Guidance please and some questions
 

Hi all,

This is going to be long, but any help would be appreciated.

Our family of 3 is planning to move to NZ hopefully next year. It`s still in the preparation stage, and I`m the one gathering information.
My soon-to-be husband will have finished his NVQ 6 Construction site management course at the end of April 2018 and finished his work in the summer, so we are hoping to move after that.
what i would like to know is how to go about it. His job comes under construction project manager on the immigration website, so i`m assuming they consider it the same in NZ and it's on the short skills and we are planning to go for a skilled migrant visa.

I was thinking of doing things in that order:
-get his qualification recognized as it`s not on their exempt list.
-At the same time, he looks for a job, then
-start the visa process when he`s got an offer. (he wouldn`t have enough point without a job offer)

Does that sound right? How have you all done it? I`m looking for the less stressful and quicker way if that`s possible.

And I`ve got tonnes of questions on other things, but I`ll try to keep it short.

-We own a house, when should we think about putting it on the market? I was thinking of renting a furnished house/flat in the UK before going and put our belongings in storage to save time. Is that a good idea?

-Can you buy a house in NZ straight away or do we need to be residents first?

-How or where could I compare the cost of life over there. We try to eat organic food as much as possible which cost a pretty penny here. Is it the same in NZ?

-I have a diploma of Higher education, do I need to get it assessed as well if I want to work?

-I`m French, would that cause any problems with the visa?

-Looking back at your own move, anything you wish you had done differently?

-Any extra advice would be greatly appreciated.


I`ll stop here for this time ;)
Thanks to everyone who read this!

Re: Guidance please and some questions
 

Hi and welcome,




Don't assume your partners occupation is the same here as in the UK. Often they are different. It would be advisable to research your partners named occupation here and try to find out any differences and maybe in the time until you plan to come here he can maybe try to get some experience of the different elements in the UK so at least he has a heads up. If he can take courses and maybe gain a recognized qualification in those areas that would be very beneficial for the job at least.
There are 3 skill shortage lists (Long Term (LTSSL), Canterbury (CSSL) and Immediate (ISSL)). For Skilled Migrant Category, only occupations on the LTSSL are considered and be aware that the skill shortage list occupations change often so there is no guarantee that occupation will be present in the future.


Order to do things seems good although not sure you need to have NVQ qualifications assessed as they may be considered Trade level so I think so long as they are issued by the relevant body they are automatically accepted.....City & Guilds Of London are automatically accepted as being recognized even though specific City & Guilds qualifications aren't stated in black and white......It's on the exception certificate for the UK and maybe NVQ is accepted in the same way ?
Yes, since the EOI selection points is now minimum 160 it is unlikely you'd reach this without a job offer....also there's a new rule that if the applicant does not have any study experience in NZ OR doesn't have any work experience in NZ OR doesn't have a job offer in NZ they WILL NOT be awarded a Resident Visa irrespective of the EOI points they are claiming. All they will be able to get is a Job Search Visa which will only allow the principal applicant to come here for up to a year to find a skilled job and get the written offer which they then use to get the Resident Visas for themselves and any partner/dependents on the application.
There is no simple stress free way sorry.


Figuring out when to sell your house etc is difficult. If you took my advice I'd say don't sell at all until you have been here and lived in NZ for at least 2 years and are absolutely sure you don't want to go back. We kept our UK house 3 years before we decided to sell. It was our security blanket just in case we had to go back for whatever reason. We rented it out for the duration of that period which luckily paid for the mortgage, all the necessary insurances etc and gave us a couple hundred quid profit per month that we saved in the UK as a contingency for anything unforeseen.
Severing ties with a home and migrating across the world is high risk. Many do it though and I guess it all comes down to affordability.
Buying property in NZ straight away all depends how you intend to finance it and if the financing bank or whoever they are are happy with your visa status and risk. There is no credit score crap here the banks are only interested in risk and how you intend to service the debt. Each application is treated individually and the decision on one migrants mortgage application doesn't apply to anothers.
Have a look on www.countdown.co.nz to do an online shop for price comparison. Food etc is more expensive here anyway plus we have to pay 15% GST on top of those inflated prices.
You only need to have a partners qualification assessed if you intend to claim points for it on the EOI and it is not exempt.
Don't think being French is anything to worry about.
Can't really pinpoint anything major we would have done differently. Most people would say bring anything you have here in a shipping container and maybe with hindsight now we should have spent more time thinking about the stuff we would need and the stuff we wouldn't. We've had stuff in storage here for 5 years and after taking it out to move in to our first new home we own here wondered why the heck we ever bothered....at a premium of $100 a month.

Re: Guidance please and some questions
 

I won't answer on the Visa application because mine was family category so had different things to think about.

It is a good idea to reduce the number of things that have to be completed in the weeks leading up to leaving the country because that reduces your stress. Selling the house would be good not to leave to the last minute, but as previously mentioned, not selling it at all would achieve that too.
For most houses, at the moment there is no issue with a non-resident buying property (there are restrictions on houses that sit on large tracts of 'iconic' scenery but that won't apply to most houses). There will be an election here very soon and I am sure that I have seen at least one party pledge to stop foreigners buying property but they a referring to overseas investors, I don't for one moment think that such restrictions would apply to anyone living here whatever their resident status.
EVERYTHING costs a pretty penny here. The supermarket website will give you some clues but it is not the whole story. General taxation is lower here than in the UK but there will be extra costs for things like medical appointments, schools, others that don't cost anything extra in the UK (unless you use private services there). Electricity, mobile phones, internet connection, books, wine - the list goes on- essentially being civilised, will be more expensive in New Zealand.
Provided your visa says that you can work then you can work. If someone will have you.
There are no particular restrictions on French people as far as I am aware and there are a few French businesses in Auckland so one or two French people must have been allowed in before. I suspect that some of your official documentation might not be written in English so a translation into English might be required for those things to complete the visa application. Best to check on the application guidance to be certain.
Before moving here, I disposed of many old and low value items thinking that I could buy new when I got to New Zealand. I should have shipped everything - it can be expensive and/or impossible to find some items here.

Re: Guidance please and some questions
 

Thank you both for your detailed replies, they are really helpful. I still think we will sell the house in the UK and take a short loan in NZ as rent is crazy expensive and that way we can grow food etc...


Any way to check if his qualification is recognized without being assessed first? The bit about trade qualification is quite confusing.He is doing his course through CITB (national construction college), which is on their list for other qualifications. Maybe if I email them?

Re: Guidance please and some questions
 

Fine if you wanna do that with the house. It's your decision. In that case I'd get as much as I could for it, put the money in the bank and rent somewhere cheap/stay with relatives whatever you have to do and save some money for the future migration.

I've had a look at the 4 exemption lists for UK qualifications and NVQ (National Vocational Qualifications) aren't even mentioned so you'll have to have it assessed by NZQA.
Assuming it meets the necessary standard according to the NZQF in NZ it should be Level 3, 4 or 5 but all these levels allow you to claim 40 points only.

For CITB, they are an Apprenticeship Awarding Body not a Qualification Awarding Body, so it's not the qualification that gets you the points, it's the apprenticeship. So if he's passed a Modern Apprenticeship (MA) between 2003-2011, Advanced Apprenticeship (AA) between 2005-2011 or Advanced Level Apprenticeship / Level 3 Apprenticeship from 2012 onwards then he shouldn't require qualification assessment.