bourbon-biscuit

OK, I'm halfway through my visa application, house is going on the market in the next couple of days (tender- gulp!) and dh has started the job hunt in earnest. Friends and family have been told and now we need to move up a gear, given we would like (love) to be there by Christmas! Can anyone answer some or all of these questions for us?

• Where do I find info regarding what I can import to Australia- eg lovely wooden furniture bought in NZ?
• What's the best shipper to use and what sort of price should I expect? (I have a track record of being fleeced!)
• I'm going on a 461 visa (only initially- we'll be applying for a 175 onshore as soon as we land) and the rest of my family are Kiwis- do they actually need Kiwi passports? Dh has one but the kids just have their citizenship certificate.
• I applied for our Kiwi IRD numbers when in the UK- is there an Oz equivalent and when can I apply for it?
• Is there a list somewhere of what to do when?

Wish us luck- I'm exhausted just thinking about it- it's a long ol' slog for those of us arriving in Oz having already set up home in NZ

Spellbound

Hi

Whereabouts in NZ are you? First question.

You will find a lot of people on here making the move from NZ to Aus including us! We are leaving in October heading for Brisbane/Gold Coast and we have been living in Auckland for four years. We moved from Hampshire, near Southampton originally.

I will sort out a list of companies I have contacted and have prices from, with regards to removals. Although we are doing a self pack option now to keep down costs.

I am still researching about tax numbers/doctors/bank accounts etc, so will keep an eye on your thread.

Good luck with your move. Debbie

sr71

All the Kiwis traveling will need to be on NZ passports.

You get your tax number from the Australian Tax Office - I just went in and got one at the local office, it came a few days later in the post.

Bank Accounts are easy, same as NZ you just need to properly identify yourself. No job requirements or credit checks etc needed. I personally recommend the Commonwealth Bank as they seem to be the most numerous and you get charged $2 for using another banks ATM usually.

You need to get Medicare cards from a Medicare office.

How did you 461 application go? How long did it take etc, and what police certificates did you use from the UK?

Just to add, I'm a Kiwi and I lived in Melbourne before, from 1996 to 2001, I thought it was fantastic. Then I chased the money and went to London until June this year and now we are returning to Melbourne. We stopped to visit family in Auckland for the last 6 weeks and I have just arrived here in Melbourne. I have to say it has underwhelmed me so far. I really think many Kiwis have a bad case of 'the grass is greener'. If it wasn't for the money I think I'd be straight back in NZ.

bourbon-biscuit

Will start on the passport forms asap then, thank you!

My 461 is a work in progress- hopefully done by next week. I'm currently doing the FORM 80 and in my slightly jetlagged state (back from UK last week) I had completely forgotten (perhaps in denial) about the whole police check thing!!! Thank you for the heads up! When I applied for my NZ residence the UK police check form came when it said it would and was an easy process but I have heard of others not faring so well- so I'll get onto that today and the Kiwi one. When we arrive in Oz we'll start out onshore application- will the police checks and medicals still be valid- how long before they expire for a 175 onshore??

I haven't got a case of the grass is greener- I'm a New Zealand fan- however I do live in the middle of nowhere (wonderful in many ways) and want to go to uni so need to move (plus we are struggling financially- less about NZ, more about the choices we made when we moved here) and I have family in NSW (my mum ) who has offered practical and financial (cheap rent) whilst I'm at uni and it just seems like a great opportunity, not to be turned down. I have a love affair with Australia and generally weep at departure- living there may well cure me of this, lol, but it's a great opportunity at the right time for my family- in a couple of years my oldest will be high school age and less easy to move.

Spellbound

How long have you lived in NZ for, as this will have an impact on applying for a NZ passport?

We have gone direct and applied for a Australian permanent residents visa, although we could have applied for NZ citenzenship as we had been here in NZ for the qualifying period.

Debbie

bourbon-biscuit

Hi spellbound- I cannot apply for NZ citizenship or passport, my dh has both and the kids have only the former atm. I assume they are entitled to a passport, being NZ citizens.

