[Caniwi]

:) Hey Everyone

Thought I'd drop in and introduce myself. I'm and ex-pat Kiwi. Been in Vancouver for 15 years, and now planning on making the move back with my Canadian husband in 2 years. So glad I found this forum, for both me and him. What a wealth of information! I'm sure over the next couple of years, we'll be investigating the mirad of information you have all provided on these forums.

Seems like such a daunting task compared to when I left - just up and went (19 and stupid!! :laugh ) Am curious as to how people returned with a partner AKA work visa, Partner Visa, moving from North America.......etc.

Looking forward to getting to know some of you in the future.

Cheers

[Oregonkiwi]

Welcome to the forum!
I'm in the same situation as you - I upped & went to the USA 9 years ago with 2 small suitcases, recently returned with American husband & son & 8 huge suitcases in tow.

If you haven't already, try searching the forum for terms like "partnership", there have been a lot of helpful discussions on this topic.

Nik got a work visa so that he could enter NZ on a one-way ticket; his PR application is currently being processed. A lot of people get PR first, it really depends on your individual situation, which is the best way. Feel free to ask as many questions as you need to, it can seem daunting at first, but you'll be back home before you know it.:)

Avril

[Nienke]

Hi Caniwi, welcome to the forum!

[wiki]

Welcome!

Reading your post seemed like I had written it myself a few months ago - I came to England when I was 22 but now I want to go back and bring my British partner.

I know this forum is supposed to be for people who not-a-lot about NZ, but I've found it invaluable for shipping tips, form filling and all sorts!

We're apply for PR via the partnership stream (application went in on Tuesday aiee) because my OH has a couple of health issues that we want clearance for before we make the financial committment of moving.

To be honest, I'd be happy to stay in the UK, but we think we should take the chance of exploring how life together in NZ would be - and my family are doing some heavy campaigning for my return :)

Good luck - and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

[Caniwi]

Thanks Oregonkiwi and Wiki.

Question Oregonkiwi? Coming from the States where a lot of household items aren't compatible (at least without adapters etc), did you choose not to ship things back? HOw did you get on the the plane with 8 (!?) suitcases? :laugh

[Oregonkiwi]

No, we didn't ship a container. We mailed ourselves some (ok, a lot!) of boxes of books etc, and maxed out our baggage allowance. 3 people x 2 bags each = 6 bags, plus 2 bags excess baggage. See here too:http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8405

[Jenny & Mark]

Welcome to the forum, Caniwi. Jenny is an ex-pat Kiwi as well. We are planning to move from Canada to NZ within the next year.

Mark.

[kimandgareth]

Hi Caniwi and welcome to the forum :nice1

[Ana&Steve]

Hey up there! Welcome to the forum and I hope you get home soon:)
Ana

[Caniwi]

Thanks all :)

[kanatakiwi]

I just left Victoria (I'm Canadian) with my Kiwi partner. I entered NZ on a vistors visa, more or less on a reccie, to see about work possibilities etc. found out everything we needed to know, and my OH got a job quite easily, so then we returned to canada, packed up, shipped our goods, and I came in on a visitors permit again, but with all my paperwork ready to submit> I applied for PR under the partnership category. I was advised to apply for a work visa at the same time, as it is now taking up to a year to get PR form within NZ, but the work visa came through in about 6 weeks, and that is good for two years and allows me to leave and re-enter the country. (This was a concern to me as I have an elderly mother in the Okanagan so plan to be going back and forth a bit). Its all going well. I would advise getting your police clearance before you leave canada as it takes a very short time there, but I was told by Immigration here that it takes a couple of months to get a Canadian police clearance if you do it from NZ.
I got my medical done just before I left canada so it would be valid, as the paperwork is only good for three months.
All in all, its been pretty painless, although still waiting for PR, I have had a few emails and requests for clarifications, nothing major, found everyone to be quite helpful. I would say if you are married to a kiwi (we had been married 12 years before returning to NZ) they are fairly supportive if all your paperwork is in order.
If you have any particular questions I am happy to help.
G

