Help put our minds at rest

[slim8589]

Wammers,

I'm pretty sure nothing people can say will stop you from coming. We were the same 6 years ago.

We came for many of the same reasons you list and found some truth in some of them.

Our experience here has had its ups and downs like most people and generally, especially for my children (9 & 13 now) who have had a good childhood. On the whole it has been a positive experience but we have decided to go back to the UK (via Qatar) and briefly here are our reasons.

We miss our family - they don't come here (too old/too far/too expensive) and all of our 'spare' cash goes on saving for the next trip back.
We find NZ expensive - we could ague this one forever, some people will never agree. We have no real vices and never had any money in the UK but here I can categorically say we are worse off. The cost of food and the quality of housing have both been big surprises to us.
Education - I am a teacher in what is considered a very good school but I really do not rate NCEA and would much prefer my kids to do GCSEs.
Opportunities - sorry but I don't see my kids having any better opportunities post 16 here than in the UK if I'm honest. Also being in New Plymouth is quite limiting as far as opportunities for me in my job is concerned and I would not be able to afford (nor would I want) to live in one of the big cities.
Isolation - I love that NZ is so far away that on some airline maps it doesn't even feature and therfore makes it difficult for terrorists to find us but at the same time the cost of travel both domestically and internationally is crazy. I looked at flights to Brisbane recently, $980 per person. We flew all for of us from London to Budapest and back last January on EasyJet for less than that one flight. Isolation comes at a price.

The bottom line is that there are loads of really good things we love about NZ but there are lots of things we either didn't expect, thought we wouldn't be bothered by or in a few cases were actively misled (less said about that the better).
For us it has always been very evenly balanced. But our last trip back to the UK convinced us that we do not want to grow old in NZ.

We have seen so many poms come and then go, but also so many that have made a real go of it and will never go back. I hope that you end up in the latter category and that you find what you are looking for.

We're off to Qatar in a few months time. Should be an interesting experience and will hopefully top up the bank balance allowing us to get back to the UK in a few years with enough money to get set up and loads of great memories.

If we knew then what we know now would we have come? Probably not, but you would never have convinced of that 6 years ago.

[Tax Evader]

Looks like a lot of cons for NZ: High real estate costs, high income tax, high fuels and food costs. Why is it that when we talk of New Zealand here in the US folks automatically think 'low cost of living'?

[topcat83]

Originally Posted by Tax Evader

Looks like a lot of cons for NZ: High real estate costs, high income tax, high fuels and food costs. Why is it that when we talk of New Zealand here in the US folks automatically think 'low cost of living'?

Aren't perceptions great?

And the answers depend on the originating country.

• We've found real estate cheap - but then we did come from London.
• We're paying about the same amount in taxes as in the UK.
• Fuel will be more expensive than the US, but much, much cheaper than in the UK (currently $1.80 NZD per litre for petrol).
• Food? Some things are more, others are cheaper. Stick to local stuff and it' reasonable.

[Tax Evader]

It's definitely more expensive then North Carolina. I'm looking for the most bang for our hard-earned dollars, and especially keeping it from the government.

[slim8589]

Originally Posted by topcat83

Aren't perceptions great?

And the answers depend on the originating country.

• We've found real estate cheap - but then we did come from London.
• We're paying about the same amount in taxes as in the UK.
• Fuel will be more expensive than the US, but much, much cheaper than in the UK (currently $1.80 NZD per litre for petrol).
• Food? Some things are more, others are cheaper. Stick to local stuff and it' reasonable.

I'm not sure it is simply a matter of perception I'm afraid.

It is more to do with circumstances. We know lots of people who are mortgage free after selling up in the UK. That makes a real difference. Even though our mortgage is small it still makes a dent.
Real estate is cheaper than London, but again not everybody who moves here moves from London. Also where you live/buy here makes a difference of course. Finally houses may be cheap but in terms of quality (insulation/construction/damp) are they as good?

Taxes - yeah no argument there.

Fuel - certainly cheaper here, but if you run a diesel there is road tax to consider. It also needs to be cheaper considering how long it takes to get anywhere outside of the major centres!

We'll have to agree to disagree on the food front. Based on a recent trip to the UK (Jan 2010) plus the comments of recent visitors from the UK that we have met I would say food is generally more expensive and in some cases much more expensive. I carried my ipod around, made a few notes of prices and then did the calculation not based on exchange rate but on the percentage of my salary here (and what I would be on there). 9 times out of 10 it was considerably more expensive.

[Shrunk]

Rundle, I've not read what others have said on this thread but having read your post as the first response, I simply have to applaud you for a very lucid and true overview provided to the OP. Excellent.

Yes, people who've decided immigration is what they want to do will not easily be deterred but you've given a truthful reply to the questions and really, it's up to the recipient/reader what to do with the information. To focus on the rosy bits only (which for many are far and few between) is simply very, very risky and perhaps even irresponsible. ??? One must and can only say 'good luck'. It does work out for some.

