Karen2000

Hi

Just thought I would post to introduce myself and hopefullly get a little advice in the process .

My hubbie a NZ citizen has decided he wants to live in NZ ( he left as a child and has not returned since ) I am a UK citizen and we are currently living in Spain we have had a house here for approx the last 5 years . We love it here but jobs are hard to come by , my husband is 35 and now feels he wants a more secure future with better job prospects . He has a tentative job offer and is travelling to NZ on 20th Nov to stay with a friend near Auckland .

I am concerned about organsing the removals from Spain as I have less choice here and don`t want to make a mistake with who we choose , we have had a quote from Armishaws . They travel regularly between Uk and Spain and seem professional , has anyone dealt with them ?

I also have a dog which we need to ship , any advice ? I am still waiting for his passport to come through in Spain , he was a stray who turned up on our doorstep one day so we are still doing the paperwork.

I have read somewhere that I need at least 2 years left on my passport before expiry or I will not be granted entry into NZ . Also , NZ immigration have told us that the easiest way for me to get to NZ is to enter on a 6 month`s visitors visa and then apply for residency with my husband sponsoring me . We have the forms and all seems ok , has anyone else done this ? is this the correct route ? I have read through this site for the last couple of weeks and my head is swimming with all the info . I expect all of these q`s have been asked many times before but a point in the right direction would be appreciated .

I remember well the thoughts and apprehension we felt when we made the decision to leave England ( we lived in Bournemouth ) but we were so excited nothing seemed a problem . We would not consider returning , the reasons we left in the first place are still the same , we love open spaces and a quieter pace of life so NZ should suit us in lots of ways .

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks Karen and Mike

poppets

sorry i can't help, but welcome & good luck
we used Crown relocations to ship our stuff from UK to NZ,(would recommend) but they are a worldwide company & they have a office in Madrid if thats of any use http://www.crownrelo.com/web/relo.nsf/map.europe.htm

newkiwi

Is there any reason for him not to sponsor you before you leave for NZ, if nothing else it will be one less thing to worry about when you get to NZ.

Do you need police checks, medicals etc. If you need police checks it may be easier before you leave, as you would need them for spain as well as the UK. Im not sure if you need them as a spousal applicant, best to check on the website.

Am Loolah

Hi Karen,

Snap my hubby is a NZ citizen too. He left when his parents separated when he was 7. He went back for a visit and to see his Dad when he was 18 - I have to say that didn't go very well - but thankfully didn't put him off the country! After 18 years of niggling from me, we went on holiday to NZ in April/May and decided that we would make THAT move.

The route we have gone down is Dave is sponsoring me for PR. I have had to have a medical and chest x-ray (not cheap!) and a police check, fill out reams of forms, he has had to sign a statement of declaration as we had a stumbling block when we were unable to find his Deed Poll Certificate (changed his Maori surname.) The kids had to all have Citizenship By Descent Forms and Passport Applications go off - sooo much paperwork! We sent everything together and got a letter within a couple of days saying they needed Dave's passport. After minor heart attack I rang them and they'd made an error and had it all the time!

Forms are quite straightforward - all can be printed off the NZIS website.