# Moving to palmerston north April 2017



## emily89sheridan

Hi myself, my husband and 3 children (8,6,1) are relocating from the UK to palmerston north in end of march/April. 
I have secured employment. My husband is going to look for work when we arrive as he doesn't have formal qualifications for hid trade. 
As I'm just awaiting my contract we are taking the time to research more. Once my contract has arrived i will start the visa process. Looks like we will be going down the working visa route and then apply for resisdence when we get there rather than delaying anything. 

Main questions are about general living.

Is it easy to sort a rental property out when still in the UK? Whens best to start seriously looking, we've browsed trade me but they all seem to be available now.
Furniture, pots and pans, white goods etc where is the best place to look other than fb and trade me? Rough idea of costs would be good too  
Food- any bargain food shops we need to hunt out? 
If someone is currently living there, I'd love a rough breakdown of bill costs 
Schools we have researched- again it is easy to arrange from the UK? 

And anything else you think we need to know  
Thanks in advance


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## hyweldavies

Hi and best of Luck, we moved to NZ (New Plymouth) 3 years ago and love it.

We came on a work Visa (Work to Residence) and then went for residency once we were here. We delayed going for residency for a year because I mistakenly thought I had to be in the country for 2 years before I could apply for residency (confusing wording on the Work to Residence info), I am glad it looks like you are not going to make the same mistake. I think you get more rights if on a Residence Visa which might include help with Nursery Costs for pre-school. You need to have a Work Visa that is valid for >2 Years to get free healthcare etc.


Is it easy to sort a rental property out when still in the UK? Whens best to start seriously looking, we've browsed trade me but they all seem to be available now.

I think it hard to sort that out in advance, we were looking to buy when we got here and I was fortunate my new employer provided temporary accommodation for a period of time. We had cases of Estate Agents not even bothering to reply before we got to the country. I hear a lot of people getting holiday homes etc. for a month to give them some time to sort out a long term rent. We are originally from the UK and had no idea about the NZ Leaky Homes Issue, I wish we had known about that in advance as we made a number of mistakes (fortunately none of them with too lasting effects) when we first got here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaky_homes_crisis

You should also think about getting and bringing references with you (which might seem mad) but a lot of the processes here are of a tick box culture.

If you look up Estate Agents in Palmerston North, you might be able to find which do rental properties. There is also a University there so would imagine a number of agents that do property Rental.

Furniture, pots and pans, white goods etc where is the best place to look other than fb and trade me? Rough idea of costs would be good too 
The Warehouse, Briscoes or Harvey Norman. The cost of stuff over here is higher (1.5X to 2X) the UK but these places have sales on 1 weekend in 3 with 25-50% off. Mitre 10 is another outlet, they do not seem to have Sales as often but their stuff is more reasonable all the time. I was not used to waiting until the Sales to be able to buy stuff but it seems to be a fact of life here. My advice would be to bring over as much as you possibly can from the UK (The power here is the same, just need a different plug - and if you do that, you are supposed to get the new plug fitting signed off by a registered electrician to ensure its safe)

Food- any bargain food shops we need to hunt out? 
Three main supermarkets, PakNSave, New World and Countdown. PakNSave is cheaper and more basic. For New World and Countdown, get a loyalty card, it can save you 10-15% per shop because you get food at a discounted price when you use the card (again not something I was used to doing in the UK)

If someone is currently living there, I'd love a rough breakdown of bill costs 
We dont pay for water its included in the rates (not the case everywhere)
(cost below are per month)
Rates are $240
House Insurance is $100
Car Insurance is $90 (which includes our 17 year old daughter, much cheaper than the UK)
Gas and Electric is $210 (we spend around $350 a year on wood for our wood burner over and above this)
Sky is $89
Internet and Phones (3 Mobiles) is $190

Schools we have researched- again it is easy to arrange from the UK?
Need to find out where you are living and see if the schools have a catchment area. There is a thing called decile rating : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socio-economic_decile

You can also set up a bank account from the UK over here. We are with ANZ and they have been very good. You can get it all set up before you arrive, you do have to attend in person and complete the identity checks before you can take money out

When we first transferred money over from the UK, we used the transfer from our UK Bank Account to the ANZ one. However the exchange rate I got was poor and the fees were high. Now I use a web site called currency on-line which makes a significant difference (I am not endorsing or recommending it, just sharing my personal experience)

Best of luck, the first couple of months are a chaotic.

