Lurker turns Talker

[vin]

Hi all..another newbie..have been lurking on the site for months soaking up the information..such a useful source..thanks to you all.

We've been considering moving for years.. have visited twice en route to Aus ... my beloved grew up in Christchurch...all her family in Aus..( no thanks ), thought it unlikely we'd ever get the points for skilled migrant ( am 51) , then out of the blue a job offer which on the face of it will allow us to go down the work to residence route... so made flying visit to Hamilton to check it out (3 days there just me ! ..racing round to check out areas, schools etc).

My 'Beloved', is full on.. can't wait...uninterested in potential issues..looking forward to returning to same hemisphere as family. Have 3 kids 12, 14 and nearly 16. So on returning home...family meeeting to discuss the possibility/ probability of moving....net result...middle daughter in outright revolt for last month...nice child turned into monster..counselling at school etc...a real roller coaster. Older daughter quietly concerned, but being very mature about it all.. just about to make A level choices here.. 'could she return to uk for uni if unhappy'. Youngest boy no probs.

So have a few definate questions if anyone might be able to help...

1. Anyone moved with kids this age? How did it work out..any suggestions to put minds at rest..I'm at end of tether with middle daughter and thinking: if it's going to be like this for next 2 years, couldn't move..at least we have support systems here.

2. Whether we'd be classed as international if on 'work to residence' visa and therefore subject to paying school / uni fees?

3. Pensions....have gathered that if I work for 10 years in NZ, would be entitled to NZ superannuation...does this mean that we would get credit as if we had been in NZ all our working lives and receive the pension at the full rate. Has anyone worked out if we would lose all rights to UK state pension if we leave now ( aged early 50's). I'm trying to work out whether we would be better off taking UK pension ( albeit no annual increments ) bearing in mind the superior purchasing power of the pound...is it possible to do this after 10 years in NZ or would we forfeit rights to UK pension after that time, assuming we stay into retirement.

These just the questions that spring to mind now..to be honest feeling overwhelmed by it all.. hence the posting now...sure many of you have been there.. Still have the house to sell etc etc so looking 6 months down the line at least. Would be interested in any thoughts as feel responsible for the happy outcome for the family. Thanks

[ebianca]

Hi and Welcome to the forum.

There is certainly plenty of reading to keep the mind going on here.

Congrats on the job offer and there are plentyoff peeps on the forum that are from Hamilton that i'm sure will be willing to give you any advise about the area.

Dawn (who is a little quiet on here at the mo) has recently made the move with a 16yr old daughter and has settled in Hamilton for now- i'm sure she can offer you some tips when she next pops in.

I can't offer any advice on kids front as mine are only 2 and 4 nor on pensions and schooling either as we haven't yet made the move.

Anyway-sorry I couldn't be of better help but thought i'd welcome you onboard.

Beth

[alan&moyra]

NZ now has a govt scheme called Kiwi saver, it is a superann for all residents who work. Look it up on line, it was announced yesterday that google.nz had the highest hits in the search box for it !!!

On the work to residence visa be carefull as if you go down that route you are tied to the same employer for 2 years !! but if you apply for PR Status at the outset you are tied for only 3 months to the named employer ........... and you still have to go through the same police checks , medicals and stuff.

Good luck

PS
Been here for 5 weeks now and love it

[Dawn]

Hey y'all. Beth is quite right, our oldest daughter was 16 when wel eft the UK last July. We waited for her to finish her GCSE's before coming over. When we first wanted to come, three years previously, she behaved much like your 14 year old is doing now, 'You're ruining my life', 'You can't make me do anything I don't want to do', 'I'll ask my grandma to adopt me', 'you don't understand how hard this is for me'. I bet you've heard them all and more. At 16 she behaved more like your 16 year old but again really didn't want to leave her close friend network. Out of all of us she was the one who got really home-sick and wanted to go home after the first fortnight and then a month, and then 6 weeks and then 2 months and then....you get the picture......and we didn't understand and we weren't her and we couldn't know her thoughts and her feelings........ It was vair vair hard. She's just about settled in now but if anyone's gonna get upset t's her.
Our 12 year old son on the other hand is a different kid. He's so much happier. And our 6 yr old, well she's just what she is, you'd have to meet her to understand, those who have, do.
I think you should be OK on a WTR for domestic student status but it depends what your oldest decides to do. Lauren is going to uni next year and tertiary education isn't covered on a WP, we will have to pay international fees for her if our residency hasn't come through by then. So if she goes to secondary school to do yr 12 and 13 that's covered, if she decides to go to college or uni it's not. Remember the term differences because I think your schedule will be similar to ours if you're talking about 6 months from now. When we got here Lauren had left school in July but they were half way through the year here. They said it wasn't worth her going back to school for the last few months of the term as most of them would be sitting exams and there wouldn't be many classes taught. Then the new term starts in February and that's when she'll be 17. They recommended she either go to college or do a bridging course at uni.

Let me know if I can help further Oh yeah, we're in Hamilton too

[MotherBear]

Hi Vin,

to MoveToNZ.

My sympathy with the middle daughter issue. If often works out that it's daughters that rebel against the move more than boys. I wonder if they're more set in their ways, dedicated to their friends or just lacking in adventure spirit.

I guess there's no easy solution to the problem, but I'm sure trying to force her into going will only make her dig her heels in more firmly. If there was someone you could consider leaving her with in the UK (preferably someone she's not too keen on but who's willing to play along), you could continue discussing your plans without her in the frame, although (big gamble here ) perhaps being left out of the discussions might just be enough to bring her round to thinking about going too. If she could see that everyone else was getting excited about the move, yet there was no pressure on her, she may wonder if she's doing the right thing by wanting to stay behind. It's a very long shot indeed, but sometimes it works. A sort of reverse psychology thing.

Meanwhile, take a look at this previous thread which contains several links that explain about pensions between UK and NZ.

Usually if you're in NZ long term i.e. more than a year and on some sort of work visa, you would be eligible for school fees at domestic rates rather than international, but, as Dawn says, this doesn't apply to tertiary education unfortunately.

Good luck with it all. You sound like you need it and congratulations on the job offer.

[vin]

Thanks to all for the various advice and welcoming support..much appreciated..

Dawn, I feel my daughter must have been texting your daughter..we seem to have heard all those expressions ourselves in the past few weeks...the most regularly heard being...'you're ruining my life' ! The support we have got from the school here has been excellent in trying to talk through her concerns and the various options for her and as MB say's using a bit of reverse psychology. Problem for us is she prefers not to discuss anything with us at the moment..we've decided just to take it day by day for the next month or so and see how it plays out. Glad it's settling down for you now but seems like we might have to fasten our seatbelts for a bumpy ride.

Thanks for tips on the WTR ..employer keen to get us here asap on easiest visa to obtain..so good to have heads up on that. Thanks too for pensions links...had looked at some of these..more careful reading to do clearly.

'One day at a time' , my emigration motto, I think. Thanks again. Might see you all in Hamilton yet ! Vin