nz visa application
 

if everything goes averagely o.k! how long does it normally take for a visa to be granted from the initial phone call to migration solutions ( a migration expert company based in the u.k ) to say 'yes i want to live in new zealand' ???Also can anyone recommend to me a removal company to ship most of my household belongings to nz and roughly how much would it cost for an average house because i havent got a clue. Many thanks Gavin.

The only possible answer is 'it depends' - mostly on you and your ability to get your evidential record organised (an agency won't do this for you) - ie provide evidence of everything you need to reach the points passmark (assuming Gen Skills), but also on NZIS. NZIS London are taking 3-6 months to process, it should be on the quick side now the new immigration year is more or less here. If you can get together your evidence quickly, you could theoretically get an approval in principle within a month from starting the whole process - assuming your agency pulls their finger out and takes, say, 2 working days and NZIS takes 2 weeks (they got as quick as this in H1 2002). More normally, I'd reckon on 3 months all in being the fastest achievable - it takes a fair bit of time to get police record, letters from employers etc.

Removals - can't recommend a co, some people say GBP3K for a medium sized container.

Why are you using an immigration agency? (What will they charge?) What visa class are you going for?

Cheers - Don

why use an agency
 

Thanks Don for taking the time to reply, i do appreciate it. i assumed the best way to obtain a visa would be to go through an agency i dont really know any different, 6 years ago i immigrated to U.S.A and i had to go through and attorney which did cost me a packet but then again that was the best way. As for NZ migration, the company 'Migration Solutions'which are based in kent i think are charging me a total of around about 1500 - 1800 GBP. is that good or bad as i dont know any different. cheers again Don.

That's top end but not extortionate and cheapest does not usually mean best. We used a NZ agency and it cost USD2K for the family with the usual 'no visa, no fee' contract. You'd find NZ or Aus agencies typically 30-50% cheaper than UK and it doesn't really matter where the agency is located. Doing a Gen Skills app yourself is q straightforward though.

Cheers - Don