Tougal

Have been reading with interest many of the threads on this site and decided to have a go at posting and hopefully get some positive feedback ! Potted history of our story so far - we stayed with my sister and family in Nelson for a month last year and fell in love with the area. Put our house on the market about a month after coming home (July 08 - great timing, what ?!) No real interest until earlier this year and now have 2/3 very interested parties with either own property to sell or finances to sort out so could be a little while yet before formal (and acceptable) offer received. House is big old farmhouse, with separate flat, outbuildings etc so limits number of potential purchasers. Have spent most of our savings creating flat/adding and renovating rooms, so need to sell to give us a chance of buying outright in NZ.

Having looked into various ways of getting into NZ, including OH applying for a few jobs but up against too many NZ applicants each time, I think we may just take a chance and go as visitors if house sells, with a view to applying for all and any jobs that might enable us to apply for visas and/or residency ASAP when we get there. Some companies we have spoken to seem to be of the opinion that we would have much more success with job applications/interviews if we were in the country - is that fair comment ? We have two girls aged 14 and 11 who are (after initial misgivings from the older one !) madly keen to make the move. OH has twenty odd years experience in banking, now Office Manager at a golf club, but no recognizable degree so not enough points for EOI. Sister and family now citizens after five years in Auckland/Nelson but so long since she did her paperwork she's not able to offer much advice about what to do. OH is fairly reluctant to move without job but housing market has been so bad that I figure if we get a reasonable offer now we can't delay a move. Should state that during the holiday we lived with my sister while she and hubby were working F/T and looking after their three kids so not just seeing the place through rose tinted specs - I know they still have to work/cook/clean/have rows just like us but somehow having decent weather (we were there in May and came back with glowing tans and waterproofs unpacked) etc make things easier to cope with. I definitely suffer from SAD - undiagnosed, but basically don't want to venture out between Oct - Apr in Scotland. Would appreciate any comments/advice or contact from anyone in similar circumstances.

j19fmm

From reading the experiences of others I'd say this was a fair understanding.

Could you not go down the Family route as sister already a citizen?

Tougal

Thanks for your reply but seems that's not an avenue unless no other relatives living in UK (I have parents and 4 other siblings here) ?

southerner

The route you are thinking of taking is a risky one, especially with the current recession. Although you can normally pick up seasonal fruit picking type work around Nelson, thats not going to give you the points you need to get PR. I also have a banking/corporate background and would love to live in Nelson, but there are not many corporate roles there at all. As you have probably worked out, its a popular place to live and therefore some of the better jobs tend to go fairly quickly.

Sorry this is not a more positive message, and I would love you to prove me wrong, but I feel you need to clearly think through your plans and if you go ahead have contingency funds in case this recession goes on a bit, and in case you can't get the all important relevant role to get PR points.

Tougal

Thanks for the feedback - we appreciate this is not the best route to be taking but desperate times and all that ! We would hope to at least secure jobs for each of us to enable us to apply for work/student visas, in the hope that the economy will improve before they run out. Are you aware of timescale for receiving say two year work visa from application ? Kids are both early birthdays and well ahead in their respective classes so could afford to have them out of school for a short time but for the sake of settling in/making new friends we don't want to prolong this. Willing to be in Stoke or Richmond too, although not much further as pointless being too far from family if travelling to the other side of the world to join them ! I'd be a bit worried if I thought we couldn't secure any employment within six months if we are in the country and willing to knock on doors and/or use contacts through family. When OH decided to leave bank employment after 22 years (his mother had a fit !) we basically moved to a new area with no jobs but both in work within weeks albeit not so well paid for him. Of course its a much bigger deal to sell up everything and spend many pennies on removal/flights/rentals etc but we are young (ish!) fit and willing to work hard so will keep thinking positive thoughts. Parents are visiting Nelson again for a couple of months from late November (sister sees more of them than I do !) and one of their planned trips is to Dunedin which they haven't visited before - any recommended must do's ?

southerner

Albatross and penguin colonies, St Clair beach and promenade, street walk of heritage buildings, farmers market (Saturday am), Aramoana, University and Botanic Gardens. Those are my recommendations for a visit of a couple of days.

Back to Nelson - my favourite part (and where I have some family) is Mapua which is about 20min drive from Richmond on the Motueka road (towards Abel Tasman NP). Other popular villages are Wakefield and Brightwater which are further south of Richmond. Personally I'm not a big fan of Stoke, but Richmond is good.

