Nic1978

My wife has no family she was a foster child and had nothing here , my family is in Australia my children have nothing here my 8 yr old son wants a grandad and asks me for one but hey he lives in Australia we have nothing here in uk but each other. I never wanted to open up to our business over here .

Nic1978

Nice reply thank you

MrsFychan

Not opening up is why the thread has gone the way it has.
But as already stated seeing as you want to move to be nearer your family, NZ may not be an easy option but if you can make your finances work it and have done the calculations of living costs against wages then maybe gives your family an easier option to pop over to see you guys more often.

BEVS

Have you read the posts from the Oz people? You may have time if you have the 5yrs exp. I pinged them to help you.

I've been thinking about NZ locations for you and I am with Col re. Welly v Christchurch. Christchurch is upcoming, revitalising and could be a great base to get started.

Further south is Dunedin. That will be more affordable.

Tauranga on the North Island is a great location but I think you may well need a bucket of $$ to get up and running.
My area, Nelson, is sunshine dollars and rather out on a limb. Costs shed loads to even get anywhere in NZ , let alone Oz so that is out.
Welly ? Windy and city prices especially up the coast.
Auckland - nopes.

Hays Recruitment and Tradestaff may both be able to put you onto a job offer. you need full-time, permanent . Make sure you get at least $25 per hour.

Look. On these forums one doesn't always gets the type of answers one wants to read or thinks will be there.
What you will get is practical guidance & a mix of opinions and experience. You pick the bits you need or want and move along from the rest.

If you have the 5yrs exp in your trade then get into the Australia forum and start asking. You have time to perhaps get what you really wish for.

If not, then get started looking for the full time work. You may have to go where the job offer is.

BTW, my husband is also a trade. He is a plumber/gasfitter.

To start with you will be employed as a carpenter. Most likely area will be in building.
Carpenters/builders these days are licensed. Contact them and have a conversation. They may also be able to point you in the direction of a job offer.

People here want to help , suggest, guide and advise. But there is also a responsibility to do that wisely.

Bo-Jangles

From the few bits of info you have provided it is clear your heart's desire is in Australia, hence the line that this thread has taken. Without being perfectly blunt people are telling you all the reasons why a move to NZ would be wrong. it's still too far away from you family, your kids won't be gaining any more of a Grandad by you being in NZ.

Your migration expert has thrown you a curve ball and not really helping much; just do the right thing and concentrate you efforts into getting to Australia if that's what you really want.

BEVS

Oh! I must have missed that.

Avoid so called 'migration experts' please. I really mean that. i will give you a couple of tried and tested agents further down the post.

If you are set on NZ, then I /we will help you with the NZIS forms etc.

If you are set to Oz really - and I think you are - then perhaps contact
Alan Collett He is tried , tested and true.
Or
TeeTMI

Both help out on BE pro-bono. Both are known licensed MARN agents

Click anything in bold type as that is a link.

scrubbedexpat094

Absolutely this

If you really want to be in Australia then go for it if you can, whilst you still have some time to play with. Head over to the Australia forum and ask lots of questions there. They are a very helpful bunch, from personal experience.

NZ is a lovely place to live if you can afford it. Cost of living has gone up significantly in the 11+ years we have lived here. Wages have not kept up with this and so we are definitely worse off now than we were say 5 years ago. We came for the adventure and not because we didn't like the UK.
Having been to Melbourne twice and Brissy and the Sunshine Coast once, I love it there. I just love the vibe of Australia, it just feels more 'grown-up'.

If offered the chance to live and work in Australia then I think we would be over like a shot. We have NZ citizenship which allows us to live and work there but because we don't have the safety net of entitlements to benefits then I would be worried about it being a forever home. So my advice is just go for it!

BEVS has provided you with lots of helpful stuff. Good luck.

carcajou

I hate to bring this up, but since the thread has already gone down this track -

Migration can throw a lot of wrenches into family relationships and dynamics.

I think you had better be absolutely sure that granddad is as committed to this as you are.

Is Granddad an Australian Citizen? If so, he has automatic PR rights in New Zealand and can move there tomorrow to be with you and grandson (if you get a visa, which is all hypothetical at this point).

Or is that completely off the table from Granddad's perspective?

Unless Granddad is feeble or otherwise incapacitated.

If you're willing to move halfway around the world, but Granddad is only willing to pay up for a trip to NZ every year . . .

Consider all options.

Listen carefully to BEVS.

Investigate Australia further and get cracking on the Skills Assessment.

Be sure to speak to Granddad about the scope and scale of what you are taking on and the commitment you expect in return.

