Civvy Street Forum

Hi All (Kia Ora!),

Family and I are emigrating to New Zealand as part of resettlement. Having done 33yrs in R Signals, I am not overly worried about a job (though it will obviously pray on my mind until I find one!). However, the whole process of sorting out resettlement, potential training courses, removals, pension, etc, is an interesting challenge.

Has anyone out there done something similar or planning to? I would like to use this forum to gather info for all potential ex-pats, wherever they are looking to re-locate to, but especially keen to setup a self-help network for those in, or going to, New Zealand and Australia.

We have gathered quite a lot of information for anyone planning on going down same route - we are doing the 'Skilled Migrant' approach, which is very expensive but gives a residency visa before we leave UK. The most common approach (from talking to civvy friends who have gone to NZ) is just to go for a Work visa and travel 'on spec', as long as you get a job within 6 months, the visa can be extended and/or converted to a residency visa whilst working.

Haka,
Phil C