Moving to/from NZ
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@Hooroo said in Moving to/from NZ:
@jegga Don't quote me on this but I think if you have owned the car for over a year there is no cost of transfer apart from Liscensing, On Road and Registration costs
Pretty goo @Hooroo
http://www.customs.govt.nz/features/charges/dutyfree/Pages/default.aspx?s=11For the whole of the period of 21 months preceding your arrival, you have resided or been domiciled outside New Zealand. Brief holidays or exploratory visits do not exclude a person from qualifying for this concession.
You have personally owned and used the vehicle for at least one year before the date of your departure for New Zealand, or the date on which the vehicle is surrendered for shipping – whichever is earlier.
The vehicle is being imported for your own personal use and not for sale, gift or disposal in any other way.
You give a concession reference 80 undertaking. This means you give a written undertaking that if the motor vehicle is sold or otherwise disposed of within two years from the date of importation, you will make payment of the Customs charges that would normally have been payable.
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How does car rego etc work in nz?
Over here, in nsw at least, you pay registration once every year or six months. About $500/year for a standard car. Then you need a green slip which is compulsary third party insurance which is another $500-$600. Then every year you also need a pink slip which is a road worthy certificate. Only $30-$40. Then you pay any sort of insurance on top of all of that. Is it a similar set up in NZ? -
@pukunui One word of advice - be careful with personal tax as well. You should be fine moving from Aus as there is a DTA and your Aus taxes will be more than NZ but it is worth checking your status with an accountant. Personal experience speaking there.
Cars. It is against the rules of the universe to sell or otherwise dispose of a hilux (especially an old one) and the guys are correct above about owning for a year, etc. It may well be worth keeping. I shipped 2 cars back from HKG and still have them. Got stung for GST on one because it was in company name not mine but still worked out alright compared to buying here (I did get it cheap in HKG). Basically if you like the vehicle and have owned it for a while might be worth keeping.Ask the shippers as below.
Shipping. I would definitely look at sending your stuff home. It's expensive starting again. Call a company, get a price and fill a container or they will get space for you in one. Throw out what doesn't fit if too much. Someone mentioned above how good those guys are. We would have been lucky to fit a box of matches in our one when they finished.
I've done a lot of moving and shipping is better than disposing IMO.
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@Snowy said in Moving to/from NZ:
@pukunui One word of advice - be careful with personal tax as well. You should be fine moving from Aus as there is a DTA and your Aus taxes will be more than NZ but it is worth checking your status with an accountant. Personal experience speaking there.
Cars. It is against the rules of the universe to sell or otherwise dispose of a hilux (especially an old one) and the guys are correct above about owning for a year, etc. It may well be worth keeping. I shipped 2 cars back from HKG and still have them. Got stung for GST on one because it was in company name not mine but still worked out alright compared to buying here (I did get it cheap in HKG). Basically if you like the vehicle and have owned it for a while might be worth keeping.Ask the shippers as below.
Shipping. I would definitely look at sending your stuff home. It's expensive starting again. Call a company, get a price and fill a container or they will get space for you in one. Throw out what doesn't fit if too much. Someone mentioned above how good those guys are. We would have been lucky to fit a box of matches in our one when they finished.
I've done a lot of moving and shipping is better than disposing IMO.
Thanks for the advice. The tax/business stuff is what i have done most of my research on. Will also be talking to accountants both sides shortly.
No problems with the ownership of the hilux. Have had it 5 years or so. Has never had anything wrong with it, thats one reason i would consider shipping it. I got a quote a year or so ago to ship it and it was only $2k which i would almost pay to avoid having to deal with tyre kickers and people offering stupid money and then having to find another car. Already going to have to do that with the other car and ny boat. I have a low tolerance for shit like that haha.
Got some time to think about that anyway. -
@pukunui said in Moving to/from NZ:
Thanks for the advice.
I will look into the shipping thing more. Thinking of replacing everything does get a bit daunting when you actually look around and think of every little thing you have picked up over years.I will probably just forget about the car thing. By then im sure it will be a hell of a lot simpler to just sell and replace.
Internet is definitely a good point. The Coromandel is the area we will be moving to long term with a short stay in Mangawhai initially (due to lack of rentals in the Tairua area) so not exactly large cities.
This will probably be more relevant when we look to buy a house but crap internet is painful when you need it to work. Unfortunately i know what thats like living in a spot where all the adjacent streets have newly installed nbn but not my street. Have been hotspotting off my phone for two days because adsl has dropped out.Looking forward to xmas being over so we can just get on with it haha.
Ok, a further complication regarding Coromandel and broadband.
