# Any help with relocating to NZ!!!!



## Louterrell (Jun 3, 2013)

Hi me and my husband have 3 young boys under 8, he is a plumber and gas engineer, and I am a nursery officer, we are looking to relocate (as u probably guessed in the title!) I am new to this whole situation and I have pulled some info off the web, but I would really like to get a perspective from someone who has done it!!
We need to start from the beginning, we really don't know where to start! From visas to houses,schools, areas to live,what to do first! we are feeling very overwhelmed at the moment and would appreciate anyone who could give us some ideas as to where to start, how to start, what to do first,
We think we want to go to the Auckland region, but my husband want to go out there to see it and stuff, but I don't think we would see it from a "home" perspective, but more of a "holiday" perspective, and it would be hard not to get carried away with it out there! We are trying to find out everything,😃 
I have spent a long time trawling the Internet but never have got a real account as to where to start,
If anybody has any help they can offer it would be very much appreciated!
Thanks Louise


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## shammy (May 30, 2013)

Hi Louise, sorry I'm probably not a huge amount of help, as I am in the same situation as you, only maybe a little further on in my research. But there are some very helpful and knowledgeable people who will no doubt be able to help. Whereabouts in the UK are you? There is an emigration expo in Birmingham in July which we plan to go to, hoping to get more info and meet potential employers. The organisers also have events elsewhere in the country if that's no good for you.

I think one of the first things to do is figure out what type of visa to try for. We will probably apply for residency under the skilled migrant category, as I am a midwife which is on the long term shortage list. I believe, as a plumber, your husband probably could go for that too. Have you looked on the immigration New Zealand website - they have the list of occupations on there, plus a points indicator which gives you a good idea of how likely you are to be successful. Alternatively you could try to find a job first and then apply for a temporary work visa, and then apply for residency when you arrive. However, I gather it can be tricky to secure a job offer before you get there. Our plan is to apply for residency, but then closer to the time we want to move, start looking for jobs and apply for a work visa if we get an offer before we get residency.

We decided against a visit, as we had already said we would need to give it at least a year, probably more, after relocating to settle before we would consider returning if we decided it wasn't for us. So what good would a couple of weeks be? We decided to save the money as an emergency flight home fund, just in case.

Hope that at least helps a little.

Good luck

Sharon x


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

The first port of call must be Immigration New Zealand - this will give you all the 'official' stuff, and is the bible for the rules. It's reasonably easy to navigate, and the search function on it works well.

Other than that - start reading the stickies at the top of this forum, then start browsing for posts that interest you. If you have any specific questions (or just want a chat!) then pop back in with your own post. There are others in here who have 'been there, done that'. 

I would recommend a visit - but leave your rose-tinted glasses at home. And plan to spend your time in towns that you think you'd be interested in. You mention Auckland - and that's certainly where many people start out. Compared to the UK you'll find it very spread-out here. But be aware - Auckland sprawls, and is probably the most expensive place in the country to live. With the skills you and your husband have, you may prefer some other towns (I would!). I've purposefully not put Wellington down as I find it too enclosed, but others would say it's the best city to live in.

Look at
- Hamilton
- Tauranga
- Taupo
- New Plymouth

and in South Island
- Nelson
- Christchurch
- Dunedin
- Queenstown

There are smaller towns - but you'd find them spectacularly small! The above list are the larger centres, so would be less of a culture shock to your system.


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## shammy (May 30, 2013)

We are currently looking mainly at Hamilton and New Plymouth, although mount Taranaki has my hubby a bit freaked out! He found an article saying it's overdue an eruption!


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## Louterrell (Jun 3, 2013)

Hi thanks for your replies, we have been to the Birmingham expo, 3 years ago and it wasn't really helpfull at all, it was so crowded and no one could get in to speak to anyone and we had travelled up from kent, nr London! 
I think we was somewhat deluded into thinking it was easy! But are now looking at the bigger picture! I will keep doing my research &#55357;&#56835;&#55357;&#56835;


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

shammy said:


> We are currently looking mainly at Hamilton and New Plymouth, although mount Taranaki has my hubby a bit freaked out! He found an article saying it's overdue an eruption!


Oh yes that's true although Wellington also due a large earthquake, and where do I live.........only 5kms from the fault line. Oh and I work in an office virtually on top of the fault line Doh!


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