Immigration!
 

my new wife and I just filled out our immigration papers to move to New Zealand! You have to have a minimum of 100 points to even apply. We had 115 and thats without job offers! (We would have 165 points if we both had work offered)...so keeping my fingers crossed that we get in!

Anyone else moved to another country and had difficulties...? Or complete ease?

~brandon~

wow.


first of all, that's great. congratulations.

but second, it's freaking me out that you brought this up because i was just talking about this. We were trying to figure out a way to spend a long period of time together (and be able to work) either me being in the UK or him coming to the states and it just doesn't seem possible without getting married. so iiiiidddk. we'll see.

Well for NZ...you get 25 points alone just for being under 30 years of age. Another 50 points is awarded for degrees of varying kinds. Then of course you get points for relative work experience and so forth. It's fairly complicated...but yeah, the easiest way to get in it to marry a local! hahaha

well son of a bitch :mad:


:laugh:

Since you're leaving the US to go to New Zealand, wouldn't that be considered Emmigration?

Not from the New Zealanders' standpoint.

arent they kind of the same thing?

"Immigration refers to the movement of people between countries."

"Emigration is the act and the phenomenon of leaving one's native country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin."

So yeah, I suppose. :lol:

its like you say tomato, I say F**K you! ahahaha

:lol: Precisely!

wow! when I suggested you check out moving, I didn't think it would be that quick ..haha..well done thats cool. looks like Queenstown may have another couple of residents soon, maybe.
I'm in the process of doing the same thing, trying to stay in the UK..the process here is crap.Even though I'm married to a Brit, my kids have a UK passport, both my grandparents were British, I can only stay till next year on my NZ passport. Yet every Tom, Dick and Harry from Europe can stay as long as they like practically, claim benefits from the state for kids staying back home and generally faff about to their hearts content.....Anyway, I'm not going to put a downer on your good news with my troubles...I'm still here for now.

You can get unmarried partners visa's to the UK. At least I know that's what my soon to be ex applied for to bring his woman over here from Venezuela (it was turned down as he's still married to me :p)

http://www.workpermit.com/uk/unmarried.htm

Actually looks like you also have to have been living together.

hehehe...dumbass :laugh:

and oooh, yeah, I saw that. might be difficult but thanks for the info. i'll check it out :xoxo:

what made you decide to move out of the us? i hope you like it over there.

Well I lived in Wellington for about a year...and since I've come home (been back Stateside for a year) I've gotten married and Renee and I both want to move anyway. We both want to be out of Florida...we were considering Tennessee..cheaper to live and a slower way of life (we're two old people in young bodies!).

Went back to New Zealand (for the 3rd time for me) for our honeymoon and its just my home away from home. Renee suggested we should try to move there...which I had tried to do before (when I lived there). So, just for sh*ts and giggles we filled out the immigration EOI (expression of interest).

We both want a slower way of life...where the focus isn't gimme gimme gimme...my my my...now now now...as America is. We're a spoiled, lucky nation compared to the rest of the world. I don't want my life to revolve around my job either. New Zealand is modernizing, yes, but its totally opposite of the States. It's not better...it's just different.

PS...plus NZ has some really great beers!

do you have family over there or is your family in the states? i really wish you alot of luck in the move over there.

Nope, just good friends. And they're better than family often times. My family was seemingly born for adversity.

Congrats! However, I knew someone who moved to NZ and then returned to the New York area. The main reason given was that the cost of living was too high- and this is someone who came from NYC! :eek: . :shrug: So if you're looking for a cheaper way of life, I am surprised that you would find it in NZ. :shrug:

what does your family think about you moving?

Good luck Brandon - I guess the key is to find work now to boost your points - you need to check out the US firms who have business interests there.

I emigrated in January from the UK to the US and hold permanent resident status (green card). I don't intend to go the whole way and secure US citizenship though they may grant me that in time. I originally applied on the basis of having a family member (my only family) resident in the US and that was 6 years ago. That was a waste of time and I wouldn't recommend it. I reached an agreement with US authorities about 4 years ago that in addition to owning a home in the US, if I deposited a sum of money in a US bank account I could stay in the US for up to 6 months a year (I think the limit was 2 months then). About two years ago I applied for permanent residence in the US on employment grounds. That was successful on the basis of being a civil engineer and holding a PHd (they did make me wait until January this year when the PHd was awarded). Marriage isn't really an option for the US or UK unless you can demonstrate that you have been 'together' for 2 years -(the US is less strict than the UK) it is part of both countries attempts to tackle 'marriages of convenience' - otherwise I might have tried that:)

Wow. Yeah I've heard it's a bitch to migrate to the USA. Glad you got in though, if thats what you wanted to do! =)

My family (brother and sister) are of the mind...if it makes you happy and its what you want for your life, then go for it. My mother--dont know what she thinks, not really concerned with it either. I wouldnt know about what the rest of the family thinks. We dont really keep in contact. Kinda sad. For example...out of the 70+ people at our wedding only 3 of them were MY family members.

will you still be chatting on here in new zealand?

what about concerts does anybody ever play over there? sorry about all the questions if you are tired of answering them i will stop asking them. please let me know either way.