When the NZ Govt tendered out the fibre rollout they did so on the basis of population density to reach as many people at the least cost. Sadly you won't be seeing fibre in the Coromandel unless you are lucky enough to be right alongside a branch line put in place to service a school, hospital or cell tower and are willing to pay to tap into it.The good news is that Tairua is fairly well covered by VDSL. I strongly suggest you check this map https://broadbandmap.nz/ before deciding on a property to check whether it is ADSL or VDSL. With the current technology in place you can easily be getting speeds of 40/10 under VDSL as opposed to 10/2 on ADSL
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@Crucial said in Moving to/from NZ:
@pukunui said in Moving to/from NZ:
Thanks for the advice.
I will look into the shipping thing more. Thinking of replacing everything does get a bit daunting when you actually look around and think of every little thing you have picked up over years.I will probably just forget about the car thing. By then im sure it will be a hell of a lot simpler to just sell and replace.
Internet is definitely a good point. The Coromandel is the area we will be moving to long term with a short stay in Mangawhai initially (due to lack of rentals in the Tairua area) so not exactly large cities.
This will probably be more relevant when we look to buy a house but crap internet is painful when you need it to work. Unfortunately i know what thats like living in a spot where all the adjacent streets have newly installed nbn but not my street. Have been hotspotting off my phone for two days because adsl has dropped out.Looking forward to xmas being over so we can just get on with it haha.
Ok, a further complication regarding Coromandel and broadband.
When the NZ Govt tendered out the fibre rollout they did so on the basis of population density to reach as many people at the least cost. Sadly you won't be seeing fibre in the Coromandel unless you are lucky enough to be right alongside a branch line put in place to service a school, hospital or cell tower and are willing to pay to tap into it.The good news is that Tairua is fairly well covered by VDSL. I strongly suggest you check this map https://broadbandmap.nz/ before deciding on a property to check whether it is ADSL or VDSL. With the current technology in place you can easily be getting speeds of 40/10 under VDSL as opposed to 10/2 on ADSL
That is cracking piece of advice and reference!
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Moving companies charge seasonally so you should get a much better price in March than February - unless through ill luck you happen to pick dates that are busy.
If you can be flexible on dates you should definitely be able to negotiate a better deal.
You do get what you pay for though. Any moving company can have a disaster but the chances of that happening increase as you get cheaper.
Don't pack yourself it invalidates your insurance - and do take insurance
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yep, get door to door transit cover.
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Im going to have to start taking notes. Thanks again guys. Will check out there broadband map. I guess its one of those things you need to trade off when you make a lifestyle move.
Needs to function though.In general do the removals companies come to your house and pick everything up or do you need to deliver it to a depot?
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@pukunui said in Moving to/from NZ:
Im going to have to start taking notes. Thanks again guys. Will check out there broadband map. I guess its one of those things you need to trade off when you make a lifestyle move.
Needs to function though.In general do the removals companies come to your house and pick everything up or do you need to deliver it to a depot?
Good removal companies come to your house, pack your gear and then take it away all in one visit.
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@ACT-Crusader @pukunui depending on how much you have got. Sometimes they will send in a pre-pack team and load out separately (and quickly)
Worth getting a consultant from a couple of companies in to go through the options with you. You should get a good feel for how good they are by hearing about how they pack - what materials they use etc
Three other considerations. As mentioned they do charge by volume - make sure that you get a detailed inventory with the quote - not just a quote to move a cubic metreage. Some companies will deliberately under estimate the volume to appear cheaper. Then hit you up for a balance on move day. When you're really not in a position to argue.
If you have an invent then that's your price to move those items.
If you haven't got a lot - ask for groupage (part container loads). Often work out cheaper because if they're on to it the company can effectively sell the same space twice.
Most removals companies operate on an agency basis. This means that when you unpack if there are issues you're dealing with a different company to who you signed up with. This doesn't necessarily mean it will be a hassle but it does depend largely on how important the agency relationship is to both parties i.e. how much reciprocity there is. TBH trans- Ta$man this shouldn't cause a problem but just another variable
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Think seriously about your furniture. If you're bringing your truck in a container you'll want to fill the extra space with stuff anyway and you'll probably find the additional cost of bringing all your stuff in the same container is probably not that much more.
As Dogmeat says, don't even think about packing it yourselves. When we moved our deal was they packed it at one end and unpacked and reassembled everything over here, no additional cost, just a slab each for the unpackers.
Photograph everything you're bringing, it makes insurance claims much easier.
nzforex.co.nz are easy to deal with and have decent rates for AUD-NZD. Get your bank accounts set up before you leave as you'll need a target account to move the money.
You can driver on your Oz licence for 6 months but get it changed over ASAP. Just go into the AA, no problem really.