[padavio72]

Hi Mandy and Tony.
Unfortunately the only way to know whether you have made the correct decision to move is to actually give it a go. It's probably not the right decision for everybody but if you don't give it a go you will always have that thought in your minds of "WHAT IF".
We moved here 12 weeks ago with two children(12 and 9) and we think it is a beutiful place. We live in an area called Hawkes Bay and would definitely recommend it. It's definitely not all plain sailing and we are starting to miss family and friends but we agreed before we left England (Chester) that we would need to give it at least 18 months to settlt down fully. We have heard of people returning to the UK from NZ but they don't seem to have given themselves enough time to settle properly. We even know people who have emigrated from UK to NZ, gone back to Uk because they had thought it was the wrong decision and then on returning to UK realised what had made them emigrate in the first place and returned back to NZ. It is a stressful experience but one which we think is worthwhile.
Be aware though that there is no eutopia. New Zealand does have crime as does every other country. You mentioned high taxes in the UK but taxes are higher over here as is the cost of living. Over here you pay tax on ALL of your earnings, pay school, fees and are expected to also make a school donation, pay to see the doctor etc. I'm not trying to put you off but it is something you need to be aware of. Also the cost of buying a car over here was a big shock to me. Even cars over ten years old can cost over $8000 although cars don't rust here (on the North Island)
The good points. Breathtaking scenery, outdoor life is great (especially in Hawkes Bay) people are friendly, the pace of life does seem slower here too.
If you are shipping belongings over here I would recommend bringing ererything you can fit in a container. We only shipped over a part share of a container so the company waited until the container was full before it was shipped off. Even though they quoted us 10-12 weeks for a shared container they took our stuff away on December 13th and we still have not received it! It's only just arrived in the country and is going to be another week going through customs. The company we used have been less than caring (Anglo-Pacific). It's not much fun sleeping on an airbed and the kids having hardly any toys for 19 weeks. Having said that, our two love it here. They love their school, the area and their new friends.
Hope we haven't put you off, it is a wonderful place and you will find almost everyone over here has some English relatives or they have lived in Uk for a few years. But they normally come back to NZ to live which tells me NZ is a better place to live.
Go for it and good luck.
If you have not got your visa's yet we used a company called The Emigration Group who have bases in Chester and London. They were faultless.
Let us know how you get on.

Originally Posted by wammers

Hi

We have made our decision that we are ready to leave the UK and move over to NZ. Our plan is to do this between August and September 2010. This is a very big move for us as we have been in the UK all our lives but think that now is the time for a change.

My husband and I are both self employed (Tony-plumbing/heating & me-health/fitness/beauty) and have worked 24/7 for years now and are looking to get out of this rat race and provide our 16 year old daughter with better prospects than the UK are currently providing.

We both read with interest all the postings on this site and up until now we have never doubted that we are making the right decision. However we seem to regularly be coming across negative comments about life in NZ and this is started to slightly cloud our thoughts.

We understand that everyone has their own opinion and not everyone will be have had a great experience with their move but we are looking for some honest encouragement that we are doing the right thing.

Our reasons for wanting to come to NZ are as follows:
1. provide a better work/life balance for us all
2. see another part of the world
3. great landscape and outdoor life
4. get away from our claiming society, high taxes, non-sensical policies & immigration problem in UK
5. lesser population-more space
6. overall quality of life

We are in quite a fortunate position and hope to take a good look around north and south island before decided where to settle. Then bearing in mind our family requirements we will find employment (hopefully) or set up our own business, rent some accomodation while searching for a home to purchase.

If you have done similar to this and have any comments or advise to pass on to us, we would love to hear from you. We are very down to earth, practical people and as much we hope your comments are positive, we appreciate that some may be otherwise.

Looking forward to your replies

Mandy & Tony

[wammers]

