scottishstacey

Great stuff! Im sure you'll enjoy it. Is there much physio work for you there or do you have to get skills assessments etc yet

Steve88

Hi, it's Becky - Steve's OH - thanks for all the advice..... I'm glad to hear there are casual jobs available - atm I'm doing bits and pieces - cleaning, carework and working with children to fit in with school hours, so am used to being a bit flexible!! In the future I would hope to either get a job in line with my degree or possibly working with pre-school children as I already have this experience, but understand I may need to do more training....maybe alongside working?

On the note of areas for renting and schools - are rural areas more expensive for renting? We are lucky enough to live in the countryside over here in UK and our children go to a small local school which is great - we are not really city folk and would hope to be able to afford to live just outside of CH if possible..... Also what are rural areas like in terms of crime and schooling? I would expect there are areas you would want to avoid like any other place so any advice on this would be helpful.... obviously we will be wanting to get our kids into school ASAP after arriving.... along with finding a job, place to stay, getting furniture e.t.c (so many things to think about it!!) I think we'll just have to give ourselves plenty of time to have a good look around, go visit schools e.t.c. -maybe try and time it so we arrive in school holidays at the end of the year.... - exciting stuff!!

Pom_Chch

Hi Becky,

Living rurally is affordable around Chch. Areas north of Chch to look at could be Kaiapoi, Woodend, Rangiora and Amberley and Leithfield.

Kaiapoi is about 20 mins drive to central Chch. It's a great area! We are looking at buying there in about 6 months to one year. It has a rural feel to it, is close to the beach and still has all your amenities - supermarket, doctors, pharmacy, schools etc.

Then just north east of Kaiapoi is Woodend, which is a small rural place 30 mins to Chch. Although our relatives advised holding off buying in this area because there may be a bypass being built through it.

Then north west of Woodend you Rangiora, which is about 35 mins to Chch. It's a little bigger than Kaiapoi and has a nice feel to it.

Then north again of Rangiora you have Amberley, which is another small town around 45 mins to Chch. This is more rural and has the bare essentials. Although if you get work in Chch the commute may cost quite a bit in petrol. There is Leithfield, which is just south of Amberley by 5 mins. My OH's aunt and uncle live there. It's a tiny place with a school so small it looks like someone's house! It has a little library and a pub as well. Leithfield is the most rural out of all of the places mentioned.

I'm not sure on places south of Chch, maybe someone else can jump in with suggestions!

Good luck with the move! It is lovely here!

Steve88

Thanks, will def have to do some scouting about before deciding where to send kids to school It's still early days - putting house on the market in the spring and hoping to get our EOI in soon to get the ball rolling.... we did look into getting work to residence visa but have decided to go SMC as we think we have enough points to be in with a good chance even without job offer, and also means we will hopefully have a bit more freedom regarding jobs...(i.e. not having to stay with same employer for 2 years if not happy!!) Fingers crossed!

saltypop

Hi. I would add that I think it's a really good idea for at least one of you to go over before you make further plans. I applied (and got) a job and felt I needed to see the country first. In particular because I had a choice of locations I wanted to see what the different areas were like. Before going me and my OH had set our hearts on Christchurch. We'd done loads of research. However, having visited Wellington Auckland and Christchurch I decided Christchurch wasn't for me at all. I loved Welly and Auckland though. Obviously personal preference. There was nothing that put me off Christchurch. I had a lovely visit but I just felt more at home in the other places I'd visited. I absolutely loved the country and think wherever you move you will enjoy it. Far more friendly. All the best.

Synky

We would love to visit first but don't have the fundage! I visited in my teens and my sister is there now so that will have to do

simonsi

You can change employer after 3mths, you just have to get the visa updated but the first employer cant prevent it AFAIK....

Steve88

A pre-visit would be the ideal thing to do although fundage is the main problem for us too.... maybe Steve could go a month or two before me and the kids to sort out accommodation, apply for jobs e.t.c. -

Simonsi - re: WTR visas - think I must have interpreted it wrong... I thought you had to stay in same employment/same line of work for 2 years!? (so much info to take in and decisions to make.....!!) I think SMC maybe better avenue to take for us anyway with timing e.t.c. (we still have to sell our house!) and hopefully no need for job offer before applying.... it's catch 22 with getting job offer isn't it? (I've read that most employers may not give you an interview without being in person or without PR (or in process of) - also not sure how long most job offers stay open for.....)

Just hoping we have enough points without job offer to get ITA.....wish us luck!! x

Synky

The recruiter said if we got a job offer they would expect us to start 10 weeks later, the time to get a WTR Accredited visa.

simonsi

From when we submitted the application to passports back in hand was 5 days for our WTR, depends on their workload in the office processing it...

Synky

I think it's 10 weeks for all the medical, police stuff as well and your work notice.

simonsi

Medicals, Police cert and job notice can all go in parallel and are as fast as they happen, but likely the notice period is the longest, 10 days is std turnaround time for Police Certs in the UK, so 5 weeks easy....

Synky

Great news, thanks.

I don't think I would like to give Bruce until I def got the visa or I would be jobless and going nowhere!

simonsi

Then you will need to book flights with a cost/delay issue there.....

Synky

Silly autocorrect - meant to say notice!

Yeah I'm sure there are a lot of downsides to doing it this way.