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A Guide to Moving to New Zealand

New Zealand is one of the most popular destinations for expats, drawn by its stunning landscape and strong economy, and has one of the highest populations of foreign born citizens in the world with around 20% born overseas.Since 2000 over 14,000 Brits a year have made the move to New Zealand, maintaining the historic trend of immigration which means that today, around 6% of the country’s population were born in the UK.

Employment and Wealth

Like nearby Australia, New Zealand’s economy has weathered the financial crisis well and employment rates have remained higher than those of both the US and the UK.

There is a high demand for skilled workers in areas such as healthcare, IT and engineering and also a severe shortage of workers in the construction industry, in particular around Christchurch where thousands of new homes are being built following the 2011 earthquake.

Salaries compare favourably to the UK with the average wage around £2000 more than Britain.

Travel Prospects

There are hundreds of spectacular destinations across New Zealand, but if you fancy exploring further afield, Sydney and the delights of Australia’s East Coast are just over three hours away from Auckland by plane.

The beautiful Pacific islands of Fiji are also just a short flight away and perfect for a beach-based getaway.

A little further afield, Tokyo, Singapore and Bangkok are all around 11-12 hours away and the western coast of South America is also just a 12 hour flight away.

But How Easy is it to Move There?

You can travel on a holiday visa for up to six months, but if you’re moving to New Zealand long term you will need to apply for one of the following

– Working holiday visa – Available to all under 30’s and valid for 23 months.
– Work to residence visa – For immigrants offered a job on the ‘skills shortage’ list.
– Essential skills visa – Aimed at qualified, experienced workers moving to New Zealand who meet the required 100 ‘points’ on their expression of interest.
– Investor visa – For anyone under 66 with at least £775,000 to invest for three years.
– Temporary retirement visa – For over 65’s with at least £345,000 to invest, as well as savings of £230,000 and an income of £28,000.

With your visa sorted, you’ll need to get your belongings sent over ready to start your new adventure in New Zealand.

 

Interesting facts about New Zealand
  • Like in the UK, New Zealanders drive on the left-hand side of the road.
  • The place with the longest name in the world is in New Zealand. In full it isTaumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, but you can usually get away with calling it Taumata.
  • You cannot be more than 128km from the sea anywhere in New Zealand.
  • New Zealand claims to have the highest number of bookshops and Scottish pipe bands per head in the world.
  • As well as the famous kiwi, you can also spot penguins – three species make their home around the country.
  • More people die in New Zealand each year playing lawn bowls than scuba diving.
  • Frying Pan Lake near Rotorua is the world’s largest hot water spring: temperatures reach 200C at its deepest point

 

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Some of our Customer Reviews

If anyone asks me to recommend a removal company, you and your team are absolutely first on my list. You guys have been super helpful plus, all the way from initial contact to the end and so approachable.

Surrey, UK to Sydney, Australia - December 2020

We have been so impressed with the care taken and the quality of packing, and also realise perhaps how lucky we have been to instigate the move when we did, and then to ask John Mason to do it for us.

D.P. Leeds, UK to Perth, Australia – November 2020

Absolutely one of the best movers I have worked with. Pleasant helpful admin staff and the delivery drivers were absolute angels sorting and moving the boxes where I asked them to. Arrived exactly when they said it would.

Selby, UK to Sydney, Australia - September 2020

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