Auckland Harbour Bridge |
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Bridge to nowhere |
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Prices quoted are New Zealand Dollars ($NZ) Approximate values at 11March 1999
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Advice for those about to emigrate to New Zealand
Most of my personal advice boils down to two things:
· Make sure you will be able to get a job and how much you will earn.· Bring everything.EVERYTHING!If you have got this far you will probably be well down the road to applying for residency in New Zealand. If not check the New Zealand Immigration Service to learn how it’s done and your chances of qualifying. You need at least 25 eligibility points. The actual number varies depending on who else applies that week, right now 25 points have been enough for the last 6 months. At present acceptance of your qualifications is a two stage process.
1. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority decide whether they are of a standard to qualify for points (I.e. comparable to the equivalent NZ qualification.) 2. The professional body concerned decides if you are fit to practice your profession, looking at the level of your qualification, where you studied, how well you speak English etc.
This may change soon. There is a lot of debate that this is unfair- we are allowing people to come in and not letting them work, we have qualified surgeons driving taxis. People are saying that the professional bodies are closed shops and exclude perfectly competent immigrants to keep their own wages high. Also there are complaints that the selection is racist: immigrants from Europe are being preferred over Asians with a better command of English. Watch this space.
BRING EVERYTHING. Prices of consumer goods and furniture are high, especially when you are new to the country, need things in a hurry and don’t know where to get the best bargains. Kiwis (New Zealanders) are very frugal, don’t throw things away and so second hand prices are also high even for junk! You can pick up bargains in Garage Sales on Saturday mornings but this is hit & miss and takes time.
What this means is that it is cheaper to send everything over than to replace them at this end. You may think you want to make a clean start with new things. Unless you are very well off you’ll have enough worries and expenses when you arrive- you’ll be very glad to see all your own things again. I say it again. Send all your goods from the box of rusty screws in the cupboard to the battered old piano, plus ragged jerseys and jeans. You are still going to need gardening clothes and even ragged jerseys make good padding for valuables. If you are really fed up with something you could probably sell it here for more than the cost of transport! The drawback is that your things come by sea and take up to 2 months. You must decide whether to send them in advance or be without them here for 6 or 8 weeks. I would suggest sending in advance- you have more friends and contacts where you are to help you survive a couple of months without things. Electrical goods.The power is 240 volt 50 cycle, same as UK and Europe. All appliances will work fine except the plugs are different. You can change them or buy conversion plugs. TV and Video.NZ uses the same PAL system as Europe but some programs are a different frequency. Europe uses UHF only, in NZ some stations are UHF, others are VHF. It is probably not worth bringing your video over but if you have a good TV bring it. You can buy a cheap video out here ( about $NZ250) which will pick up all the stations and feed a signal to your TV’s AV input. Organic materials.New Zealand is careful to the point of paranoid about importing things which may damage the environment. Soil on gardening tools, plants and fruit, fishing gear, etc. need to be declared and sterilised by MAFF (Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries.) BIG fines!!! See the paper work the embassy gives out.
Pets.Dogs are allowed from the UK without quarantine provided they have had the required vaccinations and test. Be careful with the tests- if they are not done by an approved lab they don't count. Main drawback is the cost. It was more expensive to bring out a couple of mongrels than the two children. Book the plane at least three months ahead, the waiting list is long. Find a good kennel that specialises in exporting and let them advise you.
Tips for sending.Packing. If you pack yourself keep two things in mind.
I.e. Small ornaments in newspaper (just as effective as expensive tissue) inside mugs inside Tupperware boxes. Jam things in so they can’t rattle. You should start early and collect as many small boxes and tins as possible. There is no need to pack room by room, line it all up, start with the biggest items and then fill the gaps. This makes keeping an inventory more difficult but is more efficient. Try to balance the weight and not put too many heavy items in one box. The heavier a box is the more likely someone will drop it. Pad the cardboard boxes with bedding, after packing the large items fill gaps with small items: cutlery, soft toys etc. Chairs can be made into quite strong boxes by wrapping cardboard round the legs. If you dismantle things, i.e. take the legs off tables, tie and sticky tape all the parts together so they won’t get lost. Often screws can be put back in their holes. If you send a car then use the space- fill it to the roof with boxes! Don't mark the boxes with what’s inside- this is an invitation to thieves. Do put your name and destination in large letters on each and number them. It’s easier to check you have everything in the confusion and excitement of delivery.
Do choose your carrier carefully and check your insurance. Some companies unload at the destination seaport (i.e. Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch usually) then put them on and off trucks several times before they reach you, increasing delay and chance of damage or loss. (Be prepared for a frustrating few days waiting for customs.) Some of our friends had bad experiences, we used a company in the UK called "Bishops Blachpack" of Exeter and can’t praise them enough for care and efficiency as well as being the cheapest we found. We packed most things ourselves, left them to wrap special items like pictures and the piano.
Bishop's Blatchpak have changed their name, I think they are the firm now called Bishops Move Exeter & Bishops Blatchpack Kestrel Way, Sowton Industrial Estate, Exeter, Devon, EX2 7PA Tel: +44 1392 202040 |
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Immigration
to New Zealand
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Immigration to New Zealand | Immigration Advice | What's it Like in New Zealand | Teaching in New Zealand
john_gross@iname.com
Date Last Modified: 4 January 2001
