Moving to stay in New Zealand for 2 years

[MrsChen]

Hi Dear folks,
I plan to take a break of 2 years and reside in New Zealand for 2 years in 2013. I like to put my girl into their kindergarten. Could anyone kindly advise, which part of New Zealand is good for education children and have good chinese community?
Types of visa?
Jobs availablility?
Children kindergarten fees?
Rental?
Or should I get a student visa for myself and my child could entitle for free education.

Greatly appreciate tips, help and advise.

[JayCee]

Did you get this site confused with NZExpats.com?

[bgd]

I wouldn't recommend Christchurch for the next few years, unless you're in the building trade.

There are NZ gov sites which will explain the visa requirements, just Google.

I'm a little out of touch but would think that kindergartens are free unless you want to go private.

Top of the South Island and Auckland upwards has the warmest weather. Worth considering if coming from here.

Smaller centres will be cheaper to live but also harder to find employment.

South Island is less populated than the North and the place for wide open spaces if you like that sort of thing.

There are plenty of Chinese in NZ so I'm sure you will find a niche.

[taxico]

I plan to take a break of 2 years and reside in New Zealand for 2 years in 2013. I like to put my girl into their kindergarten. Could anyone kindly advise, which part of New Zealand is good for education children and have good chinese community?
Types of visa?
Jobs availablility?
Children kindergarten fees?
Rental?
Or should I get a student visa for myself and my child could entitle for free education.

Greatly appreciate tips, help and advise.

NZ is an awesome place to take a break and just let children be children. i lived there for a few years and thoroughly enjoyed myself. i don't have any advice specific to raising kids.

but if you're singaporean, you will probably take a while to become used to the way kiwi parents raise their kids.

however i'm not sure if you could just go there and live for 2 years with a toddler.

though many don't think so, i feel living costs are quite high (bearing in mind i don't cook and i have to eat out every meal). if you don't have deep'ish wallets, you might want to consider a different country.

there're chinese communities, and there are chinese communities. asians being asians, they're everywhere (no offense meant). if you mean a "singapore chinese" community, you will probably do better in auckland than any other city due to size.

if you mean "china chinese" community, you'll find them all over NZ. there'll be more than a few asian supermarkets in the main cities, operated by the chinese and koreans. instant community.

rental varies, depending on where you stay. rates are calculated by the week, not the month. i had a nice water front apartment in wellington for about $950 a week. i also lived in a tiny studio for about $225 a week when i first moved there. it's about a 15 minute drive away from the former. location, location, location...

i'm not sure if you qualify for any sort of visa or permit - you can apply through their immigration.govt.nz website. if you do, it'll cost a few thousand dollars and probably take a year or two.

as for studying in NZ... most places (including universities) are very mom-friendly. you'll find a creche in all the big unis (auck, welly, otago, etc) and i think it's free or cheap if you're an enrolled student.

most university-level study permits allow some sort amount work, but probably not enough for you to survive if you go there penniless (20 hours a week?).

i'm not sure if you get free education for your child as a graduate student, but it's definitely cheap if it's not free.

personally, i'd take NZ over AU any day even if the latter is cheaper to live in and more developed and has better plane connections.

sweet as.

[taxico]

btw, you MUST buy health insurance - health services are unlike what you're used to in singapore. you can't just walk in to a clinic and get treated.

[nakatago]

One does not simply walk into Mordor, er, New Zealand.

Sorry; a LOTR reference had to be made. You may now resume.

[k1w1]

Hi Dear folks,
I plan to take a break of 2 years and reside in New Zealand for 2 years in 2013. I like to put my girl into their kindergarten. Could anyone kindly advise, which part of New Zealand is good for education children and have good chinese community?
Types of visa?
Jobs availablility?
Children kindergarten fees?
Rental?
Or should I get a student visa for myself and my child could entitle for free education.

Greatly appreciate tips, help and advise.

I've just run this gauntlet a while back trying to get my Singaporean partner into New Zealand. Do you have any friends or family here to help you while you find your feet? It will be a heck of a cultural shock for anyone who comes from Singapore, I suspect...

You're not entitled to free education for your children unless you are on a work visa or have permanent residency, as you wouldn't be contributing taxes. Visas are not easy to get, and without a job offer or an eligible family member to sponsor you, they're almost impossible. It is possible to get residency immediately in some circumstances, but that's even harder (though it can be done). You can check your eligibility on the NZ immigration website and it gives you the points you need etc for each visa category. [Insider's tip: the staff at NZ Immigration in Singapore are Singaporean and do not seem to like people going to New Zealand. They are incredibly rude and unhelpful... If you have questions before you submit your application, you should just call the office lines in New Zealand...]

As for places to live, I would highly recommend you look at Auckland. It's bigger, warmer, more international and has more jobs. There are excellent schools on the North Shore, but Howick in central Auckland is also very popular with middle-class, Chinese and Korean families.