There are lots of checklists etc. on the Immigration NZ Website :

https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/move-to-nz/before-you-leave

Finally, if you have a job, I would not hand in your notice until you actually receive the Work Visas. 

I think in the end most people get them, but there can be delay and hassle if anything is flagged up or a box is not ticked correctly during the process.

All the best.

H


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## emily89sheridan

Thank you so much H for your reply, it's very helpful.

Would you recommend applying for work to resisdence over a normal temp work visa? 
Does it open more options up to me? The thing that put me off was having to stay with an employer for 2 years in case I didn't like it but tbh the con would be out weight if it had other benefits (also like you I thought I had to wait 2 years if I went on that visa before resisidency) did your partber and children just apply for normal work visas and student visas when you did this?

We also won't be shipping much over to start with as we aren't selling our house straight away (after 1 year). Hoping we can get a fair bit off trademe etc to do the house out cheaply first.

New plymouth was above on our list to move to before palmerston north but there doesn't seem to be jobs that way atm. 

Looking forward to your response  thanks again.


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## hyweldavies

Your call on the Visa, as long as its greater than 2 years I do not think it makes a difference : 
https://www.newzealandnow.govt.nz/living-in-nz/healthcare/paying-for-healthcare-services

And you plan to go for residency as soon as you can when you arrive I do not think it matters.

My employer set me up (and paid for) an immigration consultant to help us, they recommended a Work to Residence Visa initially, we did not know any better so just followed their advice.

If the employer was not providing this service we could have done it all ourselves, in reality if your case is straightforward it is not that big a deal.

Cheers


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## emily89sheridan

Thank you. 

Yes we ate all healthy etc so hopefully will all be straight forward.

Waiting on contracts from employer as not sure if they will offer any services

How do you cope with the older cars out there? This the one things that we are not looking forward to! We have fairly newish cars over in the UK but don't plan on shipping them as its alot of money. 

Thanks


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## escapedtonz

emily89sheridan said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Yes we ate all healthy etc so hopefully will all be straight forward.
> 
> Waiting on contracts from employer as not sure if they will offer any services
> 
> How do you cope with the older cars out there? This the one things that we are not looking forward to! We have fairly newish cars over in the UK but don't plan on shipping them as its alot of money.
> 
> Thanks


Unlikely an employer will offer any assistance services unless asked to do so. 
In both of the interviews for the jobs I was offered neither mentioned anything about assistance services and/or a relocation package until I brought it up.
I'm glad I did as the relocation package alone was worth $15k cash ($10k shipping/flights and $5k accommodation). Didn't need the assistance services of an immigration consultant as we already had the visas but they did put us in touch with a professional who was an expert in relocating people from overseas to Wellington so that was a help as they gave us some great advice, sent us books etc and arranged a hire car for when we arrived.
You may need to mention as the relocation formed part of my contract of employment as you have to pay a reducing % back if you leave within the first 2 years.

Unsure why you are worried about older cars. We too always had new or pretty new cars in the uk until we came here. Lots more people drive older cars here but it is nothing to stress about. They aren't the unsafe rust buckets they'd be if in the uk. Cars don't rot away here. Different climate and no road salt. Most cars will easily do 400k km's before it's time to change.
Cost of driving here is much less. Fuel is cheaper...around $1.75 a litre petrol and $1 a litre diesel at the moment. Car rego (road tax) is peanuts....around $130 for a petrol car irrespective of engine size or emissions. Insurance isnt mandatory but you'd be advised to have it. The cot of fully comp insurance is around half the price of the uk. Servicing isn't expensive if you keep away from the main dealers. Costs me $99 for a service with a WOF (like a uk MOT). Parts can be very expensive but I just order from the uk if I need anything as it's much cheaper even with the international shipping...example - replacement EGR Valve for mine was $1500 trade price through the main dealer, should have been more but they were doing me a favour. Fitting was another $500 plus 15% GST on top.
I got the part number and ordered it from a place in Lancashire I'd seen on eBay. Cost me £108 delivered and fitted it myself in an hour.
Had a few cars whilst I've been here but only changed as something else I liked to try came along not because there was anything wrong. I'm now driving a 2008 diesel Astra with 108k km's on the clock as I do around 30 000 km's a year so wanted something affordable and good on gas. Had Astras through work in the UK and theyre pretty bullet proof. Wife has a 2012 SUV at the moment with 88k km's on the clock but we wanna change it for a huge 7 seater like a Pajero or similar so looking to go for around a 2006/2007 model as that's about all we can afford but have no qualms whatsoever going for a car 10-11 years old and around 100k km's. It'll last years.
Nobody cares one iota what car you drive here. There's no keeping up with the Jones's.


