Has anyone ever been to New Zealand?

Can anyone tell me how hard it is to emigrate to new zealand?

• we have lived in uk all our life and now want to emigrate either to new zealand or australia. we are told its easier new zealnd. we would love some feed back on the lifestyle as well as education for a 13 year old. also we wandered whether hairdressers lorry drivers and greenkeepers are sought after and if anyone knows what sort of wages you would expect for theses jobs. does anyone know of a company in new zealnd we could approach to find work etc any replies would be hugely appreciated thank you kathy

• Answer:

  The above poster gave you most of what you need to know about requirements to immigrate. Given the jobs that you listed, you may have difficulty. If your profession is not on the Long-Term Skills Shortage list then an employer would need to prove they could not find a Kiwi to do the job and this still may not be enough. There was recently a headline story about a South African family being deported because the job the father held was determined to be too low-skilled (he was a security guard). Due to the recession they are also cutting back on work visas and not renewing existing ones. I don't know your exact situation though, so you may be just fine. The education system in NZ is excellent, ranking 3rd in the world after Finland and Canada. A 13 year old would likely be in Year 9 (also called 3rd Form) which is the first of 5 years at high school/college. NZ doesn't have strict school zones which means you will likely have a choice between a few schools and can decide which your child would prefer. The NZ school system is a lot more lenient than other systems, with much less homework, stress than the US or Canada and UK. This is according to teachers who immigrated from these countries. The system also focuses on inclusivity. This means there will be multiple teams for each sport so that all kids can play. Lifestyle in NZ is very relaxed. You will find much less crime, traffic, etc. than in the UK. People let their kids walk or ride bikes around the town at very young ages, leave little kids or babies in the car while they shop, things that would get you arrested in the US anyway. It takes some Brits a bit to get used to people walking around malls and supermarkets barefoot, but many, especially kids, go native pretty quickly. There is a general, she'll be right mentality. NZ is a very sport oriented country with great pride in their teams. When England comes to play the All Blacks at Eden Park though, there are as many people in white England jerseys as in All Blacks ones. Good luck!