# Importing furniture without residency



## HkS

Hello,
We are planning on heading out to NZ in February, but unless I can secure a job offer in the next few months it is likely that we will head out on a tourist visa and hopefully secure something pretty quickly once over there. 

We are in the process of selling our house and are planning on putting our furniture into storage. Just wondering about when we should look to ship our furniture (and possibly our car) across? could someone please advise on the likely duty/GST charges if we ship our furniture before we secure residency?

Just want to get a feel for whether these costs are likely to be higher than the cost of renting a furnished place, hiring a car, storage costs, buying new essential pieces of furniture etc. (thinking mainly of a cot etc. for our son),

Thanks in advance.


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## Guest

Storage King charge us $300 per month for their largest unit, Pickfords in the UK were charging
£84 per month for the same size unit. So it is cheaper to store your goods in the UK.

I mention this because it may be cheaper for you and once you can secure a job then arrange
for it to be shipped over. 

Trademe is like Ebay but the prices tend to be a bit higher, you will find most stuff on there
including second hand cars, same as in England though - shop around. You will be able to
buy a run around quite cheap and Insurance is not compulsory in NZ, strange but true

We brought our car over as it was nearly new and suited our needs, it was Professionally 
Valeted in the UK but Maf still wanted the boot hoovering out at a cost of $540. Ouch that
hurt.

After that you have to get the car inspected, registered and obtain a WOF like our MOT. All more
cost and if like us your car is a diesel you have to buy mileage, diesel is not taxed at the Petrol
Stations thats why is seems cheap.

Best of luck on the job front my wife had secured a part-time teaching job which ends Xmas she
has since applied for over 100 assorted jobs with no joy. You get a stock reply of " There was 
great response to our advert and we have had some superb applicants with vast experience. I'm
sorry you have not etc etc.

Again best of luck


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## jsharbuck

I would advise calling a moving company in New Zealand, they could let you know what is legal. Bathe reason I say is is that we moved here on a working visa and shipped a container from America. One of the documents they requested was a copy of our work visa in order to clear customs. Don't know if you can show on a tourist visa or not. I could call the company I'm dealing with and ask them if you like and post my findings.


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## escapedtonz

HkS said:


> Hello,
> We are planning on heading out to NZ in February, but unless I can secure a job offer in the next few months it is likely that we will head out on a tourist visa and hopefully secure something pretty quickly once over there.
> 
> We are in the process of selling our house and are planning on putting our furniture into storage. Just wondering about when we should look to ship our furniture (and possibly our car) across? could someone please advise on the likely duty/GST charges if we ship our furniture before we secure residency?
> 
> Just want to get a feel for whether these costs are likely to be higher than the cost of renting a furnished place, hiring a car, storage costs, buying new essential pieces of furniture etc. (thinking mainly of a cot etc. for our son),
> 
> Thanks in advance.


Hi,

Just offering the benefit of my experience. I am not an advisor in any way, shape or form.
For professional advice please seek the services of Immigration NZ or a suitably authorised Immigration consultant.


I assume you're hoping to secure a working visa or work to residence visa with a job offer and in the process of trying to secure a job or you are in the process of applying for Residency but need the job offer to gain enough points ?

You would be taking a massive risk coming over on a tourist visa and using that time to try and secure a job.
Lots of people do it but looking for work whilst a tourist will be a breach of your visa conditions I expect.
As I say lots of people come over for a 2 week holiday and use the time to find work, attend interviews etc etc but by rights it isn't allowed. Immigration and Customs knows it goes on but are probably happy to turn a blind eye as they know people doing it are leaving the country again in a couple of weeks.
It sounds to me that your "holiday" would be of a longer duration - ie up to the maximum 6 months and in that time you would hope to get a job offer and secure the right to live and work here whilst over on a tourist visa ?
Doing this would just make you more of a target for Immigration / Customs.
I would advise against it.

For one you must have return flight tickets or questions would be asked by customs and immigration at the border.
You will also need proof of holiday accommodation and an idea of touristy things you hope to do whilst you're here.
You must have enough funds for your stay or have access to enough funds from overseas, credit card etc.

You will need to check with Immigration but I would expect you will not be able to ship anything - eg furniture or a car etc until you have the relevant visa to live and work here. Definitely not allowed on a tourist visa. Your shipping company from origin wouldn't even ship the container as it wouldn't get the necessary clearance to leave or land. The visa is part of this process to allow the goods to land.

