Katy87

Hi I am going to claim New Zealand citizinship by descent and take my son 7 to New Zealand and look for work. I would need him to attend a free school. What visa should I apply for? For him. Also will he be able to get any dental or medical care? I know you can not claim any job seeking benfits until residing in New Zealand for 2 years just wanted to know if this is the same for all welfare. Hopefully I would get a job quite soon after arriving.

MrsFychan

If you are granted a visa he should be able to get one off the back of that,? but you would need to check the circumstances under the descent route as not sure what that entitles him to.

Free schools ? public schools have a "voluntary" contribution dependant on the decile of the school, the higher the decile the more you pay.
You would all get health care but like everything in NZ you have to pay and again it depends on what visa you are issued with.
As for benefits not sure if there is a time limit like Australia think most are done on how much you earn.

Hopefully someone will come along who has been through some of what you are asking but if not just call NZ Immigration in London and ask they are usually very helpful

Katy87

Thanks I won't get a visa I will be able to get a passport so can just move. I thought the schooling wanslike in the uk. I thought maybe children could receive free health care or dental care they do in some countries.

MrsFychan

Healthcare - Once the children are 6(?) could be as soon as they start school at 5, they have to pay unless you are a very low income family where you may get help.
Schooling is nothing like the UK for young children, more about socialising than learning in set lessons. Must say I am not impressed with either of my kids first school. My DD, 12 now, was so bored we moved her onto secondary school a year early where lessons are more set and you can see that they are learning. Have moved DS out of his first school as it was run so badly that bullying was rife and kids with special needs just wandered around the school unsupervised getting into all sorts of trouble.

You would need to see what paperwork your son would need to allow him to stay? so something you will have to look into as it may not be as easy as you just having a passport.

JerseyMatt

My first thought is to suggest you ring INZ in London and speak to them directly explaining your situation, it might be that you can get a student visa for him.

BEVS

For others looking in HERE is a previous thread .

Katy87.
What shows on your son's birth certificate please. I have looked at previous post and cannot see the answer to this.

Does the father's name appear on the birth certificate ?

It is important & relevant .

BEVS

Another older thread on this

and

another

Katy87

Yes his fathers name does but he has no contact through the courts he hasn't seen him for 7 years. I don't believe he would stop me taking him to anothe country for any reason. I'm not really sure we would move to New Zealand soon just thinking about all the options. What visa my son would need and if he could go school there if we moved. Just thinking now really and want some advice.

BEVS

If your son's father is named on the birth cert, then you would need to seek his permission to remove him to New Zealand.
It is a requirement and proof will need to be shown.

I have pinged a couple of people who may be able to answer ref. his possible NZ visa status .

If he could gain NZ schooling would depend on what visa he entered NZ on.

Katy87

Ok thanks. Not sure how I would get contact I don't really want any contact with him. Would he have to fill in a form or write a letter to say its ok? I think he could enter on a visitor visa maybe but could apply for a school visa straight away in New Zealand. Not sure how much they both cost.

bourbon-biscuit

Not entirely accurate. In fact, barely accurate:
http://www.health.govt.nz/new-zealan...ility-services

(my bolding)

Again, not accurate. You are over-generalising from your own experience; I can assure you it is normal for students in NZ to learn through well-planned lessons. There is more of a focus on cooperative learning (tuakana teina) thank in the UK, but the main focus is on curriculum learning, not "socialising". Sorry if you are experiencing crap schools, tho - that's a trying situation whatever country you live in.

To the OP: we came to NZ with my husband who was a NZ citizen by descent. I applied for residency, which included my children, and once we were in NZ with intention to stay, my children were eligible for full NZ citizenship. Getting it for them took a couple of weeks.
What I am not sure about is whether you would need to apply for residency for your son - I suspect you would. You will definitely need permission from a birth cert. named father (or a court ruling that says you can go anyway). Schooling is free in NZ - and lots of expats are very happy with the schooling their children receive. My kids recently spent 6 months in the UK in excellent UK schools - my youngest was in a primary I could hardly find any fault with - but they are both happy and learning and growing in their great schools here too. You will need to choose the school with as much care and time as you would spend doing the same in the UK - probably more because everything will be so different.

bourbon-biscuit

PS I think you would need to apply for residence visa for your son, not visitor:

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...ld/default.htm

Because of this on the NZ citizenship site

Here: http://www.dia.govt.nz/Services-Citi...p?OpenDocument

Don't quote me on it, but I think to get the citizenship he needs to be in NZ with residence. Prolly worth contacting the citizenship office, rather than immi to get it clarified. Good luck.

Gozit

Yeah - to summarize for OP (correct me if im wrong)- if you are NZ citizen by descent (I think you have mentioned in other threads your father was born in NZ?) , your kid cannot be NZ citizen by descent, but if you apply for him and receive a residence permit for him in his UK passport, and go to NZ with the intention to reside, they will grant him NZ citizenship (sort of like Canada does now as of 2009)

Mrsbrightside7

Hi, I am in exactly the same situation as you. I have citizenship by descent and a 7 year old son. For him to go to school when we arrive in NZ he will need a student visa. Once we are living in NZ I have to apply for his residency as a dependant child.
You will need permission by form of a letter signed in the presence of a solicitor by the child's father. If he does not agree to do this then you will need to obtain a court order.
Hope that helps!