Good luck.
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@JC should be 12 months on a foreign licence, or has it changed.
But you will have a higher excess regardless for non-NZ licence anyway.
If you need any advice on Insurance in NZ, drop me a PM.
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@taniwharugby You're probably right TR. My point was more don't wait it out, do it as soon as you arrive. You can use it for ID (important in a new country) and as you say it nearly halved my insurance premiums.
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If you and family are all dual Australian/NZ citizens, then that part's easy - can ignore the rest of this post other than the electoral enrolment stuff at the bottom.
If you're Australian citizens or residents, but not NZ citizens, that's also easy - you qualify for a resident visa on arrival into NZ unless you have serious criminal or negative immigration history. The arrival card is here:
http://www.customs.govt.nz/news/resources/forms/Documents/Passenger Arrival Card English language version.pdfQuestion 9 is the relevant collection of potential issues - if you can answer 'no' to that, you're fine there. Note that 'excluded from any country' includes a ban, even one which has since expired. Someone who has been refused entry to a country and also banned, as the Aussies often do (watch Border Patrol for examples...), can't ever come to NZ without applying for a visa and getting a special direction before arrival.
The card doesn't say it, but you're also not welcome if you have ever been sentenced to 5+ years imprisonment.
Assuming everyone is good to go on that front, when you arrive, check the stamps in your passports - they should be oval residence visa stamps, not rectangular visitor visa stamps. This is particularly important if you are Australian residents, but not citizens of either Australia or NZ. If there's an issue, try to get it fixed before leaving the border control area - it can be fixed by Immigration NZ branches if necessary, but it's easier to do it at the airport.
Resident visas for Aussies don't carry travel conditions which means they expire every time you leave NZ and you get a new one when you arrive in NZ again. That doesn't matter if you don't intend to return to Oz, but assuming you will travel back occasionally, you can apply for travel conditions from Immigration NZ after you get here - one form, one fee for the whole family ($190 from memory). This means your resident visas don't expire on departure, so your residence is continuous - avoids issues if a government department wants proof of when your resident visa is dated from, and you suddenly discover that it's from last week because that's when you last got back from Aussie...
After 2 years of continuous NZ residency, you can apply for Permanent Resident Visas - again, one form, one fee for the whole family (also $190 from memory).
We don't deport Aussies as easily as they deport us, but keep your nose clean, especially the first 2 years (drink driving can technically get you deported, even if that is rather unlikely).
After 5 years in NZ as NZ residents, you can apply for citizenship through Department of Internal Affairs. This has character requirements and you have to been in NZ for at least 1350 days out of those 5 years. You can apply for citizenship as soon as you reach 1350 days, so you might qualify early. If anyone is eligible for citizenship by descent (e.g. your children), you can sort that out before or after arriving. https://www.dia.govt.nz/New-Zealand-citizenship is the relevant website.
Immigration matters e.g. visas are handled by Immigration NZ, which is part of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. Citizenship and passports are handled by the Department of Internal Affairs. They aren't the same departments, so don't get them mixed up.
If you are NZ citizens who might qualify for Australian residency or citizenship, sort that out before you leave. https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Citi/pathways-processes/application-options/new-zealand-citizen/New-Zealand-citizens-living-in-Australia has some info. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/national/297187/fast-track-path-to-citizenship-revealed is an interesting article (and might apply to other Ferners). If you are Australian residents, bear in mind Australian resident visas have travel conditions, so make sure yours haven't expired, or (again) sort that out before you leave.
As NZ residents/citizens, you are required to enrol as voters if you are 18 or older and have lived in NZ for at least 1 year at some point in your life. http://www.elections.org.nz/voters has info on how to enrol. Unlike Australia, you are not required to vote, although you should anyway.
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All good on the citizenship front im a dual citizen and my wife is able to claim by decent through her dad. But thanks for bringing that up as we need to get onto doing that.
Our daughter will have to do the 5 years because i also claimed my citizenship by decent and you can't do that for more than one generation.
Any suggestions on which bank is best for a standard savings/credit card account? Or are all the major banks pretty similar? Won't any debt to transfer which is a nice thing to say for the first time in a long time.
Will add registering to vote to my list. Who should i vote for? Haha joking im sure there is a thread on here for that.
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@Crucial said in Moving to/from NZ:
All of the banks are assholes. I can give you account details for somewhere to put all your money though. It will be safely looked after
Looks not too bad. We've been with Westpac, but they appear incompetent. Unable to execute simple written instructions (ie increase this loan limit by X --> transfer X from one account to another).
When our fixed mortgage is up we plan to shift to TSB or Cooperative (which is a bitmore left field)
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