Also you won't be allowed to rent a proper home - furnished or unfurnished via an agency or proper landlord as you wouldn't hold the relevant visa.
Yes you can rent a holiday home as a tourist but that would be it.

Hiring a car would be expensive as you would be a tourist and as such you would have to pay the tourist rates.
You could buy a car with cash or on the credit card no problem. You would probably have to visit a second hand car dealer as you wouldn't be able to join TradeMe without an NZ address. 
Lots of tourists buy cars or motor homes instead of hiring them for a road trip touring holiday then sell them as they leave.
You would not be able to get any finance whatsoever as you wouldn't have the right to stay here more than 6 months as a tourist and no financial institution would lend you the money as you wouldn't be an eligible candidate in their eyes.

Storage costs are a lot more expensive here but as I say unless you have the necessary visa to live and work here you wouldn't be able to ship anything over so you would be leaving it in UK storage if you sold your house.


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## HkS

Thanks for your replies, really useful info. and food for thought!

That is the first I have heard that you aren't allowed to job hunt on a tourist visa. We intend to apply for PR via the skilled migrant route, but as I only have 135 points (so close!) without a job offer, we need to secure a job first and then would plan to apply for a work visa to allow me to start work relatively quickly whilst at the same time processing our residency application. I have applied for a few jobs from this end but keep getting the same reply as mentioned, re. the level of application has been high etc. I was hoping that being physically in the country would help get me shortlisted at least. I work at a senior level in public health for the NHS, so am looking for jobs with the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards, but if the public sector is anything like it is in the UK, I just can't see them offering me a job without attending in person for an interview. Unfortunately I am not clinical so don't qualify through the skill shortage lists.

The other option we have as we are both under 35 is to apply for a IEP visa (1yr work visa through BUNAC). You are only allowed to work for the same organisation for 3 months though so I wasn't sure if this would be sufficient time to process our PR, and hence we may need to get a work visa anyway. It might be our only hope of getting shortlisted for positions though.

We were intending to come into the Country with an outward ticket to Oz for 6-months post arrival and would have enough funds to live on for the full 6-months if necessary. Definitely don't want to upset immigration, my husband is a police officer and is looking at Border Control as a possible future employer! 

Thanks for the info. re. cars, it does seem a bit of a headache to import one across so we might not bother, although we are likely to only be able to sell ours for half the price we paid for it a little over 2 years ago!

Useful to know that you can import furniture on a work visa, but I think we are going to plan to wait until we have secured residency just in case - it will help us decide what to keep/get rid of.

Can't believe how difficult the whole process is, we are a young highly qualified couple but it just feels like we are coming against constant barriers to our planned move, hard to keep keep positive - but hey ho, we will get there eventually - I hope!!!

Thanks!


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## escapedtonz

HkS said:


> Thanks for your replies, really useful info. and food for thought!
> 
> That is the first I have heard that you aren't allowed to job hunt on a tourist visa. We intend to apply for PR via the skilled migrant route, but as I only have 135 points (so close!) without a job offer, we need to secure a job first and then would plan to apply for a work visa to allow me to start work relatively quickly whilst at the same time processing our residency application. I have applied for a few jobs from this end but keep getting the same reply as mentioned, re. the level of application has been high etc. I was hoping that being physically in the country would help get me shortlisted at least. I work at a senior level in public health for the NHS, so am looking for jobs with the Ministry of Health and District Health Boards, but if the public sector is anything like it is in the UK, I just can't see them offering me a job without attending in person for an interview. Unfortunately I am not clinical so don't qualify through the skill shortage lists.
> 
> The other option we have as we are both under 35 is to apply for a IEP visa (1yr work visa through BUNAC). You are only allowed to work for the same organisation for 3 months though so I wasn't sure if this would be sufficient time to process our PR, and hence we may need to get a work visa anyway. It might be our only hope of getting shortlisted for positions though.
> 
> We were intending to come into the Country with an outward ticket to Oz for 6-months post arrival and would have enough funds to live on for the full 6-months if necessary. Definitely don't want to upset immigration, my husband is a police officer and is looking at Border Control as a possible future employer!
> 
> Thanks for the info. re. cars, it does seem a bit of a headache to import one across so we might not bother, although we are likely to only be able to sell ours for half the price we paid for it a little over 2 years ago!
> 
> Useful to know that you can import furniture on a work visa, but I think we are going to plan to wait until we have secured residency just in case - it will help us decide what to keep/get rid of.
> 
> Can't believe how difficult the whole process is, we are a young highly qualified couple but it just feels like we are coming against constant barriers to our planned move, hard to keep keep positive - but hey ho, we will get there eventually - I hope!!!
> 
> Thanks!


