# BIG move to Wellington



## sajamil

Dears,

I had my resident visa stamped few months ago. I started applying for jobs and finally got an opportunity which is in final stage of negotiation.

We'll be moving to Willington from overseas with 3 kids (3 m, 1.3 y & 5.3 y). I need help to some of the following;

1. What is the decent salary to live with family of 5?
2. What are the key consideration for accomodation, schooling, car etc...?
3. Company is not providing any relocation or air tickets to move first time, is this a norm?
4. Is there any area where I can find muslim communities and mosques etc...?
5. How about availability of Halal food?


More to come. Shall be great to guide us for a smooth transition.


----------



## escapedtonz

sajamil said:


> Dears, I had my resident visa stamped few months ago. I started applying for jobs and finally got an opportunity which is in final stage of negotiation. We'll be moving to Willington from overseas with 3 kids (3 m, 1.3 y & 5.3 y). I need help to some of the following; 1. What is the decent salary to live with family of 5? 2. What are the key consideration for accomodation, schooling, car etc...? 3. Company is not providing any relocation or air tickets to move first time, is this a norm? 4. Is there any area where I can find muslim communities and mosques etc...? 5. How about availability of Halal food? More to come. Shall be great to guide us for a smooth transition.


Hi,
Congrats.

It may sound like Willington if a kiwi speaks the city name but in fact it's Wellington ;-)

1. All depends what you want out of life and how much you spend on rent but I'd say you'll need a salary of at least $100k gross per year.
2. What do you mean key considerations for accommodation, schools, a car etc ?
With 5 in the family you will need a few bedrooms and a garden I expect - the more bedrooms and bigger the garden the more $'s per week rent will cost.
Rent is dearer nearer to the city. It reduces the further out you go and as such you get more for your money.
Homes in a lot of suburbs around Welly don't have much of a garden, just a deck as they are built on a hillside.
Schools are zoned depending on where you live so you should decide which school you wish your eldest to attend as that will dictate were in Welly you need to live.
Careful with accommodation. A lot of it is rubbish, no heating or insulation and very scruffy. Be prepared to trip over peoples dirty clothes on the floors when viewing properties, unmade beds etc.
Make sure you have a good look before deciding on somewhere to make a rental application.
It isn't first come first served unfortunately. Be prepared or many families viewing a rental property at the same time. It is very competitive.
There are loads of cheap 2nd hand cars if you look and research.
3. Nope this isn't the norm but I suppose it all depends on the company and how desperate they are to have you here.
I negotiated $10k for shipping and $5k for temporary accommodation which paid for our first 8 weeks in a fully furnished house in Lower Hutt.
We also got a hire car for 2 weeks and the company insured our complete shipping container for all manners of risk for $0.
We already had the visas and the flights booked before I landed the job so my company wouldn't pay for these, however I have colleagues who received all these expenses paid for on top of the other relocation items.
4. Kilbirnie, Lower Hutt, Porirua and Newlands for mosques.
5. Shouldn't have any problem finding halal food providers in Welly.

Regards,


----------



## actemplin

escapedtonz said:


> We already had the visas and the flights booked before I landed the job


Hi escapedtonz, how do you get a visa before the job offer?i thought for both the skilled migrant and the work visa you needed a job offer first ?
Thanks for any clarification.


----------



## escapedtonz

actemplin said:


> Hi escapedtonz, how do you get a visa before the job offer?i thought for both the skilled migrant and the work visa you needed a job offer first ? Thanks for any clarification.


Yes a Temporary Work Visa or Work To Residence visa etc you must have a job offer to secure one of these as the job offer and in particular the employer and the actual job become conditions of the visa.
With regard to Residency visa via SMC, an applicant does not have to have a job offer. 
All they need is enough points on the EOI to submit, gain ITA and be awarded the visa.

I scored 150 points without a job offer and with my wife on as a partner (additional 20 partner points).
We scored 155 with my wife as main applicant and me as partner but my wife didn't want to work initially so we went with the lower score and me as main applicant.

An applicant only needs a job offer in Residency via SMC to increase the EOI points where it will get selected.
I.e. If you score 120 points, it is extremely unlikely an EOI with these points will be selected. With a job offer this will increase the points to 170 and guarantee selection.


----------



## actemplin

Music to my ears!!!! Thats what I had thought previously, but the NZ immigration visa check generator/tool really confused me (because if you click that you don't have a job it then says you're not not eligible for any visas). I'm happy to have it sorted! Thanks again.


----------



## topcat83

actemplin said:


> Music to my ears!!!! Thats what I had thought previously, but the NZ immigration visa check generator/tool really confused me (because if you click that you don't have a job it then says you're not not eligible for any visas). I'm happy to have it sorted! Thanks again.