Its all good Kath. Umm...I was on here every so often when I was in NZ before...I dont see that changing if I move there. They DO have internet, ya know! hahaha

They don't get a lot of shows...no. U2 came to play 2 nights in Auckland in 2006 when I was there and I think practically the whole country went to see them play. It was a big deal. People taking time off work, etc.

Yeah it takes a long time and requires you to fill in loads of forms - thank god I speak English!

Other than China, I can't think of a better place to live and work than the US.

You could just move into a retirement community & save yourself a lot of time, money & aggravation. :D

Well that sounds great...but I'm not quite ready to settle into a life that revolves around the excitement of BINGO! on Wednesday nights.

That's cool that your going. It wouldn't be a slower way of life if it was a part that all the big acts came to anyway. You can check out all the local acts too.

It should be cheaper there than in the US. I don't know why someone from new york would find it more expensive. Unless there was something to do with the market crash that caused a lot of New Zealanders to leave but that wouldn't be relevant now.

Well NZ IS more expensive. If you are earning foreign currency and coverting it to NZ $, then you are ok. For example...here in town I can get two Jack and Cokes at a bar for $6. In NZ you'd pay $7-$8 for one. McDonalds value meals in NZ are nearly 1/3 more than what they are here. DVDs and CDs are about double what they cost in the US. Housing isn't cheap...especially in a city like Wellington.

Oh gawd blimey, don't tell me it's too expensive!! (hmmm...things must have changed since I was last there!!!) Can't be as bad as the UK surely? No, it's fatal to convert it back to a currency that you know before (if you know what I mean). Hopefully the cost of things you buy are relevant to the wages you get.Your'e still a student though aren't you Brandon?

haha...well i think it's fairly expensive. Unless you're making at least $18 an hr you probably wont be doing that well.

Me a student? No way...those days are long since over for me. Although I am always learning something. It may not prove useful, but it's something! hahaha

Oh shoot Brandon, I can't keep up with you! At least I know your'e now married :D
So did you graduate and all that? Media studies as I remember at Massey?

Actually I am an Audio Engineer...and my degree is being labeled as a "Sound Technician" by NZ standards. Of course I'm not really USING my skills here Stateside, but...

Just Texas, and language was the chief obstacle.:cool:

Good luck with the process.

- Jake

haha...yeah that southern drawl is an experience. You moved to TX from where..?

As we're part of the EU most EU citizens can come here and work (as we can in other EU countries) but I don't think they can claim benefits until they have been working here for a year.

I watched a programme on TV the other night and they filmed outside a Job Centre and asked some young men, who were there to "sign on" to claim their benefits if they wanted work picking Butternut Squash at £7 an hour along side some immigrant workers but non of them wanted the work. One of the young men asked had previously moaned about "all these foreigners taking our jobs"

Gail

You identify an interesting contradiction. Some Britons complain at the number of migrant workers travelling from Poland and elsewhere in Eastern Europe to take up jobs in the UK. Yet many of these jobs will otherwise remain empty because Britons are not prepared to take them. Pay and conditions are usually cited for this. Whether the welfare system promotes a ‘is it worth my while’ approach from some or whether the jobs are badly paid, I don’t know. Certainly the ‘minimum wage’ was meant to prevent excessively low pay.

In my experience this isn’t just a problem in Britain. Working in China, they were always complaining about Vietnamese, Cambodian and Korean workers taking jobs (that the Chinese wouldn’t in fact take). In the Middle East it was the Indians to blame and here in the US it seems to be Mexicans and other residents of Central America………........oh and probably me as well!

Perhaps there are levels of surivival that some people just aren't willing to accept. I know here in America, most people wouldn't want to a) Work on a farm b) be a garbage man c) work in a convenience store d) work in fast food e) "work in the fields"...All those jobs that other people (many Hispanics who come from Mexico) are willing to do so that they can live in America and have something more than a menial existence.

That's a good point. there are certain jobs that I wouldn't want to do. However I would do them for a short period just to pay the bills.

Gail