Originally Posted by padavio72

Hi Mandy and Tony.
Unfortunately the only way to know whether you have made the correct decision to move is to actually give it a go. It's probably not the right decision for everybody but if you don't give it a go you will always have that thought in your minds of "WHAT IF".
We moved here 12 weeks ago with two children(12 and 9) and we think it is a beutiful place. We live in an area called Hawkes Bay and would definitely recommend it. It's definitely not all plain sailing and we are starting to miss family and friends but we agreed before we left England (Chester) that we would need to give it at least 18 months to settlt down fully. We have heard of people returning to the UK from NZ but they don't seem to have given themselves enough time to settle properly. We even know people who have emigrated from UK to NZ, gone back to Uk because they had thought it was the wrong decision and then on returning to UK realised what had made them emigrate in the first place and returned back to NZ. It is a stressful experience but one which we think is worthwhile.
Be aware though that there is no eutopia. New Zealand does have crime as does every other country. You mentioned high taxes in the UK but taxes are higher over here as is the cost of living. Over here you pay tax on ALL of your earnings, pay school, fees and are expected to also make a school donation, pay to see the doctor etc. I'm not trying to put you off but it is something you need to be aware of. Also the cost of buying a car over here was a big shock to me. Even cars over ten years old can cost over $8000 although cars don't rust here (on the North Island)
The good points. Breathtaking scenery, outdoor life is great (especially in Hawkes Bay) people are friendly, the pace of life does seem slower here too.
If you are shipping belongings over here I would recommend bringing ererything you can fit in a container. We only shipped over a part share of a container so the company waited until the container was full before it was shipped off. Even though they quoted us 10-12 weeks for a shared container they took our stuff away on December 13th and we still have not received it! It's only just arrived in the country and is going to be another week going through customs. The company we used have been less than caring (Anglo-Pacific). It's not much fun sleeping on an airbed and the kids having hardly any toys for 19 weeks. Having said that, our two love it here. They love their school, the area and their new friends.
Hope we haven't put you off, it is a wonderful place and you will find almost everyone over here has some English relatives or they have lived in Uk for a few years. But they normally come back to NZ to live which tells me NZ is a better place to live.
Go for it and good luck.
If you have not got your visa's yet we used a company called The Emigration Group who have bases in Chester and London. They were faultless.
Let us know how you get on.

Hi there

Thanks for your reply. Its great to hear from someone who has recently done exactly what we are about to experience. Don't worry, you havent put us off at all. We continue to read all the negatives and positives of NZ in the hope that we will be more prepared for the 'big change'. We too are using The Emigration Group in Chester and we are currently waiting for a 'telephone interview' with the NZ Plumbing Board. Once we have jumped that hurdle we plan to come over in August on a 6 month visa, take a couple of months travelling around north & south island, choose an area that suits our family best, rent somewhere, find a job and then get the Emigration Group to submit the EOI........phew!!! And then hopefully the residency visa will arrive before we have to leave. We understand that we need to have a flight booked out of NZ on arrival to clear immigration-is that correct?

We plan to land in Auckland and stay there for a couple of weeks, then move round to Bay of Plenty for another couple of weeks and then over the following month travel down the east coast as far down as Christchurch. Our main criteria for where we will eventually settle, will mainly depend on colleges or work opportunities for our 16 year old daughter. She isnt particularly acedemic and will be more suited to vocational studies (ie beauty/hair/tourism etc) so if anyone has any info on good polytechnics that offer this (state run or private), we'd love to hear from you. We haven't been to NZ before but from all the research and advice we are gathering at the moment, Tauranga in Bay of Plenty, seems to be the most suitable. Tony and I are both self employed and can basically turn our hands to anything so we aren't that worried about ourselves initially.

One question i do have regarding us though is...... Tony is the primary applicant and with his points as a plumbing/heating engineer we comfortably clear the requests for a 'skilled migrant'. With this in mind, does he have to find a job in his skilled field or could he, or I for that matter, find any job and gain residency or does he have to find a job using the skills indicated on the application for emigration?

As you are welll aware, life is very stressful at the moment for us, so your encouragement is greatly appreciated. Thanks very much

Bye for now

[topcat83]

Originally Posted by wammers

....One question i do have regarding us though is...... Tony is the primary applicant and with his points as a plumbing/heating engineer we comfortably clear the requests for a 'skilled migrant'. With this in mind, does he have to find a job in his skilled field or could he, or I for that matter, find any job and gain residency or does he have to find a job using the skills indicated on the application for emigration?....

Hi Wammers - and good luck with the plan, it sounds like a good one!

On your question above - for a full 'residents visa' (as opposed to a 'working visa'), once you've got it you can work in whatever field you want. It shouldn't be tied to you actually continuing to work in your area of expertise. In fact we moved over with a residents visa, and I didn't have a job for 3 months (my choice). And when I was over here on hols a few years ago, we stayed in a motel that was run by a couple of ex-nuclear-physicists! They'd come for the lifestyle change!

[wammers]

Hi Topcat

How did you get a residency visa without a job or was your hubby the primary applicant?

We are told that we have to have a job offer in order to get residency and we dont want to apply for a job prior to getting there as we dont know where we want to settle yet. So we are coming over on a 6 month temporary visa and will start the job hunt as soon as we know where we want to live. Sorry if I have misunderstood your reply, but what I am asking is.... does Tony need to find a plumbing job initially or can he look for any job? Our agents tell us that he needs to find a job in plumbing to secure residency and once he has been in that job for a minimum of 3 months he can choose to stay in that job or move on. Our concern is that if there isnt much call for his profession in the area we want to live, are we able to look for alternative jobs to be able to process our application?