Try filling in the following:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/pointsindicator/
This is the points indicator for the Skilled Migrant Category.


----------



## actemplin

Thanks TopCat and EscapedtoNZ -Yep it's 145 if I apply now and 140 after my 30th birthday in a few weeks. If 140 is the cutoff- does it matter if I wait a bit? I have the sufficient points anyway it seems like. Unless there is an advantage to having higher points (being 145 over 140). Thanks again.


----------



## escapedtonz

actemplin said:


> Thanks TopCat and EscapedtoNZ -Yep it's 145 if I apply now and 140 after my 30th birthday in a few weeks. If 140 is the cutoff- does it matter if I wait a bit? I have the sufficient points anyway it seems like. Unless there is an advantage to having higher points (being 145 over 140). Thanks again.


No won't make any difference if you wait a bit and submit with 140 instead of 145 (assuming you've calculated your points correctly). 
140 points will still get automatic selection at the fortnightly pull following submission.


----------



## sajamil

Thank you so much EscapedtoNZ for your response ... Few follow ups;

[Housing & Schooling] I am so worried about housing and schooling in particular. My work is going to be in Manners Street. My plan is to first reside in a temporary location for 2-3 months near work place. During this time, I will secure permanent place. Preference is 2 bed room apartments, closer to school.
Howz this plan... 

Where should I found the temporary residence and permanent place + school? I am thinking of an average rent 300 a week, is it realistic for furnished apartment?

Lastly; how can I secure temporary residence while I am overseas? My credit card will be blocked soon after my last working day in current employer. Any alternative?

[Banking] Is there a possibility to open an account while I am overseas? I do not want to carry cash amount? What is best bank to open an account which should provide; online banking and good service etc...?

[Furnished/unfurnished] Please guide me if I should ship housing appliances like; Fridge, Microwave, Oven, Washing machine, TV etc... Or I better to buy from NZ. How the prices there are, are there any places where second hand with good condition appliances can be purchased?
OR I should go for furnished apartments?


----------



## escapedtonz

sajamil said:


> Thank you so much EscapedtoNZ for your response ... Few follow ups;
> 
> [Housing & Schooling]
> I am so worried about housing and schooling in particular. My work is going to be in Manners Street. My plan is to first reside in a temporary location for 2-3 months near work place. During this time, I will secure permanent place. Preference is 2 bed room apartments, closer to school. Howz this plan... Where should I found the temporary residence and permanent place + school? I am thinking of an average rent 300 a week, is it realistic for furnished apartment? Lastly; how can I secure temporary residence while I am overseas? My credit card will be blocked soon after my last working day in current employer. Any alternative?
> 
> [Banking]
> Is there a possibility to open an account while I am overseas? I do not want to carry cash amount? What is best bank to open an account which should provide; online banking and good service etc...?
> 
> [Furnished/unfurnished]
> Please guide me if I should ship housing appliances like; Fridge, Microwave, Oven, Washing machine, TV etc... Or I better to buy from NZ. How the prices there are, are there any places where second hand with good condition appliances can be purchased? OR I should go for furnished apartments?


Manners Street is right in the heart of the cities shopping streets.
There are apartments in the city and on the outskirts allowing you to walk to work but not really good for children and you can find ones for the price you say but not furnished. At least double your budget for furnished.
They will also not be in a nice part of town and you won't have any parking and the apartment will be small.
You need to look on www.trademe.co.nz to look for suitable property to rent.
City centre accommodation is expensive and equally so in the suburbs close to the city plus the competition for rental properties and demand for them is very high which keeps prices up.
It all depends what you want out of life obviously and what property you are used to etc.
I'd advise you to look further out of town either in the southern suburbs which have very good public transport links via bus or look in the Northern suburbs or the Hutt Valley which both have good public transport links via bis and train.
Just as an example, when we arrived in March 2012 we rented a 3 bed traditional kiwi semi detached fully furnished house in Woburn, Lower Hutt for $725 a week!........and that was a train ride away from the city.
That same house has just appeared on TradeMe unfurnished at $450 a week!
In all honesty if your looking at 2 bed apts in the city your gonna be paying from double your budget!
I also don't think there are any decent schools in the city. These are out in the suburbs.

To secure a temporary residence from overseas you need to be looking at fully furnished properties that are offered as short term or holiday accommodation. Maybe look on www.bookabach.co.nz or www.holidayhouses.co.nz

You can book these upfront for a specific period and pay a deposit by sending the owner money via bank transfer or use of a credit card. You can then pay weekly or fortnightly direct to the owner when you arrive as you go along.

