Cost of Living in Wellington

[amdnz]

Dear Members,

I am planning to relocate to NZ and have a few questions over the cost of living in Wellington Can you please shed some light on those?

1. What is the average cost of living in Wellington for a married couple with 1 kid? I do understand that this would vary from case to case, but would be great to have an approximate figure.

2. Is 100K an year a decent package? What would be the approximate savings?

3. What are the social security benefits someone on a work visa can avail?

4. How soon can one expect to become eligible to apply for PR and how long would it take from then to actually get PR?

5. Are medical facilities free (for people on work visa / PRs) in NZ (just like in Australia/Canada)?

6. How expensive is the primary schooling for kids (for people on work visa / PRs)?

Thanks a lot in advance!

Warm Regards!

[JandM]

While you wait for any answers, there are many old threads on the forum https://www.google.co.uk/#q=site:enz...+in+Wellington to give you a range of views about this. It's worth using Search on any point, as most issues will have been discussed already.

4. The first visa one gets after applying under the Skilled Migrant Scheme is Residence. PR is a different visa, only obtainable to those who have been a Resident for at least two years and fulfilled conditions of commitment to NZ. Look on the "processing times" page for the INZ office you would need to submit an application to, to get an idea of how their timings are running at the moment. Notice, such timings are extremely variable, due to the individual nature of applications and the fluctuating workload in INZ offices.

5. Those with a work visa for at least 24 months, and those with Residence, are entitled to use the NZ Health Service on the same basis as NZ nationals. There are charges for some aspects of treatment - it is not ALL free. http://www.workingin-newzealand.com/...e#.VNHPCC4Q0mc

6. Children of those on a work visa, or residents, are entitled to a student visa, to attend school as domestic students (that is, on the same basis as nationals). Attendance at a state school is free, except that schools charge a 'donation' per child to help with operational costs. Schools' own websites should show what the expected level of the donation is.

[breeze]

If you've got a job offer of 100k, then Welly is sweet.

If no job offer, you may wish to keep your mind open about other cities also. Just saying...

[amdnz]

While you wait for any answers, there are many old threads on the forum https://www.google.co.uk/#q=site:enz...+in+Wellington to give you a range of views about this. It's worth using Search on any point, as most issues will have been discussed already.

4. The first visa one gets after applying under the Skilled Migrant Scheme is Residence. PR is a different visa, only obtainable to those who have been a Resident for at least two years and fulfilled conditions of commitment to NZ. Look on the "processing times" page for the INZ office you would need to submit an application to, to get an idea of how their timings are running at the moment. Notice, such timings are extremely variable, due to the individual nature of applications and the fluctuating workload in INZ offices.

5. Those with a work visa for at least 24 months, and those with Residence, are entitled to use the NZ Health Service on the same basis as NZ nationals. There are charges for some aspects of treatment - it is not ALL free. http://www.workingin-newzealand.com/...e#.VNHPCC4Q0mc

6. Children of those on a work visa, or residents, are entitled to a student visa, to attend school as domestic students (that is, on the same basis as nationals). Attendance at a state school is free, except that schools charge a 'donation' per child to help with operational costs. Schools' own websites should show what the expected level of the donation is.

- Thanks a lot JandM and Breeze for your inputs - seems I would be able to just survive with the offered salary of 100K

[wellywearer]

I remember searching on the forum before we came for a similar question and there are some great posts which already provide exact figures for living here down to electricity and weekly coffees!

Obviously depending where you live in Wellington will be your biggest budget to think about.
For a decent rental I'd be thinking in the $450-500/a week mark...yes there is cheaper to be had, but that would be my view.

Anyway yes, you'd be good on £100k. I even know someone who seems to manage well enough on that with 4 kids!

[dede]

Remember your first $ is taxed. First work out what your after tax take is. Visit the IRD site for tax rates. For rents visit www.trademe.co.nz Rentals vary quite dramatically in quality and price but my friends rented a 2 bed in Island Bay (nice but not over the top suburb) for $420/week. We pay about $250/month electricity. Some can pay a lot more; somewhat dependent on aspect - don't get a rental with southern aspect! If your kid is older you may want to look for rentals in the central Wellington zones for some of the best schools in the country. Food can be quite expensive until you work out the hacks. Bear that in mind. $100k is reasonably good for Welly but you prob wont be saving too much.