Moving to New Zealand: emigration tips

Margaret tells us about her new life adventures at fifty plus, when she emigrated from the UK to New Zealand. She also offers tips about emigrating.

New Zealand South Island

What prompted you to emigrate to New Zealand?

The idea to emigrate began in 1996, when I went to New Zealand for a holiday which combined work experience in Christchurch.  

My son and his wife had already emigrated to New Zealand after leaving the Royal Air Force. In the mid 1990s I was studying a tourism course and decided to do a work placement at a travel agency in New Zealand. I really liked the slower pace of life and spent an idyllic six weeks in New Zealand. 

A few years later my daughter and her husband had a career change and emigrated to New Zealand. This was around the time I was due to retire so decided to emigrate as well.

Tell us about the place where you live.

I live in Invercargill which is on the South Coast of the South Island. The next stop after Invercargill is Antarctica!

What do you like about living in Invercargill?

There is a much slower pace of life in the South of New Zealand as it has been mainly a farming community. 

A queue in the shops or getting stuck in traffic is very rare.

There is no bus/train network in the South Island (we do have an airport which goes to most major places) so car is essential for travel and the distances are long but usually one direct road to your destination. 

Invercargill is not a place for those who love the city life, like to travel on bus or train and have places to go in the evening. We have no night life here and most eateries close by 6 pm. For that city life Wellington the capital or Auckland are our biggest cosmopolitan places are where it’s at.

For me the best thing about NZ life is a personal one I am near most of my family who I see more of in this small town and have been here for the birth of two of my four grandchildren. Skyping to keep in touch with my first two grandchildren was not good as the connection could be awful. And I couldn’t spend personal time with them.

What is the surrounding area like?

There are many attractive natural beauty areas nearby such as the Catlins with its petrified forest buried in the sand and penguins and walrus.

Along the West coast there is Te Anau lake and glow worm caves. To the North is the  Remarkables Mountain Range, luge, skiing, white water rafting and bunji jumping. The town is on a lakeside with a ferry that takes you over to the other side to a cafe/shop on a sheep farm. There you can watch sheep shearing, small sheep dog trials and buy merino sheep products in the shop. They also have some Scottish “highland toffee” cattle.

The Remarkables Mountain range 

Just beyond Te Anau is the big Manapouri Dam and from there there is an amazing boat trip to Doubtful sound.

Doubtful Sound

Is there anything you miss about living in the UK?

Living in Invercargill a smallish town what I really missed the most were chemists Boots, Superdrug and Bookshops like Waterstones. The chemists here were very small and were basically a pharmacy with few other toiletries. And one small bookstore.  Food items such as blue cod, dedicated coffee shops and UK brands in supermarkets I missed but  Nothing I couldn’t do without but occasionally I would have a moan about how I miss them. 

However, we now have a large chemist in my local area at Windsor and I at long last found some nail emery boards. Yes sometimes it is difficult to find some items.  Invercargill is improving as we recently opened a KMart store here and we are in the process of seeing the construction of a new large Hotel and a shopping mall in Invercargill which will be finished for next year. 

What tips would you pass on to someone who is interested in emigrating to New Zealand?

If you are immigrating come for a holiday first and experience the North island, such as the busy city of Auckland and the less busy South Island. 

Don’t come here without money to buy your own house and to buy a car.  Rental properties are becoming scarce. 

Household appliances over here are mega expensive and it might be worth the expense of putting all your own stuff in a container to NZ.

To live here as a permanent resident you have to fit one of the visa residence categories. If you have no family already here on NZ you will need to consider a work visa. As NZ has reduced it quota of immigrants unless you are applying for employment which is listed as “shortage and in need in NZ” you will have a long wait with your application and you may not find work here. Applying for a job in NZ online is a good way to go and then submit your application with an employer to confirm you have employment when you arrive here. This is a quicker way to get in. You also need to be able to confirm you can support yourself for the first 12 months as you won’t have access to any benefits in the first year.

There is a holiday visa for 6 months but if you are retirees or about to retire unless you have a child here in NZ or are a grandparent to a child here the visa process for retirees otherwise is complex and you will need to check it out.

I think it has gotten much more difficult covid aside to emigrate to NZ as they have reduced the quota and changed the rules and categories so it is worth checking all the information on the web site and visit to the immigration office too.