EmigratingNZ
22nd June 2008, 03:00 AM
After months of reading all the friendly posts on this fantastic website I thought it was about time I took the plunge and posted an introduction.
For many years my husband and I have been telling everyone that we are moving to NZ but finally we are actually doing something about it! I think friends and family had stopped believing we were going we have been saying it for so long :)
We are planning on moving to Blenheim in the South Island around the beginning of October. Hopefully we will have managed to secure jobs by then although being a small(ish) town there is not a lot around at the moment.
Now people may be wondering why we have chosen Blenheim? Well apart from the sunshine and copious amounts of wine there, it is also where most of my husband's family live, and after having lived in the UK for nearly 14 years it would be great for him to be near them again.
After reading some of the posts on here, I actually feel a bit guilty for how easy it was for me to get my visa. I applied under the Partnership category and did it myself (not worth paying an emigration expert for this sort of visa in my opinion). I shopped around for my medical as the prices differ quite substantially. The results for that came through within two days (I had them delivered to my workplace - not sure how wise that is as it is very nerve-racking when you open them). Thankfully everything was fine :). Then it was just a case of getting the application form completed and the supporting documentation together. We then took the afternoon off work and went to Immigration New Zealand, lodged the application and were told it should take between 1 and 3 months for it to be processed. I got the 'approved in principle' email 4 DAYS later :). Unbelievable - there were a few bottles of NZ wine that night as you can imagine.
Anyway, now we are just surfing the net for jobs, flights, removals etc. All very exciting and reading all the posts on here just makes it seem more real somehow.
Sorry for such a long post - I will try to keep them shorter in future!
For many years my husband and I have been telling everyone that we are moving to NZ but finally we are actually doing something about it! I think friends and family had stopped believing we were going we have been saying it for so long :)
We are planning on moving to Blenheim in the South Island around the beginning of October. Hopefully we will have managed to secure jobs by then although being a small(ish) town there is not a lot around at the moment.
Now people may be wondering why we have chosen Blenheim? Well apart from the sunshine and copious amounts of wine there, it is also where most of my husband's family live, and after having lived in the UK for nearly 14 years it would be great for him to be near them again.
After reading some of the posts on here, I actually feel a bit guilty for how easy it was for me to get my visa. I applied under the Partnership category and did it myself (not worth paying an emigration expert for this sort of visa in my opinion). I shopped around for my medical as the prices differ quite substantially. The results for that came through within two days (I had them delivered to my workplace - not sure how wise that is as it is very nerve-racking when you open them). Thankfully everything was fine :). Then it was just a case of getting the application form completed and the supporting documentation together. We then took the afternoon off work and went to Immigration New Zealand, lodged the application and were told it should take between 1 and 3 months for it to be processed. I got the 'approved in principle' email 4 DAYS later :). Unbelievable - there were a few bottles of NZ wine that night as you can imagine.
Anyway, now we are just surfing the net for jobs, flights, removals etc. All very exciting and reading all the posts on here just makes it seem more real somehow.
Sorry for such a long post - I will try to keep them shorter in future!