[drumminj]

I guess I should get my posts in before everyone moves over to the new forum :wink:

I'm 99.9% sure I'll be moving to NZ next september(2005). I plan on making a trip maybe four to six months before then to look for a job, and also just get to know the cities I'm considering(Christchurch and Wellington) better. I spent 2 weeks traveling NZ last year.

I'm curious how many times y'all have been before deciding to move/moving, and if you think a third trip might be useful. Air NZ is having a special from LA to Christchurch since they started non-stop service, so it's a pretty good deal. I"m tempted to go and get a better feeling for Welly and Chch now, just so I am sure when I start looking for jobs. Part of me thinks it's a waste of time, money, and vacation time as I can take care of the same things when I'm about job hunting.

Any thoughts? I'm not quite a millionaire, so money is a consideration, but at the same point in time I don't mind spending a little extra just to make sure I'm doing the right thing.

J

[Raeven]

Hi, J,

Everyone will have a different opinion on this. Some even take the plunge without having visited at all -- and what brave souls those are! Not for the faint-hearted. Most I think would say to visit at least once before making The Big Move.

Your plan to look for jobs on their turf is a great one. A very successful tactic I've seen used is people lining up interviews for specific dates and times in advance of their visit. They often come away with several job offers. Depends on what sort of work you do, however. Tradespeople might have a hard time getting a prospective employer to keep a position open for 3-4 months, but IT folks could probably wangle it. Also, don't forget to ask a prospective employer if they would be willing to pick up all or a portion of migration costs, including airfare and immigration application fees. Again, it depends on what sort of work you do whether or not they might be willing to do it, but they're awfully short of qualified workers at the moment -- and it never hurts to ask!

Thanks for the tip about Air NZ.. that's right when we're planning to head over, and we wanted to fly Air NZ in any case 'coz the luggage allowances are best and there's a bit of extra legroom in Steerage. As for whether you should go and get a better feeling for Wellington and Christchurch now, I suppose you could.. but you'll learn almost as much from folks here, I'd guess.. on the other hand, is it EVER a waste of time and money, taking a vacation? :D

Good luck with everything! - Rae

[drumminj]

Rae - thanks for the reply. I don't know if I'd call it "IT", but I do software development. Hopefully I won't have too much trouble finding a job over there. That's why I'm looking at Wellington and Chch - most likely to find a job there, I assume.

Good point on asking for them to help with migration costs. I wouldn't have thought to do that.

As for the Air NZ deal, here's a link: http://dir.travelzoo.com/Air.asp?intCategory=10&id=158848

J

[wilson182]

Hi drumminj

This is the way we are doing it, we went over for a recci visit in May, to see whether we liked it, had a bit of a look around and then looked for a job for hubby. We did like it, we decided on Christchurch and hubby got a job. From there on we have decided to rent out our house in the UK to give ourselves at least One/Two years to settle. We have two children so we were concerned out completly cutting our ties. We wanted to make sure the kids can settle also (our oldest daughter is 12).

Not everyone has decided on this route, so you should get a nice cross range of ideas.

Good luck

[veronica]

We came over 2 1/2 years ago for a good look around, got our visa sorted last december, flew over to try and get some property/legal stuff sorted this march for a 10 trip and flew in in mid may to get started. own opinion is that one good visit is sufficient, but a lot of planning about what to look for before that visit helps even more.

[Moorf]

We've NEVER been and we're moving there in 3.5 weeks time!

Life's too short (wish the plane trip was too though!)....

[coastcat]

We're planning our first scouting trip, and plan to make at least one more before making a final decision.

Well, my husband is already decided. Washington is consistently ranked in the top three worst US cities for traffic - morning rush hour starts at 5:30am and continues until 9:30am; evening traffic starts backing up at 3:30pm and doesn't start to clear out until 7pm. I showed him the Wellington traffic cameras (http://www.citylink.co.nz/services/webcam/) at rush hour, and he couldn't stop giggling. :lol:

[Glenn]

We have never been to NZ before. Got all the information over the internet even a job offer. We have sold our house, car etc. and have just been invited to apply for residency via EOI.

