[doctor]

Hi,
Posts from this forum are excellent, especially when I read some forum members' experiences in life and their approach.
I have been reading all the posts in this forum for a long time. Most of the members on this forum are based in UK. The trasnsition of making a move from UK to NZ is probably smoother as the cultures in both the countries mix together easily.
I also think that one of the reasons that people from UK are trying to move to NZ is because of the busy life, cost of living, traffic and may be for political reasons.
As for as I'm concerned, I spent my youth in India and just like most other people in the third world countries , always dreamt about going to a developed nation. Finally ended up in US.
After spending the last 6 yrs in USA--did achieve some of the things in life I wanted as for as the academic career is concerned. Other than that, most of the time was very stressful with bitter experiences (especially with my divorce of the first marriage and visa issues, lawyer's expenses, and other things). At the end I realized that just moving to a developed nation is not going to change or make one's life happy. After going through frustration I kind of made up my mind to go back to India. Then I got married to a girl from US (my wife never travelled or never lived outside US). Her background is hipanic/mexican. As such, I cannot go and live in India.
She is o.k living with me outside anywhere in the world. I have decided to leave US for good.
We did submit our ITA and waiting to hear about the result.
I do have a job offer and did get a work visa to canada. If I get NZ permanent residence, then I will have to decide between canada or NZ. If I don't, then my only option is canada.
I am just thinking from my wife's aspect, if she is going to like NZ (especially for a person who never travelled outside US and from a mexican background);
I know it is up to us to decide what is good and make a decision about our future life. Any one out there with similar experiences or any suggestions regarding my situation?

[Oregonkiwi]

hello,
my situation is slightly similar in that I'm a New Zealander who has been living in the US for 8 years and now I'm planning to move back to NZ. My husband is American and has never lived outside the US (like your wife). But I don't have to decide beween 2 countries, that's a hard decision to have to make.

Canada is probably more like America than NZ is, but then, it's not exactly like the US, so wherever you go, you and your wife will have to adjust to being in a new place. I haven't spent enough time in Canada to really compare them but there are other discussions on this forum of NZ vs Canada which you could find by searching if you haven't already.

There are a lot of different cultures living in NZ (especially Auckland) so being Hispanic or Indian won't make you stand out any more than any other newcomer.

Day to day life is pretty much the same wherever you are, you should perhaps think about things like family and weather and what you like to do in your leisure time. Is your wife very close to her family? How often will she want to visit them? If she will want to visit often, it would be easier traveling from Canada than that long flight from NZ.

good luck with your NZ PR application!