alijohnson

Hi just want to say hello, myself and my family, hubby, 2 x boys (13 & 15) are all geared up and ready for our new life! Just a few technicalities to get past then on our way! (it sounds so easy when you say it quickly!)
Our LTBV is in and our house is up for sale, we hope to sell pretty soon, there are 2 dogs and 2 horses coming with us and really hope we are there before another lovely north east winter!! It may still be a long road ahead but we are staying positive and praying for the house to sell. Heading towards Hamilton, kids are keen and my poor hubby would go tomorrow!
Any advice on how to get through the next months would be gratefully received!

scrubbedexpat094

Hello & welcome to our wee but perfectly formed NZ forum. Sorry that this welcome is a bit tardy .

You aren't planning to travel light are you . There are quite a few members who live in the Hamilton area who I'm sure will be happy to help you with any queries you may have. I don't know Hamilton well as have only driven through or past on the way to elsewhere.

Waiting for it all to come together is so hard but you'll be here before you know it. In the meantime, start writing lists of everything that you need to do before you leave Blighty. You'll be writing a list of the lists you need to make first . Perhaps do some things in the UK that you won't be able to do in NZ. Visit ancient buildings, theme parks, decent clothes shops

Make your way to the alcohol aisle of your local supermarket & start sampling NZ wines & dream

Good luck with selling your house

Jan n Neil

Good luck, how much are they charging to bring horses over ? there are loads to choose from here or are they "family members"

Neil

alijohnson

thanks for the welcome guys, it's really appreciated! Horses, yes unfortunately they are my life! well, maybe not quite but they are my work and my babies, like my kids, in fact I have 2 teenagers which make my horses easier than the kids. I train horses and I plan to bring my two stud horses with me. It is very expensive approx 10k EACH. Not looking forward to that bit.

Vitalstatistix - never thought of sampling the wine before I get there, thats possibly the best advice ive had to date!

The house ha only just gone up for sale so it could be a long road, I really need to hang on until next year anyway as my oldest is doing GCSE' this year and next so ideally about June next year, could be a problem as the LTBV we are applying for will have to be activated within 9 months of being granted - unless the lovelies at immigration will grant me an extension. I'll cross that road when I get there. In an ideal world we'll sell the house about October time, it'll take till Dec then we'll rent a house for 6 months and be on our way as soon as Curtis does his last GCSE - Yeh right -it'll all be that easy

I am heading for Hamilton as it seems big horse country and hopefully i'll find plenty work in and around the area, we may do a recce later this year but to be honest were coming anyway so I could well save myself a fair bit by being adventurous and skipping the recce. Any more advice GREATLY appreciated. Ali

cheers

We are interested in your home. We=see location, location, location on here.

What county is your home in?

Lejamez

hi

being a bit daft and unsure what the LTBV is but we've been told on our visa type PR (when we get it ) as long as we all set foot in the country and get them stamped we can then come and go as we please. Might be worth looking to see if you can do that on your visa type - this way you can get extra time for the final move.

Good luck with everything

Laura

alijohnson

Hi that is an option but to be honest I hardly dare thin that far ahead, really have to sell our house to free up our capital to make the investment. If we get to the point were we need to activate the visa then well have to but I'm crossing everything that it all just falls into place! Maybe a tad optomistic but time will tell.