I'd recommend you reading the rules on the Immigration NZ website associated with visitor visas. 
Doesn't actually state in black & white that you can't attend interviews, approach employers etc. 
It does allow "business consultation" so maybe this is why so many people get away with it ?
As I said lots of people do use time as a tourist to approach employers to see if they can secure a job so they can come here permanently but as I say you need to satisfy all the other criteria of the visitor visa.
Bit of a catch 22 I know.
Employers here do love people to be proactive when seeking work and coming here for a visit and seeing them face to face will give you lots of brownie points for sure.
Just be cautious as the last thing you want to do is be in touble with Immigration when you are trying to get residency.

Wouldn't recommend you bringing over a car or motorbike when you get a working or residency visa.
Its a costly excercise at approx 1000-1500GBP for a bike and 2000-2500GBP for a car - shipping and customs charges only!
There is also the pain of having to get a compliance notice from the UK manufacturer to prove to NZTA (New Zealand Transport Authority) that any vehicle complies with the rules/regs of NZ.
You will also surely have to pay extra money when it lands for maf cleaning irrespective that you will have already paid to have it scrubbed when it left the UK.
Then there's the approval process through NZTA and the Warrant of Fitness, Registration etc etc.
There's loads of used cars here that are very reasonable so makes importing a vehicle a bit of a daft idea.
There's also the issues that no-one will buy your UK spec car when you want to change it in the years to come. 
It'll have a odometer/speedo in miles/mph and not Km/kph. 
The radio wont work, the sat nav wont work etc etc.
Sell them in the UK and buy here.

Sympathise with you over the whole emigration process. Can be very trying but if you stick to the rules and just keep at it you will get here.

Good luck


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## toadsurfer

Are any of your skills likely to make you attractive to any employers on the accredited employer list? 
I was in the same position as you guys re hitting brick walls to find a way to get over. After lots of trying I eventually got a job offer from an accredited employer and so got a work visa which got me over there. Currently applying for residency now without the pressure. 
Accredited employers much more open to foreign workers and making job offers to them (at least in my field) as the visa is quick to process and gets workers over to nz much faster than PR.


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## topcat83

Be _very careful_ about bringing personal effects in without a visa.
Our friend's daughter's furniture arrived before their work visa was granted - and they had to pay GST and duty on the value of the goods. Even the second hand ones.
Make sure you have a visa that entitles you to live in NZ in your passport _before_ your goods arrive here.


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## HkS

toadsurfer said:


> Are any of your skills likely to make you attractive to any employers on the accredited employer list?



Only two of the District Health Boards are on the list which seems a bit random, so wasn't really sure if this would be of any benefit to us, but interesting to hear that you have had more luck with an accredited employer.

Thanks topcat83, that was what I was worried about! I think that even though we could ship our furniture out when we get a 1yr work visa, it is still a gamble so probably best to wait until we hopefully secure residency. I'll just have to go shopping for a few bits and pieces to keep us going 

If my husband and I do get one year work visas, I presume our son (16mths) will only be able to stay for 6-months as a tourist!?! Had anyone come across this situation? Hopefully we manage to secure PR pretty quickly!

Cheers!


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## escapedtonz

HkS said:


> Only two of the District Health Boards are on the list which seems a bit random, so wasn't really sure if this would be of any benefit to us, but interesting to hear that you have had more luck with an accredited employer.
> 
> Thanks topcat83, that was what I was worried about! I think that even though we could ship our furniture out when we get a 1yr work visa, it is still a gamble so probably best to wait until we hopefully secure residency. I'll just have to go shopping for a few bits and pieces to keep us going
> 
> If my husband and I do get one year work visas, I presume our son (16mths) will only be able to stay for 6-months as a tourist!?! Had anyone come across this situation? Hopefully we manage to secure PR pretty quickly!
> 
> Cheers!


