[brightonbean]

oooh, the water's lovely and you seem like a friendly lot. :D Congratulations to those who have nearly or just reached those distant shores, and to those who are riding this wave with us, hello, and hopefully we can help and support each other.

We are three - my job-seeking graphic designer partner, our beautiful 7-month-old cheeky chap Noah and me (FT mum for the time being). We're desperate to get started with the rest of our lives in NZ, which we think will be a far better place to bring up children and enjoy a less frenetic pace of life. Ideally we'd like to settle somewhere around Christchurch, but realise we might need to be flexible to start with. We've done an EOI, but need a job offer to get more points.

We're visiting for a second reccy in November (tho I think we'll be tempted not to come back) and would love to meet up with people who've recently emigrated to find out a bit more about what to expect... we'll buy you a nice glass of something grape-flavoured for your trouble!

We hoped it would be a straightforward process once the job offer was secured, but after reading quite a few threads, it sounds like it could be a bit of a rollercoaster. Would appreciate any top tips...?

[holland]

Hello BrightonBean and welcome,

Ive been swimming around here for quite a while here, and it really is such a lovely place to meet people and get lots of great tips, and in my opinion more importantly SUPPORT...

Watch you don't go prune like in this water, as this forum has a tendancy to keep you here for a while!!!!

J and G xx

[Mickstim]

Hello BrightonBean

Welcome to the forum! Are you actually in Brighton? If so - not far down the M23 from us and good to have another southerner on board!

Barb

[brightonbean]

yes, Brightonites at the moment. Where are you? Can't think of many places in the UK that would suit us better, but city life has got us down and moving elsewhere in the south would mean we'd be tethered to an enormous mortgage for the rest of our lives. No thanks! NZ presents us with a much more interesting future.

Thanks for the warm welcome.

[Mickstim]

Hi Bean

We are in Copthorne - so not that far from you. Brighton is good - but a bit too busy for comfort. Anytime we decide to go that way there is always a rally, party political conference, gay parade or whatever else is going on and endless traffic trying to get into town. You will find NZ very quiet after that though!

I hope you manage to get the job offer and everything else you need to get you there!

Barbx

[lockstock]

Rollercoaster. Hmm. Yep - that sums it up. We're chugging slowly towards the highest peak at the moment wondering (with white knuckles) whether we're going to make it to the top let alone make it over and soar off to our desired destination.

[brightonbean]

which is proving to be the highest peak lockstock? will we need crampons?

[Silverwing86]

Hi Brightonbean and welcome to the forum !

It can prove to be a bit of a rollercoaster ride with INZ, but luckily that's not the case for everyone.

The whole process itself is also definitely like a rollercoaster ride though, whether it goes smoothly or not. It is a huge, lifechanging event, this emigration lark, and I guess the ups and downs sort of come with the territory ;).

For us the INZ process was exceedingly stressful due to medical issues, and it took all of 14 months for us to get PR. I mean hey, we even sold our house whilst a definite decision on PR was still very much up in the air, can you believe it ?! Talk about stress :D !

However, I can say with absolute certainty that, for us, it was well worth all the stress and trouble as we love our life here !

We've been here almost eight months now and, having ofcourse done thorough research beforehand (for which this forum proved invaluable !), we've had no unexpected, unpleasant surprises at all. NZ is living up to (and exceeding !) all our expectations and we feel very much more at home here than where we came from.

Enjoy your second recce trip immensely and best of luck with both the jobhunting and the whole emigration process !

Silver

[lockstock]

Bean - from our experience the highest peak is the wait for the Case officer to approve (or not) your application. We're on a double-peaker here though cos we haven't even got a CO yet. Crampons? Nope. Just hold tight and hope you don't go backwards. Just don't try and get off - you don't get your money back:D

[peebles16]

Hi Brightonbean just wanted to add my welcome. This forum is fab and the folks who use it are helpful, NZIS experts, funny and slightly barking - all in a good way!!
Good Luck

[M&J]

Hi

Welcome to the forum, we are in Cambridge near Hamilton so if you passing through on your trip call in, always up for something grape flavoured!!! It is a roller coaster of a ride and we did it all in 8 weeks. Been here nearly 3 months, wow where did that time go, and we don't regret it one minute. Yeah we miss friends and family, but now they will have some great holidays to look forward too.

Good luck with it all.

Jo