Some various questions
Hey Folks, I’ve got a bunch of questions I’m looking for input on. Instead of spamming the forum with multiple threads I’ll just list them off here.
1. Visa’s – Been approached by a recruiter with an employer that wants to fill a position quickly. They would prefer to have me apply for a WTR permit instead of a SMC. That’s all fine and dandy for me but the rest of the family would have come in on a family stream (again all fine and dandy). My wife is a stay at home mum since we have 3 small boys. Stands to reason she would get a visitor’s visa but we may opt for a working one in case she decides to return to the work force. We have a 10 month old so he’s a visitor no question. We have a 6 year old entering year 1 so he’s a student visa. Again a no brainer. The issue is my 3 year old. He’ll be 5 before the 24 month period that I can apply for residency on. He should be in school when he turns 5. Do I put him on a visitor and apply to change to student prior to him turning 5? Once we have residency the point it moot but there will be a few months of overlay. Any other drawbacks to WTR vs SMC I may have overlooked?
2. Schooling – So on WTR my 6 year old will be on a student visa and will be accepted into a primary school as a domestic student. If we wanted to send his younger brother on a visitor visa to pre-school would we have to pay the whole amount out of pocket instead of the hours above 20 per week the government covers for residents?
3. Recruiter– The job I’ve applied for and had a good interview with is based in Auckland. The recruiter said prior to the interview that there are a multitude of opportunities in Christchurch if this job falls through. Most of the adverts I have seen in CHCH seem to be looking for people already in country with residency and such so I’m not sure if the recruiter is over stating things. My field is in engineering and with the rebuild I know my position is in demand. I’m just not sure if companies are seriously looking at bringing in people from abroad or if the recruiter thinks he can talk a company into it. Do most recruiters work at finding people for positions or positions for people? Seems to me if the recruiter approaches a company it drastically effects my ability to negotiate salary and relocation costs.
4. Finances – Trying to get a handle on the cost of living. When I calculate the minimum salary I THINK is acceptable it works out to be about 1150 per week take home after taxes and such. From my narrow minded view of costs in Auckland this seems adequate. With a 450 PW rental this would leave 700pw for everything else. We aren’t frugal nor spend thrifts either. We are currently choosy on food shopping and base our meals around what’s on sale and what’s in season. We seldom eat out and enjoy a bottle of wine after 2 weeks or so. Do people think this is reasonable for a family of 5? I don’t want to push the employer too hard on salary since I’m already planning on discussing relocation costs
Originally Posted by sks