Maybe we are foolish not doing a reccy but as Moorf says "Lifes Too Short"

[Dave & Sandra]

Dave and I went in October 2002, liked what we saw and went back again in March this year with job interviews lined up, Dave got his job and that was it, decision made. He is not regretting the decision one bit.

[Timbo]

3.5 weeks eh Moorf. Exactly how many hours would that be then?

[Raeven]

LOL, Sandra, clearly not, as he's already bought you a house!! I so hope you love the house as much as he hopes you will.. can't wait to see photos!!!

Moorf, you wild thing.. just as I suspected.. I hadn't realized you hadn't been to NZ before. You and Woz are one of those couples who will never look back with a hint of regret, I have the feeling!!

Glenn, where are you looking to settle? What sort of work do you do? Another wild and crazy one....

Looking forward to seeing everyone there!! - Rae

[Moorf]

That'll be 588 hours Timbo.. and counting :lol:

[Lil]

Another "brave soul" here who has never visited. You guys in the States are halfway there already, so I guess it's not such a huge deal for you to make a visit or two before taking the final plunge.

[Raeven]

Hi, Lil,

Absolutely no offense meant by my "brave soul" reference.. truly, I admire people who have the pluck to set a goal and then make it happen, not letting anything get in the way. As for being closer from the USA, it's funny, but somehow it doesn't feel any closer.. still a 16 hour flight -- and that's the short direction... but looking at a globe I see what you mean.

Personally, I don't think there is any "right" number of trips to take before making the decision to move, or that one need visit at all. It's just a matter of what tolerance one has for taking risks. I almost went out without a visit first, but the opportunity arose for me to travel around the country with my husband's 2 sisters, who were visiting NZ from Australia. I'm glad I had the chance, but honestly, I don't think it prepared me any better for living there than haunting this forum and learning all I can from every available source.

Love hearing how people take their journey, nevertheless! - Rae

[wilson182]

Two years ago when we first began talking about immigrating we were fully prepared to just sell up and go, without a visit first. We have friends in Auckland, and were going to go to them. Then we discovered that in order to get the same qualification as hubby in NZ, trainee welders had to do three years work experience. In their wisdom, NZIS decided that in order for us not to claim the same points twice!!(still dont understand that) they took three years off of the work experience we were claiming for. We did not have enough points, and were totally gutted. Then the system changed in January and it became possible for us to try again, but we were a hell of a lot more cautious than the first time round. Hence, we are renting our house in the UK before completly cutting all ties, But that is just our experience.

[Moorf]

We're renting out this place too - we've rented it out for years and it,s our "pension" - plus it's a place here in the UK should we ever need it. At this stage in the game I think having somewhere in the UK is a good idea, at least until we get settled....

Plus, seems no tax to pay on rental income as non-resident landlord - speaking to accountant about that later this week. I've had the flat since I was 21 (err a year or two!! ) and rented it out for most of the time I've had it so can't really sell anyway as capital gains tax would mean I have to give govt 40% !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[drumminj]

We have never been to NZ before. Got all the information over the internet even a job offer. We have sold our house, car etc. and have just been invited to apply for residency via EOI.

Maybe we are foolish not doing a reccy but as Moorf says "Lifes Too Short"

Ooh. Care go give tips on how you got the job offer via internet? I still plan on making another trip just to be sure on the cities, but anything I can do remotely is a plus.

J

[Tara Sage]

I had never been here before and now a month in have no regrets.

Hubby came over for a week to do interviews and came back with a job no probs.

We sold up in the UK, we have every intention of staying, but if not what the hell it will of been one of those life time experiences.

[petersmit]

J

I had a similar experience. What I did was to send my resume to an NZ company that has accreditation to hire offshore. Six months later I received an e-mail requesting that I send them an updated resume. I then had a telephone interview with them and after that they flew me out for a personal interview. I was presented with an job offer before I returned home. I am doing the work visa route.

Regarding how many times to visit, I think it does not matter. We relocated from South Africa to Canada 10 years ago without first visiting and only knowing 1 person in Toronto. What helped us in our decision was that we have good friends in Auckland. We had some very frank discussions without any sugar coating.