Spellbound

Sorry my fault, I assumed you were all from the uk as you have the thread title UK-NZ-OZ, should have read it more clearly.

bourbon-biscuit

We are all from the UK- we're just complicated

bjddavies

Here's my twopence worth.

Avoid Wridgways for shipping. See my signature and the posts on the subject.

Commonwealth Bank will allow you to open an account before you arrive. This is a really good idea to do this as it will save a week setting up an account.

Renting a property was surprisingly easy with no references needed but you will need to come up with an eye watering 6 weeks in rent up front. 4 weeks bond and 2 weeks rent.

Can't help you on what furniture you can bring.

Enter Oz on your Kiwi passports if you have them. I really don't think a citizenship certificate will cut it with Oz immigration.

Get the ATO Tax file number after you arrive. I don't think you can get it before you arrive. You can apply online or download a form.

To get the Medicare card I think you have to wait 6 months if you are a "Kiwi" and then on the form you have prove that you are staying on Oz for a long time e.g. give them proof of shipping all your stuff over and selling your house. Again find the forms on the net. I haven't bothered but if you have a family you may feel the need. The doctors, I understand, who do Medicare are called bulk billing - whatever that means.

You can't go to an Oz uni and get the same benefits of Oz citizens - unlike the reciprocal where Oz citizens can get the same education in NZ as NZ citizens or PR.

You can still vote in NZ elections up to a year after leaving if you feel the need. You can vote in UK for 15? years after you leave.

Finally, arriving in Oz was surprisingly bureaucracy free.

My impression on Oz after nearly a year.

- People a lot friendlier than I would have thought especially at work (no Pom insults at all, unlike NZ)
- Less jealousy about wealth and success
- A bit more get up and go about the place
- More of a fair go given to new arrivals - how many rich UK immigrants are there in NZ? Do any immigrants make money in NZ?
- No Maori issues
- Economy is definitely doing better
- Houses cost more but dampness is a thing of the past except for 35C summer humidity
- Weather is way too hot.
- Nice to get employer paid superannuation again even if the charges are extortionate and the recent stock market troubles have left it looking a bit tattered
- Oz politicians are really corrupt

sr71

I know plenty of immigrants that are doing very nicely, in fact much better than they were in the UK.

Not sure what you mean about Maori issues, I really doubt Maori issues are an issues for the majority of the population. NZ is generally held up as one of the best examples of how the white people have co-existed and treated the indigenous population - a far cry from Australia and the Aborigines.

bourbon-biscuit

Thanks for the post- karma given

bourbon-biscuit

I think there are huge Maori issues, just not in the sense the poster intended. I do not consider NZ a good example of co-existing cultures, despite some 'best efforts' at policy level. You don't have to dig deep in the health and education stats to see that despite the gloss things are not rosy for Maori culture.

sr71

That may be the case, but how on earth does that affect the average white New Zealander living in a middle class suburb, let alone a British immigrant?

I'm not saying it's right, or that I don't care, I'm just saying I can't see why on earth it's an argument against living in NZ.

bjddavies

Australians tend to assume that NZers are fleeing NZ because of Maori issues. I feel that I left the point quite neutral and open to the reader's interpretation. I am in full agreement with you NZ's good record in that respect.

Overall, indigenous issues are less important in Australia as a whole but after spending a morning walking around Mount Isa I can assure you that Aboriginal issues in certain Northern Australian towns are far more pressing than indigenous issues in anywhere that I lived in NZ.

As for the history side of things, apparently Governor Phillip of the First Fleet went out of his way to cultivate good relations with Port Jackson's indigenous people. It just happened that things didn't continue that way. Read "The Fatal Shore" by Robert Hughes for more information.

bourbon-biscuit

That first para is really interesting- especially for me as I find myself forever explaining to fellow expats how I didn't leave the UK to escape all the immigrants, so now I'll find myself explaining that I haven't left NZ to escape the Maori!

I read the Fatal Shore while visiting Australia a few years back; made for some grim reading indeed.