Need Advice: Why New Zealand and not Australia?

[alexamae]

Hi Helo, I have some questions please.

Need Advice: Why New Zealand and not Australia?
We are confused to which country should we migrate.
We are currently working in Singapore for almost 4 years now.
I am a Systems Administrator and my wife's role is Customer Support.

For now, here is the summary/list of our comparison.

NZ:
Pro's
- No IELTS
- School's Assessment is around S$1800 for both husband and wife
- EOI S$450
- Cheaper migration fee S$2,000
- Nice weather, laid back lifestyle
- More friends are moving from SG to NZ

Con's
- Economy not as good as AU
- Some people from NZ are moving to AU for higher pay
- High cost standard of living, but salary is not as high
- NZ $ is almost same exchange rate with SG $ (We send money back home to Philippines that's why we consider this as well.)

AU:
Pro's
- Economy is very good
- Salary is high so standard of living is better
- Nice weather, laid back lifestyle
- AU$ is almost same exchange rate with US$ and CA$

Con's
- IELTS, S$300 per exam
- Skills assessment A$350
- Expensive Migration fee A$3k
- We don't have so much friends in AU

Husband wants to go to AU, wife wants to go to NZ with friends .
Additional deciding factor is, we will soon sponsor my parents and siblings (ages 10,8,7,4) once
we become PR.
Do you have any idea which country is easier to go through this sponsorship?

We are confused. We're praying for signs from God.
We can't jump start the application process because we still don't know which country to choose

Please feel free to correct me if I have mistakes with the information I provided.

[ralf-nz]

Pro NZ: The All Blacks
Con NZ: You cannot sponsor siblings or adult child's anymore; since very recently.

Don't know enough about Oz to compare NZ and Oz.

[Delta_Cephei]

For us - far fewer poisonous beasties in NZ...

[Lauralocks]

Really only you can make this decision.

I would suggest you visit each country and see which feels more like you.

The other thing to bear in mind is that once you have permenant residency in NZ you (I think - please someone correct me if I'm wrong as I'm so unbelievably not an expert!) move to Australia. I guess this is vice versa... not sure. But if so it means if you aren't happy in whichever you chose you can, in time, move relatively easily.

[newarrival]

No, you can't move to Australia with NZ residence- you need citizenship. (Of course you can move, but then you would have to start everything from scratch again anyway).

It is probably not relevant any more, if the category has changed/ disappeared- but would you have been able to sponsor your whole family before? I always thought you could only sponsor one person, who had no other relatives living in the same country?

[Lauralocks]

Sorry! I should have looked before posting. I think I got muddled. However I did find this on the INZ website: http://www.dol.govt.nz/immigration/k...base/item/1068

Are there any special rules for Australian citizens and residents?
If you’re an Australian citizen, you don’t need to apply for any type of visa, but you will be allowed to live, work or study in New Zealand indefinitely. You will need to show a valid Australian passport on your arrival in New Zealand and be of good character. A foreign passport showing your Australian Citizen Endorsement (either with a label or a confirmation letter) may also be accepted as evidence of your Australian citizenship.

If you are an Australian permanent resident entering New Zealand with a current Australian Resident Return Visa in your valid passport, you will normally be granted a residence class visa (at the airport) to enter and stay in New Zealand, provided you have completed your arrival card correctly and truthfully. However, you can still be refused residence if you are not of good character (you will be required to make a character declaration by completing the Character section of your arrival card).

If you are a temporary Australian Resident, you may require a visa to visit NZ (please assess your ability to travel visa free), but you will definitely need an appropriate visa in your passport if you wish to study, work or live in NZ.

So it works the other way round - if you had permenant residency in Australia you can get a resident class visa for NZ on arrival. I knew there was some sort of special relationship, although that all seems a bit one sided to me!

[ralf-nz]

I think you're right in that you're allowed to sponsor one person every five years; check with INZ!

[JandM]

The up to date information about sponsoring parents into NZ is here. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...nt/default.htm As is clearly stated, apart from other qualifying factors, the parents will not be admitted with any dependent children.

[alexamae]

Thanks heaps for all these info guys, greatly appreciated. I will discuss this with my wife!

[Hagabel]

For us NZ won out over Australia because of a lack of potentially lethal bugs and beasties (as someone already stated) and we wanted a more temperate climate, ie less extremes of temps. We had the extremes of heat, cold and snow in DC and had enough of that. We also wanted a country with less people, less traffic, commuting etc. I think (have only been to OZ on holiday) both countries would have a lot to offer.
Good luck with your decision!!!