Bo-Jangles

The OP has a decision on a specific job offer that is in Auckland and seems that has been a long time coming, so really no point talking about what ifs and how much cheaper it is to live in other cities. Now is not the time to debate whether other places are better or worse, the only decision is do they want to move to NZ or not and more specifically do they want to move to Auckland or not and can they afford to be picky about jobs.

Auckland has a lot of traffic, I am sure they are well aware of that. Houses are expensive and I am sure they will have worked through all that too. $170k is a good salary and well above average so yes they can afford to have a reasonably nice life. The four weeks leave probably is what it is and if the OP want to take extra unpaid leave to go overseas, then that's usually possible.

Moses2013

Well yes, is Auckland the NZ they want. It's like having the image of an English garden or cottage by the sea in Cornwall and you get a job offer in Hounslow.
If you are happy to stay in London for a few years to eventually get to Cornwall, great. A $100K salary is also good if you don't have a mortgage and can afford to buy a $900K property outright.
Everything should be considered, even the distance from the children who may, or may not, come over.

brits1

I have to agree, I think gone are the days when lots migrated to “live the dream” and for some quite easily done, say like for like …if we had our same jobs now in WA and wanted to buy our old home and lived the lifestyle we lived when last in Australia, based on today’s cost of living etc it was be nearly impossible to have that standard of living again, I am all for “giving things a go” and still do but I tend to “weigh up my options “ a lot more. My little worry for the original poster is that will his children (if they should want to) be able to live and work in NZ when they have finished their education as they are adults so maybe not on a family visa and would have to go through the whole process of applying for themselves if that were to be the case, I had a friend who thought her children would join her when they had “finished with life in the UK” alas they could not obtain their visas and still live in the uk today while parent are in Australia.

Moses2013

Very true and on paper a higher salary always seems better to those who earn less and the give it a go attitude can work when you have nothing. It gets more complicated when you've reached a certain age and move from a low cost to high cost area. You might have nearly paid off the mortgage back home and were thinking of early retirement near the beach. Suddenly it's just enough for the deposit in your new location and you realise that the job is still just a job. It's not guaranteed you will keep that job, you might not like it and will you get the same salary again? Suddenly you are stuck in a city that looked different on paper, the traffic is just as bad, you have the same restaurant chains and the kids are far far away. Even if I wanted to move back to Kent (around Canterbury) today, I would have to sell our main home + the holiday home and would end up with a higher mortgage and smaller property (The dream)......

Bo-Jangles

They have had ay least six years to consider and research that, since they were last posted on this 'ere forum and were well advised then about the cost of living and houses. If they were not settled on Auckland being the place for them, then why bother going for the job interview. It doesn't matter if the job offer is in a shitty part of town, they do not have to live there; there are wealth of different suburbs and opportunities to find the dream lifestyle, be that in a rural setting, by the beach, a lifestyle block with chooks and sheep, on an island with an apartment or pied-a-terre in town. All are possible in Auckland, if they have the money of course - if not then it's a bigger decision, if the only option is to settle for one of the more 'affordable homes' in the back of beyond at Pukekohe.

AdinoHignecino

Congratulations on the offer!

Ignoring the doom and gloom responses for a second, my only comment would be regarding the accommodation on arrival. 2 weeks is not long in a hot rental market to find, view, and secure a place. You might be lucky, or you might be stuck in an expensive AirBnB for weeks. Don't forget you'll want to have a good look around a few areas when you arrive to see where feels right for you. So on this point only, I would see whether there is any negotiation on the duration of the paid accommodation when you arrive. For context, I was given 6 weeks accommodation when we relocated. In the event, we found a place in the first week and moved into it the week after, but that was in Christchurch and the market was a different animal back then.

Best of luck, and happy packing

Justcol

One thing to bear in mind is that 2 of those 4 weeks leave will probably be swallowed up in a compulsory Christmas shut down, when the whole of NZ grinds to a halt and goes camping.
what is it with kiwis and camping ⛺⛺⛺

Justcol

Hounslow is only an hours commute from lots of village homes with country gardens in the beautiful Hampshire countryside

I simply don't get your obsession with trying to put a downer on anything NZ related. You simply refuse to accept that some of us actually love living here, or that new migrants might actually be happy here.
Your experience isn't everyone's so please stop trying to ram your negativity down everyone's throat.