All the best in your plans..

Tougal

Ah yes, the memories - taking me back now to a lovely picnic we had at Mapua on a gorgeous hot day en route to a day out in Motueka area. So many great trips (fantastic couple of days at Abel Tasman with lots of dolphins) but so many still to do ! My sister has been in Nelson for three years now and while Rabbit Island and Cable Bay are firm favourites she is still discovering new places to visit/camp close to home and they haven't ventured further south than Christchurch yet.

BEVS

I have a couple of simple questions for you to answer.

1 - Where is the bulk of your family based ? In NZ or the UK. By that I mean your living parents (both sides ) your siblings etc.

If the 'weight is in the UK, then it doesn't matter that your sister lives here.

2 - Is either of your occupations on the Long Term Shortage List or even on the Immediate shortage list?

I'll add a third. Could you get a job offer with an accredited NZ employer here in Nelson ?

Southerners views are sound. Extreme caution is needed. NZ is in recession and this area, Nelson and Tasman , is no different.

Of course, it is entirely up to you what risks you take.

Tougal

In answer to your queries :-

Both parents and 4 other siblings here in UK so no, family stream no good.

Not on skills shortage list.

Continally searching job ads and making applications and if house sale looks like a goer OH would think about going over to make applications from Nelson to see if that would improve chances. So job offer is a possibility although of course slim at the moment.

Thanks

BEVS

I have answered you in another thread.

Risky is the word I would use, but best of luck.

Psychopandy

My OH had to go over alone in May. It seemed the only way to stand any chance of getting any serious job offers. He set up a Skype account before he went with a new zealand number which seemed to help, and sent out tons of CVs, i think the problem is that its to easy to be forgotten if you are on the other side of the world.
It worked for us as he got the required job offer and we were fortunate that we didnt have to all (4) go - that would have been very expensive. He stayed with his cousin so he had a base and somewhere i could start looking should he not have come home (i do worry!!)
All i can say is persevere with your dream, never let it go, all good things come to those who wait x
I wish you lots of luck x

Things cant be this bad forever.....can it??

BigStuey

In regards to Dunedin daytrips I recommend the Cadburys chocolate factory tour (has a 1 tonne chocolate fountain and free samples as you go round) and the Speights Beer brewery tour (free samples at the end).

And as to the rest of the thread, as we say down here 'she'll be alright'.
You've got what it takes to move all the way to the other side of the world, so you've got what it takes to make sure you'll get through when you get here. It's the settler attitude.

Wooly_Cow

I feel for you. It's the old conundrum…no job no visa – no visa no job…..It took me 14 years to break this cycle (well sort of). I did it by getting a job offer (in fact two job offers) through NZ Job Expo in London (Yes you can get jobs through them). However we had to make tough choices still and I had to come down here without my family for a year. During that year we rented a small house in the UK, and kept our budget tight. If things hadn’t worked out I could have come back to the UK, OK with no job but at least a roof over our heads, and everyone else settled. This approach certainly lowered the risks.

The location you have chosen whilst being beautiful is small. Its population of around 50,000 is 2/3rds the size of Inverness, so the job market will be small.

Tougal

Thanks for your comments. We realise the size of Nelson means there are not so many jobs available but its the area we really want to settle in. With hindsight we might have thought of moving to NZ five years ago at the same time as my sister but of course we knew no-one there at that time. As soon as we returned from our visit to her, OH and I were scouring the internet for info on immigration - took a while before we admitted to each other what we were doing ! Even as little as a year ago there were far more jobs available and we had feedback from some contacts asking when we were arriving but with nothing doing on house sale we were unable to make any commitments. Hopefully things will pan out - we will keep all fingers and toes crossed and as you say things will surely improve sometime. We have been lucky so far to always be moving home when it was a sellers' market - this time it hasn't worked out in our favour but we are determined peeps so will keep beavering away ! Psychopandy - when are you moving over for good and which area ? Good to hear of someone being successful on the job front - bet you are relieved. TTFN

BEVS

I agree. Maybe a way to go is look to get a job offer from anywhere where one is on offer and then if one gains PR look to move to the Nelson area.

One thing to keep an eye on though is that if the job offer ain't on the long term shortage list PR may not be a goer at this time, even if the occupation is seen as skilled. This is simply because there could well be NZ citizens or residents that could take up that job. A temporary work visa is just that and may not be renewed in this economic climate as we have been hearing of late.