Advice on moving to New Zealand

My partner works in Munich as a very well established tennis coach, however the hours that he works here are shocking, it has always been a dream of ours to move to New Zealand, and we both feel that with his line of work we could have a much better lifestyle there, and spend more time together as a family, we have just a baby, so it is important that we have more family time. We both love Munich, but find that we could have more quality of life in New zealand.
I have done research on the net, but would also love to hear from some natives, like where would be the best places to live, things to expect when living there, customs, immigration, schooling, and working etc. I would really appreciate anything in this matter, as it is such a huge move that i need to be certain i am doing the right thing for my family. I would also be good to hear from people who have also moved to newzealand, to give an expats point of view.

Thanks
Sara

hi, maria, my name is andi. i was just loking on this site for somewhere to post similar questions. i am in Halle, near leipzig, with my girlfriend and 2 kids. she is due to have a baby next month, then she must finish her Masters in psychology, so we are looking at moving to NZ next summer, 08. i have been checking out some agencies which help you by doing the paperwork for you..expensive, but i think they will be worth it. i tried to emmigrate to australia a few years ago, but was rejected for not enclosing the right paperwork, among other things.( so i overstayed on a tourist visa about 6 years, got busted, asked to leave. i am hoping this wont be held against me in the future, me being of bad character and all)i am a welder by trade, so have a good chance of being offered a job. what do you and your partner do? if you find anything helpful, interesting, can you let me know?
good luck, andi roo

My brother went through the NZ residency process and now has full migrant status. He's returning from a year in the UK at the end of the month going back to Wellington with his Kiwi bride, she's from Dunedin and they are getting married in Las Vegas then having a blessing in North Palmerston in January. He went to Auckland 4 years ago on a 2 year visa, got a job there and applied for the other one in NZ with help from his employer.

He's in health care management, so got in on the priority list of occupations, have you looked into the points system? He did not use any agency and the forms aren't that bad, there's just quite a few of them. Know that I'd get in via family so I have automatic residency, but would also get in via points due to my career and education.
Check out immigration.gov.nz especially the points calculator, long-term skills shortage list and how to express interest in going.

And yeah, I get nagged almost daily to go - including by headhunters, but I think I should see the country first as it is a bit far really.

Qualified welders are on the long-term skills shortage list, qualified teachers are too but not sports coaches, but this doesn't mean that people can't apply.

Are you sure you'd get automatic residency just because of your brother? That would be really quite unusual..

Seeing as his Kiwi bride works for NZ Immigration, I think she knows better than you.

Just curious Katrina, would your brother have to sponsor you first?

Not necessarily, I'm going for the wedding in January and will think about it then as I have a large extended family in NZ (it is sort of funny that my brother is born in Dumfries and is marrying a girl from Dunedin - Dumfries' twin town) so I haven't investigated it fully as it hasn't been something I've really planned. NZ has been a back-up option for me really, but I'd never go over without a job to go to in any case.

My brother also did consulting for the Dept of Labour for healthcare management recruiting stuff as well, so that's how come I get some more info on the job market. Thankfully, unlike certain other countries, civil service jobs are not restricted to NZ nationals and there's a Trade Commission...

But I think I should at least visit before making a decision for myself - I'd advise anyone to do that.

...

@ Katrina
Should you go for NZ after all, I am convinced you will become a gold mine of information just like you did for Munich & Germany... I wish you a great time at your brother´s wedding...

I'm not having a go at you, I just think that would be unusual.

I've just looked on the NZ immigration site and it says:


So if you have a job offer, and you have no other family in Germany it seems. Its an interesting clause, the "no other siblings or parents in the country you reside". You can imagine a lot of people could exploit this as a loop hole by just moving briefly to a close by country and apply from there. You could also live in somewhere like America, where your family is 4000klm's away from you, but in the same country, or in Europe where you could be 100klm's away from your family but in a different country.

I know in Australia, the rule is that you must have no other family period. My dad's cousin is in Australia and her sister badly wanted to emigrate from the UK, but she can't till her mother dies, so as you can imagine, she's just counting the days

Thanks for the replies guys, really helped, to answer some questions, i am a qualified nanny, i am currently working towards a degree in child development and social sciences. I would like to eventually open my own nanny agency. And would maybe like to go on a 2 year visa first. However i am a bit worried that my choice of career wouldnt really help me to live there, because its not the hardest thing in the world to become a nanny, and im sure new zealand is not short of them.

Cheers
Sara

Hi Maria

You do not say in your original post if you have already been out to NZ. If not, I would strongly recommend you do so before you make your decision. Like Katrina says, it is an awful long way to move! NZ is a great place, but you have to remember it is very isolated and very small, in terms of population. You will not see your family and friends (who live in Europe) very often. You will be raising your child without family support (sounds like you are an expert in this field but this may still be an important factor for you). You cannot simply pop off to France or Italy for a long weekend - the closest place is Australia and even that is a 4 hour flight away.
I know that NZ is always looking for a qualified people in early childhood education, but I think there is a particular lack of male teachers in this area at present and I don't know if your experience as a nanny would be something that is currently wanted in NZ (seeing as lots of young NZers go nannying when they are in Europe!). Your partner's job is in a very specialised area, I don't know anything about this field but I would guess that there are only limited opportunities - I would again strongly recommend that you at least thoroughly research any possibilities before you think about moving, and of course stating the obvious but if he can find a job before he moves that would the best thing. Maybe it would be better if he switched to rugby coaching ;-)
I have only lived in Auckland so cannot compare to other places in NZ, but if you ended up living in Auckland your quality of life would not be better than it is here in Munich. Munich has a great quality of life. Auckland is the biggest city so has the best job opportunities of course, but that comes at a price. I read recently that Auckland is now the most expensive city in the world in terms of incomes in relation to house prices. The public transport is crap so you need a car. As a result the traffic is horrendous, and you will spend an hour or more of your day sitting in traffic on weekdays. NZ is of course great if you love the outdoors. If you however prefer things like theatre, ballet, opera, classical music etc there is no way NZ can compare with Europe - it is too small and too far away.
I don't know if you have been following a program called mein neues leben (i think on kabel 1) about germans emigrating to various countries, there was a recent show where a young couple moved to NZ, he found a good job and they both spoke good english and liked the place and culture, but even after a couple of years they were still both very homesick and missing their families - for someone born and raised in Europe I think it would be easy to underestimate how far away it is.

I find it very hard to compare cities. For you Munich has a better quality of life. For many others, Auckland does. The recent Mercer survey ranked Auckland higher than Munich in their annual Quality of Life Index

ALL BLACKS!

As for my opinion on the move: NZ is, to me the best place on earth to grow up and the best place to grow old. For the in between years it can be a bit quiet.
The city life is not so nice due to urban sprawl, but the nature is second to none and that is, for me, the more important thing.

Hi - I have lived in Gisborne, Palmerston North, Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland. Of them all I wouldn't recommend Auckland... yes it is the big city with the most job opportunities, but I feel that the lifestyle there is no good. The weather isn't great either. Tauranga is very nice - and I recommend it, but it is a bit difficult to get jobs there. Hamilton is also nice... rather boring though, but shouldn't be too much of a problem with getting jobs. Gisborne... is very isolated and depressed but the beaches are georgous (it's my hometown and I don't recommend it). Palmerston North is also really nice and pretty. I wish I could talk about Christchurch, Dunedin and Wellington, they seem to be great places to live.