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## emily89sheridan

Thanks. I'm in no why a snob when it comes to car just seems that you get more for your money in the UK when it comes to cars. We've been looking a trade me etc and seems for $1500/2k you could be look at a 90's car? 
I'm very impressed with the condition of all the older cars though


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## escapedtonz

emily89sheridan said:


> Thanks. I'm in no why a snob when it comes to car just seems that you get more for your money in the UK when it comes to cars. We've been looking a trade me etc and seems for $1500/2k you could be look at a 90's car?
> I'm very impressed with the condition of all the older cars though


UK used car market is totally different. It's difficult to compare. UK prices in my opinion are cheaper as the cost of motoring in the UK is higher and there's so many more cars available for people to buy so as a seller one always has to undercut the competition to get that elusive sale.
There are nowhere near as many cars for sale here...usually around 71 000 on TradeMe at any one time and when you filter out all the types you don't want you don't have many to play with if you are being specific on make and model.
Used cars here really hold their prices. Cost of motoring is way less and they last way longer so why shouldn't they be more expensive.


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## emily89sheridan

Thank you that makes complete sense. 

So much to sort out at the moment as well as thinking about things we need to do when we get there. It's easy not to look at the bigger picture as too why


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## fsquires

Hi, 

My husband, daughter(7 months) moved to Palmerston North in November from the UK. Getting the visa was pretty straightforward but costly. My husbands employer covered the cost for his, but we had to pay for mine and our daughters. The Medicaid were pretty expensive and took a couple of weeks to get an appointment. You need to go with particular doctors, they have a list on line. Everyone needs medicals, our daughter had one when she was 8 weeks old. 

With regards to getting a house, you will need to do that when you get here, it is done a little different,y to the UK, you look around the property, fill out an application form and then the landlord makes the decision on your application. The rental property is pretty varied here. I don't know all the areas but I know a couple of them. Is there anyway your company can help you with a short term fully furnished rental house or apartment, just for a few weeks, this will really help you get around the areas and see where you like. We stayed in a one bed apartment in a motel for two weeks when we first arrived. 

I don't know about bills yet, as we haven't had any. It was pretty easy to get Internet and mobile phones sorted. I really like it here, people are really friendly but it is really windy  

I hope the move goes well 

Fi 





We did it ourselves just following their guidelines.


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## russellfamily

emily89sheridan said:


> Hi myself, my husband and 3 children (8,6,1) are relocating from the UK to palmerston north in end of march/April.
> I have secured employment. My husband is going to look for work when we arrive as he doesn't have formal qualifications for hid trade.
> As I'm just awaiting my contract we are taking the time to research more. Once my contract has arrived i will start the visa process. Looks like we will be going down the working visa route and then apply for resisdence when we get there rather than delaying anything.
> 
> Main questions are about general living.
> 
> Is it easy to sort a rental property out when still in the UK? Whens best to start seriously looking, we've browsed trade me but they all seem to be available now.
> Furniture, pots and pans, white goods etc where is the best place to look other than fb and trade me? Rough idea of costs would be good too
> Food- any bargain food shops we need to hunt out?
> If someone is currently living there, I'd love a rough breakdown of bill costs
> Schools we have researched- again it is easy to arrange from the UK?
> 
> And anything else you think we need to know
> Thanks in advance


Palmy is a small town. its large but small. hard to explain, and not much around it either.
You can go to napier which is a couple hours, or go to wellington which is a couple hours. or wanganui.
i went there alot for work when i lived in Wellington.


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