steved44

Hi,

Im Steve and wife is Elaine and we are very serious about emigrating to NZ. We have not been to NZ before but feel we know it inside out all the research we have done.

We are using a specialist migration company based in Hamilton, who are great guys. We are hoping to settle in the Auckland area but not sure yet.

We have two cats called Cleo and Poppy who will be coming with us and hope to be there within the next couple of months.

Hope to exchange posts with all of you and maybe meet up when we arrive.

Steve and Elaine

howden40

Welcome and hope things go as planned. If you want any questions answered this is the place to visit - most are very helpful, you get the odd nutter/pessimist, but generally helpful

Persephone

Hello and welcome,



Yes, most people are very helpful so just ask if you have anything you want to know. Have you got jobs and visas sorted then?

Sue

steved44

Hi Sue,

No not yet. I need a job offer to gain my visa. There are a couple of possibilities which are in the pipeline so we are keeping our fingers crossed. After reading different peoples experiences we also find that employers in NZ are awfully slow but we are trying our best to be patient!!

Regards,

Steve and Elaine

Persephone

Hi Steve and Elaine,

Good luck with the job hunt and hoping you hear very soon I take it you're going for a work visa or WTR??

Sue

steved44

Thanks Sue - yes work visa most likely. WTR requires an accredited employer and not found one who wants what I do yet.

What about you, are you in the UK or NZ?

iow_bird

Hi
we're hoping to be in Auckland by the end of August! Other half is a laminator and has job interviews lined up in Auckland in a few weeks! I'm nearly pulling my hair out with all the planning (also planning our wedding for the 8th August and moving on to a boat for a month or so before we leave s things are a bit upside down here)!

Is only one of you looking for work out there? I'm hoping to find work soon after arriving and will have work permit through other halfs work permit. I'm a radiographer so shouldn't be too hard to find work hopefully (had a few job offers out there last year so fingers crossed).

Until ben gets a job offer, we can't look for somewhere to live and don't know whether we should wait til we're out there before looking? Its all so confusing!!

steved44

Hi,

Well, congrats to Ben for lining up interviews so quickly. I wish you all the luck in the world. Yes, it's only me looking for work. I'm in IT, an analyst/programmer, and my speciality seems a bit scarce. I need a job offer before I can apply for a work visa.

Are you using a migration agency or doing it yourself? We're using a company in NZ and they will help us find a place to rent when we get there.

Take care and good luck wedding plans.

Steve and Elaine

iow_bird

We're using a job agent in Auckland who is arranging all the job interviews and work permits for both of us. He seems really nice although we've only had e-mail and phone contact with him. We don't pay him anything, the employer will pay all the fees. Seems like a pretty good way of doing things, if Ben doesn't get a job then it's just the flight cost we'll have lost, but he'll have had a week in New Zealand so we'll have got something for our money!!

Are you finding it a bit difficult not knowing where you'll be in a few months time, and not wanting do anything towards leaving as you don't want to tempt fate!! I've got to start throwing stuff away in the next few days and all our stuff is being sold or thrown before the 12 July except what we'll take to New Zealand as we're moving out of our flat to save money and so we can leave quicker. It's quite scary, but if it all falls through we'll be going out on working holiday visas and hoping we can sort out residency/work permits while we're out there.

Hope you aren't finding it all too stressful!

Persephone

Hi, I'm in the UK applying for PR but packed the job in and going to NZ in about a month [via Asia]. I'll be coming back after about three months to do some locum work in the UK and will hopefully get a visa by the end of the year. Depends on whether I get a job offer whilst over there.
Good luck with the job hunt


Good luck with the immigration and the wedding plans
You don't believe in making life easy do you
All the best with your plans
Sue

steved44

(Steve's wife here)

Hi iow_bird

We know what you mean about not knowing where we will be in a few months time but we are staying positive. We are not selling our house so we are ready to go as soon as the visa is secured. We will rent for 12-18 mths in NZ until the market conditions have picked up here in the UK, then we will be in a position to know exactly where we want to live in NZ once our house is sold.

It does get very frustrating but we believe it will happen and thats what keeps us going.

Hope you are successful and can start your new married life in NZ.

Good luck

Elaine & Steve

iow_bird

We're trying to stay positive too, even if this all falls through, we'll have enough money and are young enough to go to NZ on working holiday visas at the end of August, it's a bit more risky, but hopefully we'll be able to stay out there once it runs out!

Good luck!

clair73

Hi Steve
We have been here for five years now. My husband came out looking for a job before we came out. When we moved i hadnt seen NZ either, i remember flying over the canterbury planes and thinking ' oh sh*t i have brought my kids to a country i have never seen before and i cant go back, what was i thinking' But as soon as we got into the airport excitement kicked in. I am sure if you hang in there something will come and everything will fall into place and then your feet wont hit the ground

steved44

Hi Clair73,

Yes it's a mixture of wild excitement and deepest fear. Rollercoaster is a very apt description. As I type I'm awaiting a Skype call with a prospective employer next week, so fingers crossed. Also I'm planning to come out for a week towards the end of the month to see any other companies that want to see me.

We've not been there before either, but done loads of research so feel we know it quite well. We have thought about doing a recce but someone else told us that you never know what it's like to live somewhere until you actually live there. All the time you have that return ticket in your wallet your merely on holiday. I think that's true, so we've chosen to keep our money on deposit here. However, we are determined to get there and can't wait for it all to happen.

Regards,

Steve and Elaine.

clair73

Good Luck. The thing is that when push comes to shove if it feels right you have to feel the fear and do it anyway Nothing is ever gained otherwise.
If you come over and are in or near christchurch drop me a line and i will show you and Elaine around and you can come and share a meal with us