Don't understand why your credit card will be blocked soon after your last day with your current employer ?
Mine didn't and we still have our UK credit cards here and they still work. Doesn't matter that we live on the other side of the world.

Yes you can open a bank account here in NZ whilst still overseas. It's very easy.
Check out ANZ, BNZ, Westpac, Kiwibank to name but a few.
You can open the accounts from overseas and have ATM and credit cards ordered in readiness for arrival. You will just need to make an appointment at your chosen main branch after you arrive to show your ID and collect your cards etc. The bank representative will then go through all the options you have to see if you need a savings account, insurance etc.

Yes you should ship anything an everything you have to NZ. Most household things are high price here.
You can rent everything you need - see www.mrrental.co.nz and you can buy everything used via TradeMe if that's the way you want to go but we calculated it would be cheaper to pay for shipping of all our worldly goods instead of paying to rent everything temporarily whilst we purchased new or used items.
I was quite shocked how expensive goods are when we arrived. Getting used to it now but I still take the risk and buy the majority of what we need or want on the internet from overseas.
Most of the time it is still cheaper to buy the same item available in NZ from another country and have it shipped for a lower price than walking into a high street shop in Wellington!

Cheers


----------



## indykate

escapedtonz said:


> Hi,
> Congrats.
> 
> It may sound like Willington if a kiwi speaks the city name but in fact it's Wellington ;-)
> 
> 1. All depends what you want out of life and how much you spend on rent but I'd say you'll need a salary of at least $100k gross per year.
> 2. What do you mean key considerations for accommodation, schools, a car etc ?
> With 5 in the family you will need a few bedrooms and a garden I expect - the more bedrooms and bigger the garden the more $'s per week rent will cost.
> Rent is dearer nearer to the city. It reduces the further out you go and as such you get more for your money.
> Homes in a lot of suburbs around Welly don't have much of a garden, just a deck as they are built on a hillside.
> Schools are zoned depending on where you live so you should decide which school you wish your eldest to attend as that will dictate were in Welly you need to live.
> Careful with accommodation. A lot of it is rubbish, no heating or insulation and very scruffy. Be prepared to trip over peoples dirty clothes on the floors when viewing properties, unmade beds etc.
> Make sure you have a good look before deciding on somewhere to make a rental application.
> It isn't first come first served unfortunately. Be prepared or many families viewing a rental property at the same time. It is very competitive.
> There are loads of cheap 2nd hand cars if you look and research.
> 3. Nope this isn't the norm but I suppose it all depends on the company and how desperate they are to have you here.
> I negotiated $10k for shipping and $5k for temporary accommodation which paid for our first 8 weeks in a fully furnished house in Lower Hutt.
> We also got a hire car for 2 weeks and the company insured our complete shipping container for all manners of risk for $0.
> We already had the visas and the flights booked before I landed the job so my company wouldn't pay for these, however I have colleagues who received all these expenses paid for on top of the other relocation items.
> 4. Kilbirnie, Lower Hutt, Porirua and Newlands for mosques.
> 5. Shouldn't have any problem finding halal food providers in Welly.
> 
> Regards,


On the topic of point #3, I am very curious about this. My employer paying for my migration or at least contributing to it hadn't even crossed my mind as a possibility yet. Can you give me more information on this or how prevalent it actually is? What field are you in? How big is this corporation? Is it realistic that I as a clinical psychologist or that my boyfriend as an accountant could get and offer in a company that will observe this?


----------



## escapedtonz

indykate said:


> On the topic of point #3, I am very curious about this. My employer paying for my migration or at least contributing to it hadn't even crossed my mind as a possibility yet. Can you give me more information on this or how prevalent it actually is? What field are you in? How big is this corporation? Is it realistic that I as a clinical psychologist or that my boyfriend as an accountant could get and offer in a company that will observe this?


Hi,

The majority of people I know that have migrated here from all corners of the globe have received some sort of assistance, however it is only offered if you ask. Companies will not openly offer without being prompted.
I made it part of my negotiations when discussing salary. When the company reached the limit they were prepared to pay for salary I then went down the route of other benefits then migration assistance.
If you don't ask, you don't get!
As far as I know, companies contributing to emigration is the norm. I have friends in many different fields and all have received something ranging from a complete package to just temporary accommodation on arrival, however the downside is that you are tied to that company for 2 years or you must pay a % of this relocation assistance back if you left the company.

I work in the energy industry - in particular the National Grid and the company Transpower is massive - classed as an enterprise in terms of company size which is the largest bracket with over 750 employees across the country.


----------



## indykate

Thank you so much escapedtonz! That's exactly what I wanted to hear!


----------

