Becoming an Australian 'Resident'

If you hold a New Zealand passport you will be pleased to know you have open access to Australia, You do not need to apply for a visa. All New Zealand citizens are granted a special visa, this is done automatically, its the stamp they stamp onto your passport as you go through customs. Anyone with criminal convictions or who has been in trouble with the law will need to get in touch with immigration to see if this will affect your eligibility for a special visa.

You can live and work for as long as you like in Australia without having to apply for any type of 'permanent residency' or 'citizenship'. If you are residing here you are classed as a resident, it is not until you actually apply for 'permanent residency' and are a permanent resident for two years, then apply and are accepted for a citizenship, that you become a citizen (I think in total it takes 4 years - which btw is not necessary unless you want to do so). You are still a Nz citizen if you do this, you will have dual citizenship.

Being a NZ Citizen in Australia you are eligible for Family assistance, a medicare card, and possibly rent assistance immediately (if you fall into the correct income bracket of course) and these are very simple to apply for with the correct paperwork. There is a 2 year wait period after you apply for permanent residency (if you chose to do so) for other allowances such as the unemployment benefit and Parenting payment (equivalent to our DPB). So far what I have learnt about pensioners is, if you choose to move to Australia, you will get a part pension from the Australian Government and the rest from the Nz Govt, if you call Work and Income they can help, also you can phone 0800 441 248 which will connect you through to the Australian centrelink, and they should be able to help too. Obviously everyones situation is different so Im not sure on exact procedures.

Ship or sell?

The way you move of course is your own decision but we found that selling all our older, non-sentimental items back home (which was pretty much everything) and shipping a few boxes of the sentimental and kids things over through NZ post was the best way to go. Nz Post charged us around $75 per 20kg and under box to Australia (I can imagine this has increased) The box has to be under a certain size too so contact your Nz post shop for specifics.

We made good money on the things we sold by selling them on trade me, $1 reserves are brilliant, and then managed to buy most things over here for around the same money we made (eg we sold our fridge in NZ for $800 and managed to get a second hand fridge AND washing machine, from a dealer, in better condition than our fridge was for $600) Furniture is very cheap over here, you can pick up some great stuff for fantastic prices.

Which also meant of course we saved $5000-$25,000 on shipping everything. Other people may of course have brand new household items and would lose too much in starting over so as I said, how you do it is your own decision.

Who to call?

It definitely makes things a lot easier if you know someone where you are shifting to, there are certain things that Im not sure if you could get around without someone, for example if you are securing a rental property from NZ you must have someone inspect it for you. I suppose some places may be less strict but we were very lucky to find a friend through a friend who did this for us. We are happy to inspect any properties on the coast for you if you dont know anyone!!

The Kids car seats

If you have young children something we found fantastic was being able to take their car seats on the plane. We flew with jetstar and they took the seat and buckled it in, when we got on the plane it was there ready for us, it also meant our daughter was strapped in securley (and couldnt get out of her seat!)  and we had a car seat as soon as we got to the car at the airport. This may be a good option for you, we found pros and cons both ways, the seat does take up a lot of room but if your child is a little 'energetic' having the seat in the plane can help. If you are not worried at all about your child staying in their seat I would suggest checking it in as baggage instead.

Usually the seats are not included in your baggage allowance (eg you can take them and they are free, they arent weighed with your bags) so are something that is worth keeping and taking. You have to make sure they meet Australian safety standards if you plan on using them in Australia.

Your Computer

If you have a home computer it might be worth thinking about selling and buying yourself a laptop. Not only does it keep the kids happy on the plane it means you have a computer right from the word go, and as soon as you have your internet connected you are ready to go.

The internet is something you want to get sorted as soon as you arrive, and if you decide on a provider before you leave NZ you can call them as soon as you step into your new home, (if you bring your phone you will need a different sort of plug, it is the same at both ends) all you do is plug your phone in and you can call a provider, from there they will sort it all for you. for brand new connections usually it takes a couple of days, if your phone has been connected before it could be a matter of a few hours.

Its a good idea to grab a cheap pre-paid phone too, just so you have some form of communication in case your home phone doesnt get sorted right away. You can pick up the really cheap starter packs for under $100 (phone, sim card and $10 credit), I would recommend Vodafone as they are the cheapest to text NZ, and most other providers cant text NZ telecom phones. If you have a vodafone phone already, you can get a vodaphone simcard from the supermarket for $2! You can usually sort through and find yourself a good number too. Cell numbers over here begin with 04, and are 10 digits long eg 0402990140 and home numbers are 8 numbers long.

Tvs

If you buy a television over here make sure it either has a digital box built into it, or if not buy a digital box. It doesnt cost you anything after the initial purchase and it provides you with approximately ten to fifteen crystal clear channels. You can get pay Tv similar to Sky, but they cost anywhere from $35 - $140 per month, and I already struggle to choose a channel! Most of the major sports events are live on poor mans tv.