kazzie

My husband has been offered a good job in Auckland and would be able to get out there under the Work to Residency - Talent (Accredited Employers). I could apply for the Family Visa for partners, my 13 and 17 year old could apply for student visas, however my 19 year old, has completed her studies for a BTEC Diploma in ICT and has a contract job for 6 months as a Team Secretary using some of her ICT skills - although these are not advanced qualifications. She could not apply for a skilled migrant job, as does not qualify. I am not sure that she would get away with being classed as dependant on us, although would effectively be unemployed! Anyone any ideas about which visa I could apply for, for her???? Only other way I can think of is going out with visitors visa and then looking for work once there - but there is then a risk that she will not be offered work without work permit, and we risk our family being split up. She is not very independent and know she could not cope without us around. Heeeeeelp pleeez!

newkiwi

she can come to Nz on a working holiday visa, which will enable her to live and work in Nz for a year. At the end of the year (or anytime during that year), if she can get somebody to sponsor her she can get a workpermit.

what category are you coming to Nz, according to the NZ immigration website, a dependant child is defined as:

Dependent children
Skilled Migrant Investor, Entrepreneur, Residence from Work and other residence categories:
Dependent children of a principal applicant are children aged up to 24 years who are unmarried and who have not married, in a civil union, or in a defacto relationship, and who have no children of their own. They need not live with you but must at least rely mainly on you or your partner for financial support.

Temporary Work, Study, Visit or Limited Purpose Visas:
Dependent children of a principal applicant are children aged up to 19 years who are unmarried, in a civil union, or in a de facto relationship, and who have no children of their own. They need not live with you but must at least rely mainly on you or your partner for financial support.


So she might still qualify as a dependant child.

If not, she can probably also enroll in a full time study course in Nz, but will likely be required to pay international fees. With a NZ qualification and work experience she may then have enough points to qualify for a skilled visa on her own.

there is a last remaining relative visa for an adult child as well, but to get that her sponsors (you) need to have been NZ perm residents for three years and she needs to be living in another country to you (ie UK)

kazzie

Thanx for that. Some good advice there. I am getting a little webb weary trawling the immigration sites!!!! We would be going out with a work to residency visa - and although you can apply for residency after 2 years with this route, we may try another quicker route towards residency when there ie skilled migrant, so that we don't have such a long wait. I think becoming a resident helps save you money in general over there, so it would be worth doing. My only concern now is that if my 19 year old came over under another visa, we would not have time to become residents before hers runs out. Also if she were to get a job offer and work visa, she would then not be a dependant child and may then have to apply for residency under her own steam. I am worried that she may not have enough points and get refused. It is all a bit of a gamble, but still want to go for it if we can. May always regret it if we don't give it a go! Does any one know if my 19 year old were to get work, if she would still be able to be included in our residency under skilled migrant, even if she were not totally dependant??? Would it be hard for her to find secretarial work over there without the work visa????? She would need to get the job offer before the visa, which could make it harder for her. Head is starting to spinnnnn!!!! Any advice appreciated on this!!!! Thanx

SidNZ

We originally came out in Oct 2004 on Work to Residnece Visas and our children were on Working Holiday Visas (they were 19 and 21 at the time).

I included them on our Skilled Migrant application a few months later and they were given residency. I had to prove that they were dependant on us, which consisted of a letter saying they were living at home and fortunately at the time were not working.

Cheers,

Sid

kazzie

Thanx for that Sid. I was sure that someone must have brought over older teenagers and found a way of doing it without getting split up. It sounds like they just need to remain unemployed for a while until residency agreed!!!! Are they any stipulations with Working Holiday Visas that say they have to find work in certain amount of time, or what kind of employment they can get????? That sounds like it may be the best route for us, if we don't hang about too long applying for residency once there. Any recommendations of good state senior schools for my 13 and 17 year old in Auckland area????? How have other people's 17 year olds coped???? My 17 year old is in the middle of her AS/A Levels at the moment and worried that she may have trouble adapting to new schooling system and then getting into university????? Thanx for all the good advice, keep it coming!!!!!

SidNZ

Hi Kazzie,

The route we took could have been risky had we not been able to secure residency when arrived as the kids would have only been able to remain in NZ legally for 12 months, which from memory was the only condition on their visa.

If you have enough points I reckon you should consider applying through the Skilled Migrant route.

We also ended up paying for medicals twice!!

I can't help with schools as we are no where near Auckland and our two are above school age.

