# Hoping to move in July 16



## Sarz91 (Jun 28, 2015)

Hi all,

Both my girlfriend and I are looking to move to New Zealand sometime around the end of July. We're both currently employed. I work as a Mechanical Engineer in the UK and she works in Google as an SAE (Senior account executive - I think is what it stands for) in Ireland. We're both Irish, 24 and have been together 7 years. 

I have a total of 2.5 years experience in my field and I have a first class honors in my Mechanical Engineering Degree (level 8). I'm currently in the process of leaving my job and will be finished come the end of January 2016. I have nothing lined up but I'm taking the time to sort out visa's, learn a language or at least start, apply for work over in New Zealand and finally sort my driving license out. I have a few questions I'm hoping you guys may be able to help with.

- How realistic is it to think I'll have a job offer before moving over?

- We're thinking of bringing €6000 between the two of us, about $9,600 NZD, and living in Auckland. Do you guys think this is enough? In the event neither of us have secured a job before moving do you think we'd be able to find a part time job in Auckland before burning through the €6k?

I hope you're all enjoying your Christmas and thanks in advance for any help.

Sárán.


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Hi and welcome to the forum,

First thing I've spotted about your introduction refers to your relationship. To go the Resident Visa route via the Skilled Migrant Category you need to prove a stable and loving relationship / partnership. May be difficult if you are in the UK and your girlfriend is in Ireland. You are supposed to provide evidence that you have been living under the same roof and sharing your lives together for at least 12 months.

Job offer:
Probably not very realistic. Getting a job in NZ from overseas when you haven't got the right to live and work in the country isn't very easy. Only in the occupations where employers are desperate for the skill shortage may you experience the possibility of landing a job here while still overseas.

Funds:
$10k isn't a lot of money - especially when considering Auckland which is the most expensive city in NZ. It depends what you are going to use it for......Is it just to survive till you get a job or do you need it for accommodation, travel, maybe a car etc ?
The cost of living here is way higher than in the UK and the salaries far less in general. It'll be enough if it's only to tide you over for a couple or three weeks when you arrive and are in holiday mode.
If you are thinking about renting a house together you'll need to pay a bond, a letting fee and at least 1 week in advance - all up front. This could cost $2500 easily.
e.g. say you find a house or flat to rent and it's $350 per week which isn't expensive here....
Bond = 4 week rent = $1400
Letting fee = 1 week rent + GST = $402.50
Advance rent = 1 week $350
Total up front before you move in is $2152.50 plus you'll have to pay another week as soon as you move in to maintain the 1 week in advance. The bond is returned after you leave the rental assuming you leave the place damage free and you have no contract issues. All other bills like utilities, refuse collection, sky tv, broadband etc are additional cost.
Bear in mind the first rental we got when we arrived cost us $725 per week!!!

There are cheaper options - e.g. you could just start off renting a bedroom for the both of you in a shared house. This may cost you $175 a week and includes all the other bills other than food. If you want even cheaper you could go the backpackers / youth hostel accommodation route or camping.

Shouldn't be too hard finding a part time job, but bear in mind July is mid winter so life may be a little slower for part time work.


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## Sarz91 (Jun 28, 2015)

Cheers for the reply and the advice. Right, well it sounds like I'm going to need an awful lot more money. I've about 6 months worth of "free time" between me leaving my job and hopefully moving to NZ and with my degree being on the skills shortage both long term and short term I'm really hoping I can get something before moving. It'd really make things so much better but I won't hold out hope.

I knew the renting system was different to the UK and Ireland but I didn't realize it was that different. That's kinda worried me a bit but as you've mentioned in your post there are cheaper ways of doing it. 

The reason for asking about securing a job before moving was based purely on the fact that I have 110 points but with a job secured I'm up around the 170 mark which would make things a good bit easier.


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Sarz91 said:


> Cheers for the reply and the advice. Right, well it sounds like I'm going to need an awful lot more money. I've about 6 months worth of "free time" between me leaving my job and hopefully moving to NZ and with my degree being on the skills shortage both long term and short term I'm really hoping I can get something before moving. It'd really make things so much better but I won't hold out hope.
> 
> I knew the renting system was different to the UK and Ireland but I didn't realize it was that different. That's kinda worried me a bit but as you've mentioned in your post there are cheaper ways of doing it.
> 
> The reason for asking about securing a job before moving was based purely on the fact that I have 110 points but with a job secured I'm up around the 170 mark which would make things a good bit easier.


No problem. Glad I can be of some help.

Yes you really need to decide what your money is needed for as soon as you arrive. You have to think of the essentials and have them covered - accommodation, food and drink, getting around. This'll give you an idea of how much cash is essential to live.

A person may have a degree that is stated in the requirements for a particular occupation on the LTSSL but doesn't mean you also meet all the other requirements for sufficient experience in that occupation ? If you don't meet the requirements of an occupation off the LTSSL exactly then you won't be eligible for the bonus points. 
Even having experience in an occupation off the list or having the desired qualification doesn't mean it'll be any easier to find skilled work here. 

Yes a score of 170 would mean the EOI would be automatically selected from the pool and your application treated as a priority. Assuming no issues with all the evidence you need to provide you could be awarded a resident visa in maybe 6-9 months.


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## mikesurf (Nov 7, 2012)

My advice would be to get yourself a working holiday visa so you can start work as soon as you arrive. I think it would be very hard to arrange a job before you leave, unless you are highly skilled. You can always apply for a work visa once you get a solid job offer. You will be arriving in mid winter so you want to make sure that you get a decent quality rental, again not easy unless you have a job and a hefty deposit. Don't be tempted to go for the cheapest accommodation you can find, it will be cold, damp and bad for your health. I would honestly not recommend attempting a move with much less than $20k and that would be bottom line and budgeting like crazy when you are here. Good luck


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## Sarz91 (Jun 28, 2015)

mikesurf said:


> My advice would be to get yourself a working holiday visa so you can start work as soon as you arrive. I think it would be very hard to arrange a job before you leave, unless you are highly skilled. You can always apply for a work visa once you get a solid job offer. You will be arriving in mid winter so you want to make sure that you get a decent quality rental, again not easy unless you have a job and a hefty deposit. Don't be tempted to go for the cheapest accommodation you can find, it will be cold, damp and bad for your health. I would honestly not recommend attempting a move with much less than $20k and that would be bottom line and budgeting like crazy when you are here. Good luck


Ah fair enough. Cheers for the advice. The most I can come up with, by myself is about $8.8k. My girlfriend says she can only add another $4k onto that so it's about $7k short of the $20k you mentioned.


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