move

[welwynrose]

Hi all - thought I'd join this forum as like a bolt from the blue the OH has said he would like to move to NZ - now I'm quite happy with this idea - I have no family and have lived all over the UK so moving somewhere new doesn't faze me - the OH only has 3 members of his family, nan, mum & sister & is looking for a new challenge but I'm not sure where to start - is finding a job the most important thing - the OH is a self-employed Painter & Decorator & I'm an Administrator in Barristers Chambers who deals with the accounts, payroll, IT & phones, website, premises management, marketing etc - we've got no children and will not be having children, so good schools etc are not a worry, we have a house with about 7 years left on the mortgage and have the usual credit card debts etc so would have to clear those but have a fair bit of equity in the house - if we do decide to go for it roughly how long does it take & where is the best place to start - any suggestions will be greatly appreciated

[sleepy]

Hi

Im pretty new to this all to, so not gonna offer any advice, 'cause chances are it'll just be wrong, someone will be along soon with answers to all your questions.

Im looking to go in less than six months though, so Im cutting it a bit fine really. I'll continue looking for a job before that time (it's a lot harder, if not almost impossible? to get a Residency without a good job offer), but if nothing materialises I'll hopefully head out on a one or two year working visa and look for a job while im over there. Once I've found one, I can then apply for residency whilst in New Zealand.

Good luck with it all, and keep us informed of how it's going

[Taffy]

Hi, welcome to the forum

You've already come to the best place to start, so the second best place to go is the points indicator on the Immigration New Zealand website:

Points Indicator - New Zealand Immigration Service

Fill in the form and it will tell you how many points you may be entitled to. If it's over 100, then you're on to a great start!!

[keeweegal]

Originally Posted by Taffy

You've already come to the best place to start,

We're so modest, eh Taffy!

welwynrose - he is right tho, this is the best place to start!

Good luck & keep us up-to-date

[MotherBear]

Hi, Welwynrose,



As Taffy says, finding out whether you qualify under the points system is the first step to take. Once you've decided you'd like to try for NZ, the next step is to find out the best way to get yourselves there. There are several visas available and several ways to get to NZ, but the tricky part is finding the right way. As for how long it takes, well that depends on which route you go and how many points you score. It can take anything from a couple of months to a year or more in some cases. We'd be able to tell you that once we know which visa you'll apply for.

Have you tried to negotiate the NZ Immigration site yet? That's a load of laughs for a start . Click on Apply and Settle and pop in and out of the various links until you find something that looks like what you're after. It's sure to give you a restless night with all that info swilling about in your head .

I'll leave you with that for now, but if you've got any questions about it, just holler and we'll all run off in different directions . Er......sorry, I meant we'll try to help as best we can.

[welwynrose]

I've been looking at the official website but it is very confusing - one of the things I'm trying to work out is if the main applicant should be me or the OH - we would both work - we always have - but trying to work my way round the various skilled employment areas is getting my head spinning

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by welwynrose

I've been looking at the official website but it is very confusing

Never a truer word spoken. This is what effect it has on me.

Whether you or your OH applies as principal applicant depends on who would get the most points. Basically you need to look for your respective jobs to see if they appear on any of the job lists. This is a list of jobs for approved skilled migrant category and general skills principal applicants . Painter and decorator appears on page 26 (delete what's in the page box at the bottom and type in 26), so that's a good start. I can't see him listed on either the Long Term Skills Shortages List or the Immediate SSL either so I'm not sure where he fits in. Anyone know? If you can find your job on that list too, your OH could also claim points for your skills.

This page shows you which qualifications are recognised by NZIS. The first part names the universities but if you scroll down, it tells you about quals for other trades. This particular list relates to the UK.

[sleepy]

The whole Immediate Skills list stuff confuses the crap out of me too, so don't worry about it, your not the only one!, doesn't help that the website is useless and you just seem to go round and round in circles only to arrive back where you started, or on a "Page not found" error.

Here's a link to the Long Terms Skill Shortage list : Appendix 6 - Long Term Skill Shortage List

It also shows you what kind of qualification you should have.

A Future Growth area consists of :
* Biotechnology
* Information Communications Technology
* Creative industries (Advertising, Software & Computing Services, Publishing, TV and Radio, Film and Video, Architecture, Design, Designer Fashion, Music and Performing Arts, Visual Arts).

Hope that helps a bit

[welwynrose]

we're definately not in the future growth area, but my job could be several things Accounts Clerk, Credit Control, Administration Manager as my skills are wide ranging - the other problem/query is an age thing - I am in the 44-49 catergory & the OH is in the 30-39 catergory - does this make much difference - I've signed up for the Expo in London in October will that be helpful

[sleepy]

Both your ages are fine, as long as your under the age of 55 it's all good.
The younger age brackets apply to the Samoan Quota and the Pacific Access Category ( Kiribati, Tuvalu, Fiji and Tonga ), I assume your neither of those so your fine.

Your job seems to be more likely to be in demand in NZ, so I'd suggest you put yourself down as the principle applicant. The points indicator is really just to give yourself an idea of wether or not you qualify, make sure you tick the "I have a job offer" box, this'll show you a more realistic score as you'll find it very hard to get in without a job lined up.

If that pushes your score to around about 140 or higher you should be ok to get in.
Getting a job offer from here for when you intend to arrive will be difficult but it's pretty much a necessity these days. Alternatively you could travel out to NZ on a one or two year working visa, then just look for a job while your out there, then apply for residency from within New Zealand.