BEVS

Actually not a bad thought re. his Dad ( kids grandad)

If Nic does come to NZ , his Dad could split his time between Oz and NZ. That takes the pressure off financially whilst setting up and settling.

I believe from the opening post that the weight of all family is in Australia. That is his Dad and sisters.

A4Ron

I mean this in the nicest possible way, but why do parents say "I want to move my family to NZ for a better life" - better life in terms of what?

Your children will have more job/career opportunities and more earning £££ potential in the UK. Look at how many enormous companies/organisations there are in UK compared to NZ, for example.

And New Zealand has the highest youth suicide rate in the OECD - this fact is not mentioned enough to families who want to move to NZ. I still have no idea what the root cause of this is, most of it must be hereditary/genes, but I'd wager some of it is down to drugs and child poverty too.

Parents really need to take this on board before moving their kids to NZ

scrubbedexpat094

I never get this either. If we had had children we wouldn't have come to NZ. I think it's great for young children but once they get to senior school level it becomes a very insular place.

When my OH was about 12 his father got a job in Chch. So they came to NZ with their 4 youngest children and left the eldest 2 in England. They were aged 12, 14, 16 & 18. The eldest had finished his school education and went to college in NZ. The 16 year old was Oxbridge material, he didn't want to leave England and resented his parents for dragging him to the other side of the world. He rebelled big time, the education he got here was not to the standard to suit someone of his intelligence. He ended up getting into the drug scene and ended up with Hep C and a life of drifting until he got his act together in his late 30's. He returned to England when he was 18.

The 14 year old didn't particularly excel and returned to England when he was 17 and got an apprenticeship I think.

My OH got his NZ school certificate at 16. By then his older brother had moved to Auckland and his parents decided that they would return home to the UK as most of the family was there! OH missed the first term in the 6th form, he's always said that he chose the wrong subjects for 'A' levels because he didn't really know what he was doing. He was way behind the other students but managed to get reasonable 'A' level results. He has managed to do okay for himself but I think he regrets that his parents made the choices they did. I think he would have done better at school if they hadn't have emigrated and had more options university-wise.

I know quite a few British expat teenagers who aren't too thrilled at having been moved to the other side of the world.

That grass isn't greener here and I don't think it's a better lifestyle here either, much is the same...working, shopping, paying bills, watching TV etc.
I spend less time outdoors in Auckland than I did in Burton on Trent. It's either too hot and I turn lobster pink even with spf50 slathered all over me. Plus I get bitten to death by mossies and other things. Or its wet or humid.
I could spend hours in the garden in the UK happily pottering away, not so here.

Just my ponderings.

simonsi

“Take on board” and what? Not come? We all desire different life compromises, not necessarilly all focussed on GBP earning potential. Moving teenagers causes problems whether you move them 50 miles or 12 timezones.

Not sure why the suicide rate is particularly relevant to migrants, migrant children don’t have any particular gene problem, don’t typically grow up in NZ child poverty or especially exposed to drugs over and above the likelyhood in their home country.

They are serious problems for sure but immigrant children aren’t automatically smothered in them the moment they step off the plane either.

A4Ron

There's a difference between moving a teenager 50 miles in their home country and to the other side of the world; incomparable.

And as another member has stated above, they can be more exposed to drugs in NZ, particularly cannabis and P/Methamphetamine which is more prevalent (per capita) in NZ than UK. I work for government and would be very concerned about the availability of those substances if i had children growing up here.

I think gene make-up and drugs does account for some youth suicide cases, but certainly not all.... It's just plain naive to not even consider taking these issues into account before such a big move the other side of the world.

You can never do too much research into moving from UK to NZ, imo. And frankly, some families simply don't do enough research before moving to NZ - my parents were guilty of that.

When we arrived 11 years ago, they had no idea about the earthquake fault lines that run through the country, particularly the Alpine Fault and Hikurangi. Had they known about this to begin with, they probably wouldn't have made the move

simonsi

Thank god we dont all conform to Govt statistics averages.

Your theory on genes is simply flawed, you can’t hold up genetic factors as a cause within NZ (which it may be) AND have that apply to immigrants as they literally come from a different gene pool.

My point (having done it - have you?), was that moving a teenager 50miles can be as traumatic for them as across the world, many factors are identical.

But of course every generation loves to blame their parents...

garethwm

Yes NZ does have a very high suicide rate among the 15 to 19 age group. But to be absolutely fair its not the highest in the world. Sri Lanka has that distinction. NZs the highest among the 38 of the OECD. And although the overall suicide rate for all ages is double the UK, there are about 8 other countries in the OECD with higher suicide rates than NZ. At the end of the day, everyones experiences are different. Some feel their life has improved by moving here, some dont.