New Zealand - Emigrate as a single parent

[Fairy2015]

I am a single parent and my sons dad is not in his life. I am wondering if there is an age where the child can decide where they live? I.e. can formally decide to emigrate together?

Would this be something the court would need to issue? I am assuming no contact would be enough to support this along with the child's wishes.

His dad is on the BC so has PR.

Any advice in this would be great.

I think that without a written agreement of the other parent this could fall foul of child abduction rules that many countries follow. Unless you already have eligibility to live in NZ it could also be an issue with getitng a NZ visa.

Do you have family in NZ OP? I am a Kiwi and unless you have significant means, more than you'd need in the UK, life can be very expensive and challenging in NZ.

I was thinking in terms of a court order in the UK granting my son the right to his wishes to continue living with me overseas.

I do not have family in NZ, I fell in love with the country when I lived there a few years ago for 6 months. I am starting my Masters in Sept in Counselling Children and a Young People. This role is too on the skilled list of jobs and I have a deposit to purchase a house.

I do have lots of family in the USA, however wasn't sure if family helped emigrate to a country? If not USA would be an option too.

I am only looking into this now, so a little novice on the exact procedure.

OP I am a single parent in New Zealand (I am kiwi so cant help with legal side) but what I will say it is fucking brutal living as a single parent in NZ. However things might change if Labour get into power this upcoming election in September, but I do not hold high hopes.

I live in the regions in the South Island, I earn a fairly good wage and I am mortgage free. Yet I still struggle to make ends meets, I am always skint and I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I only get a small amount in tax credits from the Government and there is no such thing as child benefit.

Not trying to rain on your parade but NZ is a very expensive place (groceries, petrol, heating etc) to live and I would not choose to be a single parent in NZ but I have no choice.

You need legal advice on the issue of whether your son can choose to move with you. I think your son would need to be 16. The Hague Convention (the one relating to child abduction etc) only applies to children under 16.

CatInTheMat is giving you a very honest and accurate answer, I believe. My DH and I are reasonably high earning professionals and we don't live in NZ because we can't see how we would make it work with two small children. Don't even get me started on trying to afford to buy a house in any of the cities. And that's as New Zealanders with family and friends/support networks.

I can understand how you fell in love with NZ, but I think you need to frame it a bit like Switzerland. Would you think it sensible to move to Switzerland unless you have a high income and/or family support there? Or love the outdoors so much that you don't mind being skint? I'm not saying it's impossible. However I have met many immigrants to NZ (I am a naturalised NZ citizen, so I went through this experience myself) who got a very sharp shock at what the reality of living in NZ is like compared to the idea. If it doesn't work out, it's a lot more expensive (or perhaps financially impossible for a number of years) to leave and return back to the UK.

I agree that there is a skills shortage for mental health professionals but this is also an underfunded and overstretched industry.