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Thread: Full time welding student looking to relocate to Christchurch

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    USA
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    5

    Default Full time welding student looking to relocate to Christchurch

    Good afternoon everyone! I am quite new to this and am looking for any information I can get. Any help would be most welcomed! I am 24 and living on campus to become a pipe welder, and I still have 8-12 months left, depending when advanced training starts. I am in a relationship with a UK citizen who is currently living in England. Our hope was to eventually move together to New Zealand, but I have read that there are many ways to go about doing this. We have been getting nowhere with getting even the smallest piece of information from UK immigration, and with more laws passing that limit non EU immigrants, more and more our plan b of moving to New Zealand is looking like the best option for us.

    During summer and winter breaks from school I go live with him, sometimes a few weeks and sometimes a couple months. I know this may not exactly be enough to prove that we were living together as a couple, but it is something. He spoke to me previously about how I may be able to go under a work visa and he join me later as a partner, though we are both still looking into what little we can get our hands on. I noticed that there are very little welding jobs actually posted online for the Christchurch area, but there are so many articles about welders and construction tradesmen needed. Part of me hopes that is it similar to the area I am living in now, they are in need of welders, and would much rather have people contact them directly or show up in person to apply. ( not sure if that may be the case, please correct me if I am wrong.)

    Sorry if this is quite vague, please reply with any information you may have. Feel free to ask any questions if it can help narrow down the information. Thank you for taking the time to read and respond to this. Have a wonderful day!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Hamilton
    Posts
    34

    Default

    As a starting point, it would appear that both of you could be eligible for open work visas under the Working Holiday Scheme. Just to double-check, do you hold a United States passport? (your profile says that you're in the United States). If so, Immigration New Zealand has the Working Holiday Scheme for both the UK and the United States for people aged between 18-30. If you applied for those visas you would get open work visas that would allow you to work in any job, in any city. That would enable you to work in jobs that are relevant to your qualifications without having to jump through the hoops that you would normally have to go through to get a specific work visa. You could obviously spend that time living together in order to build evidence for future partnership applications.

    Does this help?? If you have any specific questions, please post them

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    Default

    I do have my passport, I have a month long break coming up where I am going to see him over the holidays. I will have multiple american welding society certifications and high integrity pipe welding under my belt when I graduate next year. I would like to think with that and my CDL-A with tankers endorsements I can hopefully have a better chance at living there permanently some day.
    A few other questions I have are:
    1. If accepted under a working holiday visa, what would you recommend as a safe minimum budget per person? I have read many different threads on this, but still would like any information on this point.
    2. Are there decent room rentals or extended stay hotels for when I first arrive? Some have ranted about it being terribly over priced, but others were singing praises about how affordable and accommodating they found these to be.
    3. If anyone knows, what is the average pay of a typical welder over there? Is it considered a decent living wage? ( in some parts of the states, some welders don't earn enough from one job and are typically forced to work two jobs to make ends meet. Its why I am trying to get into pipe welding, more job security just in case.)
    4. How helpful and informative are the case workers in the immigration office when it comes to applications? I've tagged along with a friend here in the states to update information on his student visa and the workers every time were incredibly rude and short with him. And had anyone from immigration in the UK ever contacted me back, I'm sure I'd have a more concise opinion of them.

    Sorry for the lengthy reply. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thank you for the feedback!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Posts
    37,824

    Default

    I don't have answers for all your questions.

    But it looks from this http://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/ as though there is a good chance you could get a job in the Canterbury area (the Christchurch rebuild), leading to an Essential Skills Work visa in the first place, and then potentially Residence.

    Hostels/cheap hotels. Suggest you Google that for wherever you may land, e.g. Auckland. https://www.google.co.uk/#q=hostels+...otels+auckland

    INZ case workers' job isn't to advise people about how to apply for a visa, or which visa to apply for, but to process the applications once they are received, and they all have a large case-load with almost more to do than they can manage. So they're not allowed to spend time giving immigration advice. The information is all on the INZ website - I know it's complicated, but it is really worth spending time reading your way round it and getting familiar with the different possibilities. There is also the INZ operational manual, which has all the detailed requirements for every kind of visa. If you need to be told what to do, you will have to employ a Licensed Immigration Adviser or immigration lawyer, because ordinary people aren't allowed to do more than show you where there is publicly available information, and share their own experience, then leave you to make your own decision. On the other hand, if, when reading e.g. the INZ website, you find something you don't understand, and you come back here and give a link to that place, people here will do their best to explain.

    https://www.google.co.uk/#q=new+zealand+welder+salary

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5

    Default

    Thank you! This is very informative! I'll get reading right away! I appreciate all the help!

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