[Oregonkiwi]

as it is now taking up to a year to get PR from within NZ,
We were told this too, but my husband's PR application was done in under 4 months :) - I detailed it here:
http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9065

[Howie]

Hello Canadians!!!
I love it here in Kiwiland but I miss talking to Canadians as I haven't met very many over here. I wish I could have watched the Canadian women's hockey team beat the US last night!!!
I've been here a year and don't have any plans to go back for a visit, but I understand AirNZ will offer direct flights to Vancouver starting in November. I'd love to go back for a bit of a shopping trip, but not sure when I'm going to be able to afford it. Maybe next year.
Susan

[Caniwi]

I didn't see that game either! My Hubby is a bit worried he won't get to see his hockey! (Playoffs start tonight!!!!!!!!) :raebanana Maybe we can get someone to be our contact and DVD record the games and send 'em down - gotta love technology!

I love the fact that they are starting the new YVR-AKL flight on AirNZ. Will enjoy not going thru the states, makes it that much longer and an unnecessary step in the trip down.

Glad to see there are a few Canucks down there - will have to start some sort of Canadian meet - they all seem Brit! Not that there's anything wrong with that! :p

Caniwi

[kanatakiwi]

Go those Canucks! they play Dallas Stars tonight. Now I know how my husband felt when the All Blacks were playing rugby and he couldnt watch it live. He used to stay up and listen to games on streaming audio on our computer in the middle of the night!

I like the idea of a Canadian get together. In Canada my husband got the local kiwis organised into a group and next thing you know we have 200 kiwis on a mailing list just for little old Victoria. They now have a website (www.victoriakiwis.com) and they have great social events on Waitangi Day and Anzac Day, plus a huge hangi in the summer that is attended by about 500 people all kiwis or with kiwi links.

[Caniwi]

:)Huh! Who'da thunk it, eh??:) Well, can let ya know how these Canukleheads do......As you can imagine, playoff fever has struck (you know how the Canuck bandwagon is ;) ).......all the car flags flying.......people wearing Canuck shirts!

I told my husband, hopefully by the time we get there, TSN or CBC will have streaming video of the games!

[Klipa]

Funny....I'm just sitting here in b/w periods (Vancouver and Dallas are tied 1-1 after the first period) asking my husband how he is going to cope without playoff hockey once we hit NZ.

Good to hear there is a good canadian contigent represented on here. We live in Squamish....and are headed over to NZ first week of September. We'd be there now if we could (I have aussie passport so we can get over quite easily as well) but we're just waiting for our dogs...they have been cleared to travel after August 26th....so the countdown is on.

At least I'll be able to have a conversation with him during the evenings he would normally be glued to the tv watching hockey!

Back to the game.....2nd period about to start!

Shannon

[suebeenz]

Well us poor saps can always watch the games on google:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=nhl+-report+duration%3Along+genre%3ASPORTS+OR+type%3ASP ORTS+site%3Anhl.com&so=1&num=100&lr=lang_en

However, I don't know if they'll be posting playoff games
Let's hope so! :raebanana

[Caniwi]

Nice find suebeenz!! I had no idea!

Ho-ly, was that ever a long game last night, eh???

Yay Luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

[Howie]

I found this Canadian Club when I first arrived: http://www.canada-nz.org.nz/canadian_club.htm
as well as this site (http://www.canuckabroad.com/forums/canadians-in-australia-and-new-zealand-vf5.html)

I haven't heard anything from the Canadian Club in the past year that I've been here so I get the feeling they may be non active.

I've met 3 Canadians since I arrived and would love to meet more so we should definitely have a meet!!!!!

Last year ESPN showed the final series of the playoffs, but I'm not sure if they are going to do that this year. I played hockey last year, but they're not having a women's team this year. They do have some drop in hockey that I might go to occasionally. I'm not a great hockey player in Canada, but was selected for the national team here, however I'm not eligible to play as I'm not a citizen.

When I was living in the US I really missed Canadian TV during the Olympics. I missed watching the lone Canadian come in 20th place. But apparently they do that with Kiwi's here - how cute!!

Susan