♪ Nickels ♪
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10 points to Rebecca!
I think the first thing you need to do is check the immigration laws. New Zealand is not a huge place and it is not easy to disappear when you're an illegal over stayer. They do dawn raids on over stayers and boot them out fairly smartly!
Once you know what you NEED in order to legally immigrate to NZ, start looking at different places that you may like to live. Auckland and Wellington are the two most expensive cities to live in, so while most immigrants are pulled to those they may not be your best option. I lived in Christchurch, which has a reasonable cost of living and employment opportunities. It's also very beautiful.
Once you decide on a location you want to live in, then start looking for jobs in or around that area. I would not recommend moving until you have employment lined up, or you have a large sum of money to carry you through for at least a few months.
Good luck! I hope you make it, and enjoy living there! |
Rebecca
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Having lived overseas for quite a few years, and been guest to severl different host countries, here is what I can tell you you absolutely need to know:
You should definitely know -- not guess, but KNOW -- what the job market holds for your specific skill set. You also must realise that many countries pay their employees once a month. Some allow you to get strung out on credit as long as you are making monthly deposits, while others will snatch you up for getting overdrawn at the bank.
You should KNOW the government's policy on work visas, temporary resident status, permanent resident, citizenship, etc., and the limit of time that those visas last, and what happens when they expire.
For instance, my mother has a highly technical job. She is a court stenographer. She applied for a job in Ireland, who has a shortage in that field. She was hired and the agency that hired her obtained a work visa for her. What she did NOT know was that the visa was only good for five years, and then they boot you out of the country. If you wanted to apply for a visa again, you had to do it from outside the country.
You should have at least a cursory knowledge on host country's citizenship policies, should you decide you really like it over there. I believe that NZ is a province of UK, and so citizenship is not possible unless you give up your American citizenship. Some countries allow for dual citizenship, but not all of them, and that's a pretty big decision to make.
You need to understand the cost of living ratio; i.e., in Israel, rent is, say, $600 a month for a lovely two-bedroom flat. Rent is paid in dollars, but your paycheck is in shekels, and with daily the fluctuation of the exchange rate, that means the difference sometimes between 1500 shekels and 2000.
You need to understand the healthcare field, whether it's socialized medicine or not. Don't be fooled; socialized medicine is not a panacea. There are things that will not be covered if you have pre-existing conditions, or that PEC can limit what kind of coverage you get. There are also LONG waiting lists for simple necessary procedures that are not life threatening, and many people find that they go from their host country back to the States to get the medical care they need in order to get it done in a timely fashion. This is what my father had to do when he had to have cataract surgery.
You need to understand what it takes to rent a flat (apartment). In some countries you have to have two guarantors co-sign that you will not skip on your rent. It is difficult to get people to co-sign for you, especially when you don't know anyone.
You need to know about customs and what it takes to get your household goods over there, entry taxes, how many containers you're allowed to ship and what duty (VAT) is involved, if any.
You need to understand the banking situation over there, how much money you are allowed to bring in when you arrive, versus what you have people send you after you arrive.
You also need to understand how they feel about personal debt. I have a very close friend who immigrated to another country as a temporary resident. After three years he found that it was just too difficult to make it and he decided to come back to the States. He owed a couple people some money, not thousands, but just enough to get stopped at the border because they put a lien on his passport, and they wouldn't let him leave until the debts had been paid in full.
You need to understand law enforcement and your rights as a tourist/temporary resident/permanent resident. You won't be in America anymore, baby, so don't get yourself in trouble with the law (not that you would) and then expect your two phone calls, bail, a public defender, or any due process whatsoever. Some countries can lock you up as a suspect and hold you until they have evidence against you, and it may take years to find out that there is none against you before they let you go.
Everything else is pretty much incidental. You will either like it or you won't, and if you've got yourself a good game plan everything should be hunkey-dorey. Every country is different, so it's paramount that you are knowledgeable about these things before you leave.
And this little tidbit is universally true: Life is like a s*** sandwhich; the more bread you got, the less s*** you have to eat. So the more money you've got in your pocket as you zoom off for a life of globe-trotting, the better off you're going to be.
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