scoskie

Hi - Have just officially joined the forum after watching from afar for some months and I have genuinely learned such a lot from everyone. So thank you - but I would like some more help if possible please? (maybe I should apologise now for any errors in posting etc - a long time since I've been a member of any forum)


My OH and I are currently waiting for a decision on our application under the Investor 2 category - at a time in life when maybe we should know better, we've decided to move to NZ for at least the next few years and if it works out, make the move permanent. YOLO. Application was lodged on 10 Feb 2015 and we were told average processing time is 3 -6 months. Though we've heard nothing directly, apparently there is currently quite a back log in the category. Immigration has been very nice, telling us to contact them for an update whenever we want but we're just told it's pending. So - what do you think? Is it better just to ignore it and wait for something to happen or is there any avenue of contact we could explore to maybe speed things up a bit. My gut feeling is just to wait it out but I know of several instances here in the UK when people "shouting" (nicely) have had various issues sorted out more quickly just by reminding the Government Dept that they do exist.


I know you'll all understand the frustration of it all and that's a comfort. I'm off to NZ in June on what is supposed to be a house hunting expedition but seems a bit pointless while we seem to be no further forward. Only consolation is the housing market in the area we want to move to seems pretty slow (despite what the estate agents tell us lol)


Anyway, thanks in advance for any help/advice and Admin please move this as necessary and consider me suitably abashed.

MrsFychan

HI and welcome to BE - I personally would hold off coming over especially if it is primarily to house hunt until you have confirmation that you can actually uplift a visa. I believe te investment category can be quite hard to get even if you do seem to have all the boxes ticked and enough money. I certainly would not be chasing them for any information until nearer the 5mth mark especially if they have already told you there is a backlog and I believe the ones that have chased have done so because the time limit has passed quite significantly before they got any action on it. You will just have to be patient I'm afraid.

On another matter where abouts are you looking to moving to?

scoskie

Hi - thanks for the welcome! We haven't heard directly that there's a back log ,picked up the info else where. No idea what our chances are - we think we've ticked all the boxes so will just have to wait and see. Yes, patience . . Actually one reason for joining the forum is that it gives me a chance to talk about it all -we haven't told our nearest and dearest about what we hope to do. Enough time to brave the storm when it's all been confirmed.


Take your point about waiting for visa confirmation before taking any final steps - we would not consider buying until we had everything confirmed but we're trying to combine holidaying with getting some first hand info about houses etc, seeing the difference between the selling details and reality (same the world over !!).


And as to where we hope to move - Hawkes Bay. Napier to be precise.

MrsFychan

think we have a few members in that area so sure you will get some good advice.

scoskie

Be very interested in hearing from them!

Pom_Chch

Napier is a cool place - art deco feel whilst being near the beach. I don't live there but stopped in for a couple of nights on holiday. Cute little place I'm sure others who live there will be able to give you for info.

When it comes to buying a house out here I wouldn't rush it. We wanted to buy straight away but in the end we waited for just over a year and I'm glad we did. We went to heaps of open homes and really got a feel for areas, layout of houses and anything to be aware of when it comes to buying a house as processes are different over here. I felt much more comfortable knowing all the info I needed after a year rather that walking in and buying straight away. Just get to know the process, areas you like, any negatives to buying houses here (look up leaky homes) etc. Houses are different out here - very few come with central heating so you need to look at heat source, does it have adequate ventilation, insulation, double glazing etc. Standards are different out here and they have only recently started tightening up on building regulations, so they are behind the UK when it comes to warm, insulated and healthy homes. The last thing you want to do is step off the plane, buy a duff house and end up losing money and your mind over it! Rent for a wee while, have a look around, go to open homes, get to know how it all works and maybe in 9-12 months look to buy.

Good luck with it all

scoskie

Thanks for the info Pom_Chch and the good wishes.

Napier was the "must see" on our first trip to NZ and it's been the highlight on every subsequent visit. I just love the place and we both think we could settle quite happily there ( despite still marvelling sometimes how everything seems to shut by about 7.30 pm - but then if we wanted 24/7 action, we'd move to Bangkok . . .)

Done quite a bit of preliminary research re buying etc - and we were lucky enough to meet a great estate agent - ex-pat Brit! - who gave us a lot of information about the mechanics of house buying here. Some of it came as a bit of a shock as you can imagine - stunned to realise that the solicitor doesn't do the council searches for example!

We actually tendered on a house on our last visit - it wasn't what we'd imagined buying but had been totally renovated to a high standard and we thought it would make a good starting point. We pulled out as the vendors went back on the finishing off which had been promised by the agent and tbh, very glad we did as it would have been a mistake to buy it, even to let out. On the plus side, we now have a local solicitor, local bank account and I have the experience of going through the council file ( all the council staff were great by the way - very friendly and helpful which came as a pleasant surprise!) and arranging builder's report etc.

I take your point entirely about renting first and taking time to suss things out and that would be the best way to go for sure but unfortunately that wouldn't be an option for us . We will be bringing over our 4 cats and one (extremely large) dog! We did look into it but unsurprisingly no landlords seem keen on the idea - and I certainly don't blame them! However, we have moved home several times within the UK and each time it has been to an area we did not know at all. In fact in all honesty I think I know Napier better than the area we moved to here on our last relocation but I do appreciate your words of wisdom about the different things to be aware of in NZ houses, the things we take for granted when house hunting here.

I'm going back to Napier in June for a few days, just to potter about and if anything catches my eye, investigate it further while on the spot. And also experience the Hawkes Bay winter for the first time! Might be a bit of a shock to the system but I'm sure I can cope with it after surviving so many winters in the Scottish Borders!

Many thanks again for your advice - greatly appreciated.