BEVS

I did wonder if that might apply

Moses2013

Yes, like the person who never looks at the individuals situation anyway. Love you too

richandsarah3469

OK - where to start.....update....

It's been over 12 months since I posted here - thank you for all the comments - but we have now made the move over to Auckland.

The move was slightly delayed since getting my job offer (by 12 months!) due to a major health issue - ie: my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer just as we are sorting out medicals etc for our Visa application to NZ. Everything was put on hold whilst she had the operations and treatment etc, and to cut-a-long-story-short, she is now 100% cancer free again and back to her (old) self!

So, my new employer was very supportive and put my job on hold until everything in the UK was sorted-out, and after going though a fairly straight-forward Visa process (which we did ourselves with no assistance from Visa Consultants - if anyone wants any advice feel free to ask and I can tell them about our experience), we arrived in Auckland at the end of May '23 - via a few short-break stopovers in Malaysia, Vietnam, Bali and Oz.

My wife found a job with no bother. As soon as her visa was approved it seemed to free-up so many job offers and she started teaching within 2 weeks of arriving here.
My Employer put us up in a hotel for 4 weeks, hired a car for us, and reimbursed our flights, accommodation and visa costs, and we had a few weeks off whilst we looked for somewhere to rent.

After a bit of searching we found a lovely house in Auckland, and we are so happy to be here - honestly feel like we've been here for ever...we feel so at home. Met the neighbours and been invited in for beers - nice!

Initial thoughts about the move are really positive.......We arrived in a period of nice settled bright weather in May, which was lovely. Yes it does rain - really hard - but the weather brightens up so quickly. The light is so much better here, than the long grey UK days (we haven't seen anything like that here) and this is winter!! The wind likes to blow a bit too.....! Auckland feels very 'familiar' to me, but the trees, vegetation, birds are different from the UK, and it feels like I'm on holiday still everyday - despite working, commuting etc.

We have a bit of a commute from our house to work - both around 30 mins - which is so much better than the UK. However on the odd occasion when I need to be in the CDB by 8am SH1 is a long crawl! It is always nose-to-tail. I am fortunate that I can manage my own time and try to avoid that one.

I agree that the food costs are high, but I really don't feel as though it is significantly more expensive than the UK. Eating out is very similar in cost - I did feel that prices in the UK had increased since covid. Obviously veg and fruit are expensive in NZ but the quality seems so much better than the mass imports of the UK. We don't eat meat so can't comment on how that differs.

We've been out and about around Auckland and visited North Shore, West Coast, East Coast, Rotorua - even had a trip to Wellington for the weekend (now that's a windy place!!!)

In summary, so pleased to have made the move here, despite the challenges that have been thrown in front of us. I appreciate we still have our rose-tinted glasses on, but I think we'll be keeping them on as they are significantly better than the grey tinted ones in the UK!!

Thanks for reading these ramblings.....

Justcol

Great to hear you made it.
​​​Despite all the gripes and political grumblings, it's still a great place to be.

LittleGreyCat

If you don't mind me asking (personal interest as a cancer survivor) was there any issue at all about your wife having had cancer in the last year?
The visa criteria for the Parents Category Visa seem to be down on any cancer in the recent past.

richandsarah3469

Hi....thanks for the reply.
There we no issues really with my wife's cancer history when we applied for the visa.
She is on a standard independent Work Visa and had to submit a bit more information than usual. So, during the visa medical process she had to state that she had had cancer, and as a result the Doctor noted that on the visa medical.
When this was submitted to immigration NZ they responded asking for a copy of a letter from my wife's consultant at the hospital where she had the surgery, treatment and aftercare.
Immigration were quite specific about the information they needed - type of cancer, surgery type and outcome, type of aftercare (radiotherapy) and a statement that she was 'cancer free' with no ongoing issues. She is taking a number of tablets for the treatment and these details were sent to immigration too.
She got the letter (which took a long time to arrive, as consultants probably are not too interested in writing non-essential letters I think) and sent it to Immigration.
Once she submitted the letter, immigration were happy, and visa was approved.
​​​​​​Also, she organised a 3 month supply of her tablets in the UK before we moved, and since arriving in NZ she registered with a doctor and they contacted her UK doctors to get her medical records sent over, and she has actually just collected her next set of tablets in NZ - same type same manufacturer.
The whole process has been quite seamless really.
Hope that assist..If you want anything else happy to help
Richard

richandsarah3469

Thanks for the reply..Yep, seems infinitely better than the UK.