Although this forum does lean towards positive messages, what would be good is for folks that have 6 months of NZ life under their belt to give their thoughts...good and bad.

We are really looking forward to this move, but we know will be good days and bad days...hopefully more good than bad.

[Lil]

Rae, absolutely no offence was or could have been taken from your "brave souls" post. No apology required - I don't feel like a brave soul at all, yet it is the first thing everyone says. It's part of the stock response I get when I tell anyone here what our plans are.

First Question: Do you have family there?
Second Question: Have you been before?
Third Question: So why New Zealand then?

It just feels right and I want to go ASAP. :hopeso

[drumminj]

J

I had a similar experience. What I did was to send my resume to an NZ company that has accreditation to hire offshore. Six months later I received an e-mail requesting that I send them an updated resume. I then had a telephone interview with them and after that they flew me out for a personal interview. I was presented with an job offer before I returned home. I am doing the work visa route.


Hmm, that's interesting. Was it a recruiting/headhunting firm you sent it to, or a specific company? Did you send them a resume, or a NZ-style CV? I plan on trying that at some point before I make my trip there, that way I can try to set up interviews. But if I can avoid the interviews and just have a pure vacation, I wouldn't complain.


Regarding how many times to visit, I think it does not matter. We relocated from South Africa to Canada 10 years ago without first visiting and only knowing 1 person in Toronto. What helped us in our decision was that we have good friends in Auckland. We had some very frank discussions without any sugar coating.


I've been doing everything I can to get in contact with any Kiwis I can to get a true feel for how things are. It's worked pretty well so far, but I don't know any of them well at all (just people I've come across on other forums I read - photography and music and such) so I don't want to bother them all that much.


Although this forum does lean towards positive messages, what would be good is for folks that have 6 months of NZ life under their belt to give their thoughts...good and bad.


yes, that would be the most beneficial. I will stick around and hope to see accounts like that.

Thanks for the reply.

J

[petersmit]

J

At the point when I initially sent my resume out, I was not committed specifically to NZ. I sent my resume directly to the company through their web site. I had done investigation into OZ but they have tighter restrictions with regards age and I don't nearly have enough to qualify in the investor category.

I did try and adjust my North American style resume and it became a CV. I found some NZ job sites that gave some examples of what a CV should look like...mine was about 3-4 pages...have 20 years experience.

I did live in NZ for a year 25+ years ago as a Rotary exchange student. When I went to NZ for the interview, the company allowed me to stay for about 4 days, so I was able to see quite a bit of the area.

I was quite firm in the interview that I would need to get my wife over to NZ to see the area before we could make a final decision. I was not able to get her over at the same time due to the short notice of the trip.

One of our friends in Auckland work for a group that provide welcome packages for new migrants. In her job she has a lot of contact with mew migrants and was able to give us valuable insights to what many face on arriving in NZ.

I also have a brother living in NZ and was able to have frank conversations with him about the settling in period.

Peter

[drumminj]

J
...have 20 years experience.

that's definitely a leg-up.

One of our friends in Auckland work for a group that provide welcome packages for new migrants. In her job she has a lot of contact with mew migrants and was able to give us valuable insights to what many face on arriving in NZ.


Anything of interest you think is worth sharing? If you've already shared it, just say so and I'll go search the old forum. I read back about 10 pages before posting, but obviously there's a ton of posts, and I don't have time to read them all :)

[xanctus]

I am thinking of coming to NZ sometimes next year (not sure when), and if I got invited for the PR then that would make much better for the plan hehehehe :mrgreen:

[jesselyn]

you can research online and request info packs like i did... it made me impatient tho umm i want to move rightaway lol. unfortunately, im not one of the brave souls :( i have to wait for the right moment :oops: however what made us choose chch is bec we have a client who has a sibling there... our client was able to visit NZ 2 yrs ago and she has so many nice things to say about christchurch...

[Arlevien]

Been there once.. Last Year on our HOneymoon and God what a nice country and great experience it was. And saying this from a North Island Tour only.

We both litteraly fell in-love with the place and people. Most kiwis are nice and hospitable. So we decided to immigrate, as we have already planed to move to Canada before we get married.

So, I recommend to try it out first for yourself if you have the comfort.