Mr Rental is quite good for furniture, sofas, beds, white goods etc instead of buying new or used. If you agree to rent for 4 months or more the charges drop drastically.

Please look at the relevant Immigration NZ website pages referring to visas and requirements to satisfy them and also the BUNAC website to get all the facts you need.

Looking at the IEP visa rules you cannot bring kids on this visa so I suppose the only option is a visitor visa for your child, but then you are into the terms and conditions of that visa type for a toddler.
Can a toddler hold a visitor visa ? 
I'd say not but only an assumption.
Will need a lot of research on your part.
I'd recommend speaking to a professional.
You also have to be overseas to apply for this IEP visa. You cannot apply for it if in NZ.
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## teignqueen

We moved over here a year ago , both on work visas while the PR was underway. My partner had a job offer so he needed to get out here quickly. We brought our daughter with us who was 10 at the time and she only needed a student visa as she is automatically attached to our visa apps. So that bit was quite simple. We did ship our stuff before we left as it takes about 10-12 weeks to arrive ( bit risky i suppose as we had nt been granted residency yet!) His job had just been taken off the skills shortage list but the employer wrote a letter stating it had been advertised but were unsuccessful in finding someone with the relevant skills. It helped that i am a qualified nurse ( on the skilled shortage list, but had not had my qualification recognised over here at the time) we were very lucky as our residency was granted 3 months later. There is alot of leg work to do to get there, we actually used an agent ( and before anyone comments on the expense of it when you can do it yourself, it was the right thing for us given the timeframe - it just meant he told us what to do and when, and lets face it we did get residency in 3 months of the application being submitted!) Also worth noting, if likely to be applicable to you, I had to do the academic IELTS test ( English language test) for my registration, and that took a while to organise, and trust me its not that easy, unlike the general english language test. If there is anything I can help you with, having recent experience, feel free to ask!


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## lisamct

HkS said:


> Only two of the District Health Boards are on the list which seems a bit random, so wasn't really sure if this would be of any benefit to us, but interesting to hear that you have had more luck with an accredited employer.


The accredited employer list on the INZ website is a bit misleading. 

Not sure what you searched under but pretty much every DHB all over NZ are accredited employers, its just that some are listed under 'DHB' some under 'health' some under 'government' some under 'public health' and lots of other random headers.

Hopefully this helps you widen your job search a bit!


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## toadsurfer

Also the published list is not necessarily complete as publication of the employer's name is optional and up to the employer. Many just don't bother actively agreeing to publication. My employer wasn't on the list but was still accredited.


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## lorgnette

That is the first I have heard that you aren't allowed to job hunt on a tourist visa.

Of course you are allowed to job hunt on a tourist visa in NZ. 

We were on holiday and we did. Recommended to attend a Telco management interview Thursday, truly impressed to receive offer next day Friday. When accepted, company gave a week for work pass process. WP approval came through, collected Monday afternoon after submitting application, passport and work letter in the morning. 

However for better results, apply and visit mid-Jan with copies (and original) transcripts, references, resumes etc. Recruiters are quite casual, generally welcome appointments to meet candidates esp foreign when corporate decisions to hire usually begin after the seasonal break. In Wellington, few recruiters have offices in a clutter, same or situated in nearby blocks.

Good luck!


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## topcat83

lorgnette said:


> That is the first I have heard that you aren't allowed to job hunt on a tourist visa.
> 
> Of course you are allowed to job hunt on a tourist visa in NZ.
> 
> We were on holiday and we did. Recommended to attend a Telco management interview Thursday, truly impressed to receive offer next day Friday. When accepted, company gave a week for work pass process. WP approval came through, collected Monday afternoon after submitting application, passport and work letter in the morning.
> 
> However for better results, apply and visit mid-Jan with copies (and original) transcripts, references, resumes etc. Recruiters are quite casual, generally welcome appointments to meet candidates esp foreign when corporate decisions to hire usually begin after the seasonal break. In Wellington, few recruiters have offices in a clutter, same or situated in nearby blocks.
> 
> Good luck!


Don't assume that! People do, but that doesn't mean that it's officially OK. If you were to arrive at NZ Customs and say that 'looking for work' was the reason you were visiting, then it might be seen as a reason for refusing entry. Just a warning - NZ customs have the right to refuse anyone entry if they want.


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