Cheers,

Sid

kazzie

Thanx Sid, Where are you living? How have your two children adapted to way of life out there? I think it must be harder for them, when older, to make a new life, leaving behind so many good friends etc, it would be good to know what your two make of it and whether they have managed to find work alright???

Any one else who can help with advice on schools in Auckland area and advice on 17 year old fitting into education system would be appreciated!

SidNZ

Hi Kazzie,

We are down in the Wellington which is a beautiful place to live and work.

Our children have adapted very well are both work although I do agree with you that it is probably more difficult when they are older particularly if they have formed strong friendships. Our lad initially came out with the idea that he was not going to like it but after a while he settled down, got a job and made a good circle of friends.

They love their life here and know where they are better off.

If your daughter has a positive attitude to the move she should be fine.

Regards,

Sid

kazzie

Thanx Sid, yes we loved Wellington when we were there on holiday last year travelling around. We have some friends who emigrated with younger children and are living on the Kapiti Coast, whom we visited. We were worried there wouldn't be that much nightlife/festivals etc going on down there though. We didn't see that much of Auckland, and didn't get north of it as run out of time in schedule, but it is alot more populated and more of a city feel to it. We are not city people and wouldn't want to live in one, but it would be good for the kids to have access to all going on there. Our kids are very positive about the move now we have visited, even though 19 year old is in a long term relationship, that seems to be going off the boil now, so timing seems perfect. Where abouts are you living near Wellington? Everyone seems to think it is worth bringing with you as much as you can - would you agree? As salary is effectively halved and cost of groceries much the same, where would the savings be made would you say? Rather scarey halving the income and house prices don't seem alot cheaper up near Auckland either. How is the weather, is it really Windy Wellington?? Did you bring over any pets?? We have a labrador dog and a young cat and I know that rentals can be hard to find with pets. Would you recommend your shippers? Wondering whether it is worth bringing Mercedes E class estate car with us, as husband only had it a few months - would parts be really expensive?? Thanx so much for all the advice, much appreciated.

newkiwi

Well wellington is very nice, smaller than auckland but still NZs second city (in terms of size, before everybody outside of auckland jump on my back about that) We didnt find it too windy, the winds tend to be around autumn and spring, so summers are actually very nice ( i think wellington weather is better than auckland, where it rains more and can get quite muggy)

If you heading to auckland then you will find you live in quite an expesive city by Nz standards, but considering 25% of all new zealanders live in auckland then you can appreciate that a lot of things are centered there. it doesnt take long to get out of the city though, lots of nice beaches around, but areas around it are priced to match unfortunately.

I personally would not take th ecar, not because Merc are cheap in Nz, but rather that Mercs and BMWs seem to be few and far between, your moving to second hand Japanese import country, with fords and Holdens from aus thrown in too. Its pretty easy to pick up a decent 2nd hand car cheaply, so in th elong run with services and spares etc (as well as import duties, shipping etc) you are prob better off leaving the car behind.

Crown are good in terms of shipping, but can be expensive, there have been some threads on shipping on here before.

cheers and good luck

SidNZ

Hello again Kazzie,

It might be easier to PM me with your email address for future responses.

Well this is might personal opinion and I know people in Auckland will jump up in defence of their city but I think that it is a big urban sprawl with lots of traffic. We did stay there for a couple of days on our recce/holiday, and I have been back a couple of times for work and I haven't changed my mind about the place.

The good people of Wellington know how to party and the capital rocks (not just from earthquakes). There is always loads going sports/entertainments/etc.

We are not big city people which is why we chose Wellington (we live in Upper Hutt) and have not regretted it, and so far we can't see ourselves living anywhere else.

My wife had almost everything she could packed in the container, except old furniture that we replaced when we got here. When the container arrived after being here 8 weeks we both wondered why we bought some of the stuff. Certainly bring as much as you can but also think of what you might be replacing when you get here. For instance you will need a kettle when you get here so why pack one unless it is new.

I am probably the wrong person to ask about where savings are to be made as we are better off than we were up there, and it helps not having one of those mortgae things (had one for 23 years and decided we didn't like them).

Compared to the UK the weather Wellington is brilliant - yes we get wind and rain but then again so does everywhere in NZ. Coats are not often worn in the winter and on some days when the sun is shining you can sit outside a cafe drinking coffee - you cannot do that up there without getting frostbite!!!

We didn't bring any pets over but I understand that it is quite expensive. We know someone who came over with a Boxer with out to much trouble.

We used PSS as our shippers and we couldn't fault them.

I did consider bringing a car over but by the time I had worked out what the costs were the economics didn't stack up.

Cheers for now,

Sid