Immigration Forum / Australia and NZ / April 2005

Hi,
Grab yourself a coffee you could be sometime reading this, i will try
and be as consise (sp) as possible.

We are here in NZ on Perm. Residency. When we moved here it was with a
job from my husbands Uk company. We were never meant to stay in NZ. The
plan was from the very beginning that he would be here for a couple of
years and then they had a position in mind in Oz which he would go and
fill once someone retired.
Not long after we arrived the job here turned very sour, I won't bore
you with the details. We were originally on work to residence visas,
when things started looking iffy we quickly changed them to residence
visas and we cut our losses and he changed jobs. A smart move in
hindsight as the company in NZ was sold, which would have left us
feeling very insecure had he still been there.
We have been here 2 1/2yrs now and now all the job stuff has been sorted
on the whole have made quite a success of our move, although my husband
has found it very hard to shake off the thoughts of Oz, as this is where
he really wanted to be. So we recently took a holiday over there to see
if it would make the pull stronger or weaker, and yes youve guessed it
we really liked what we saw.
So here is the dilema, which is the best way of getting there, we have
several options open to us all with upsides and downsides.

OPTION 1
We wait till we can apply for NZ citizenship (Nov 05) and we go as
Kiwis.
Upside - Little paperwork, less expense and less hassle.
Downside - Feeling of a slightly insecure footing living in Oz as Kiwis,
governments can move the goalposts whenever they feel like it. Is it
secure for us in old age and for our kids futures. Morally, I would feel
like we sneeked in.

OPTION 2
We apply now for Oz residency. Hubby will be 40 in June 06 so we need to
get a move on.
Upside - We will feel very secure in Oz having done it the proper way.
Downside - Going through the whole process again paperwork, cost etc. If
it is unsuccesfull and we decide to go the NZ citizenship route will NZ
get wind of our application and deny us citizenship?

OPTION 3
Wait for NZ citizenship, go to Oz, once there apply for Oz perm
residency.
Upside - We will have secured NZ citizenship as a back up if can't get
Oz perm residency.
Downside - If we wait this long to apply for Oz perm residency hubby
will be over 40 and chance of success reduced.

I haven't thought of an option 4 yet! Hubby is confident of passing the
points test. He would go under fitter/turner/skilled metal machinist.
Looking at Victoria as a destination.

One more question, he had his skills assesed by NZQA to get here, will
he still need a TRA skills assesment if we go the OZ PR route.

Hope someone can help me see this more clearly, I seem to be thinking
myself round in circles.

Thanx in advance

Paula