planning our move

[Helenc]

Hi everyone

This is my first post on the forum so forgive me if I'm posting in the wrong thread - if anyone feels I should post on any of the other threads too do let me know!

Anyhow, myself and my husband, in our late 30's, no kids, currently living in Manchester, England are in the midst of planning a move to NZ, aiming to arrive next year, ideally March - April 2014. At present I'm currently waiting to hear from the NZ Physiotherapy Board to get registered as a physio in NZ, which is our first step in the long process. I've been told I should hear in 6 weeks or so.

Once I've got that it should be a case of finding jobs and then applying for visas. We think we'll initially apply for a work visa for me and partnership visa for my husband. We were initially going to go straight for residency but without a job offer and/or work experience in NZ we only just squeeze into the points needed and we don't want to wait ages to get an invitation to apply. We therefore thought we'd try for work visas, come and see if we like it, then apply for residence once we're there - does that sound reasonable?

My main question, however, is what should we be doing in the time I'm waiting for registration to come through to prepare ourselves to get to NZ as soon as possible thereafter? We're currently in the process of updating our CVs (I'm also registered with a recruiter in NZ already), doing up our house for sale and starting to get quotes for pet transfers (we're hoping to bring our cat) and shipping of our household items. I've also printed off the visa application forms and am starting to get together the documents we might need to send with them.

Is there anything else that anyone could suggest that we might need to be getting on with now? Any ideas would be useful. I'm hoping to use this time to get as organised as possible so it's we don't have to do it all once my registration (hopefully) comes through.

I've found browsing on this forum really helpful so far and look forward to hearing from you all.

Thanks!

[JandM]

Hello.

We therefore thought we'd try for work visas, come and see if we like it, then apply for residence once we're there - does that sound reasonable?

That's a perfectly good way round to do things, and many here have done just that. You might need to do a recce trip to clinch a job offer, but maybe not, and you won't know till you try.

The only other thing that occurs to me that you could usefully be doing at the moment is to make sure you're gathering proofs of partnership. INZ look particularly at the 12 months in the lead up to an application, so it's good to make sure you've got something good and sound at about the 'year back' mark, then other pieces of evidence to show you're together at regular short intervals after that. And don't forget to keep collecting even after your application has gone in, as COs sometimes ask for an update at the last minute. There are lots of suggestions on old threads.
http://www.google.co.uk/?gws_rd=cr&e...tnership+proof

[Helenc]

Thanks JandM! That's really helpful. We are married (and have been for 10 years) so have our marriage certificate and obviously lots of joint bank statements. insurance docs etc. Do you think that should be enough or should we pull together some other bits such as photos, joint invites etc etc. just to be on the safe side?

[wellywearer]

Hi and welcome,

Sounds like you're doing the right kind of things to prepare.
Have you had your qualifications checked by NZQA? Or perhaps that's part of the physio registration you mention?
We went the SMC route after my partner obtained a job and I think having a recce trip so they could do a final interview face to face really clinched it for him.

For our relationship proof we just sent joint bank statements, water bill etc and some bills individually to each one but at the same address spanning our relationship period - we've not yet had the official Ok for our visa, but it's at the second person check stage so I'd be surprised if they asked us for more relationship stuff now! Though better to send too much than not enough!

We were living in Oldham, before we did this first little move and now we're planning a bigger one...like you with cats too!

[JandM]

Thanks JandM! That's really helpful. We are married (and have been for 10 years) so have our marriage certificate and obviously lots of joint bank statements. insurance docs etc. Do you think that should be enough or should we pull together some other bits such as photos, joint invites etc etc. just to be on the safe side?

Yes, definitely get all those things. INZ doesn't put any particular weight on marriage - partnership is defined as a provable live-in relationship that is still going on NOW. There are people on the forum who have been married for forty years and have children and grandchildren together who STILL have to prove they've been living together for the last 12 months.

[Gran]

Just as a start you might be able to find a job with one of the local health boards, there may even be some assistance with moving if they recruit you without using an agent. Here is a lead to the jobs in the Auckland Health Board.
http://www.aucklandhealthjobs.com/

[Helenc]

Thanks everyone for your tips.

Think this will be the first post of many!

[Anne Goulding]

Think about preparing for your medical maybe? It is quite exacting so worthwhile cutting down on the booze (if you drink) to give your liver a bit of a break

[bellebellec1]

I would second the advice about partnership info - I have been married for years with children and we lived together before marriage. We had to send paperwork covering the entire period of our relationship - ie joint bank statements, mortgages, bills etc. I struggled with this as do all our paperwork online and we only had a few weeks to gather everything. I also advise you get printed copies of your doctors notes (I had to pay around £20 per person for them but worth it) - makes registering out here very easy.

[Alistair]

Does INZ need original documents or are copies/prints of soft copies sufficient?

I've switched a lot of our banking and bills to online only and don't receive a lot of bank statements, etc. hard copy any more. I do have some documents hard copy, but most are soft copy.