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Thread: Two Years In....out and shake it all about

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    Default Two Years In....out and shake it all about

    So have just finished printing INZ1175, about to apply for IRRV now known as Permanent Residence...which I already have but, there you go, the changes in terminology a couple of years bring. So now I am prevaricating, as I hate filling in forms, so thought I would do a two year update.

    We left Scotland on Midsummers Day 2010, arriving Christchurch a week later.

    So what have the two years been like?

    1) I think, for all of us here in Christchurch, the last two years have been more different than we could ever have imagined, but the sky is still blue a lot of the time, the weather better, the scenery magnificent, the people kind and friendly.

    2) We landed in a quiet period for my profession, so took me a couple of months to find a position, but when offered I started immediately. The downside to this was that I feel that I never had a real break, although had not started looking too hard in the first couple of weeks, it would have been nice to have known there was a job coming up and time to just enjoy being here. As it was my furniture showed up, I had five interviews in one week, three in the next and pyschometric testing, a job offer, a start date given on Thursday night for the following Monday, contrac t signing ...oh and a 7.1 earthquake on the Saturday before I started work.....mmmmmm....

    3) took OH just under a year...and his architectural skills were more in demand by mid 2011, and it must be a family trait as he was due to start work the day after the June event...it was delayed by just a day! The good thing was though that he was at home with the boys while they settled, and was able to take care of them and spend time with them. The three of them now have a really close bond now...some times I feel a little excluded..

    4) friendships were made from shared experiences, but while I know there are people there I do not yet have that really close replacement for friends I left behind. I think though that this has been more a fact of trying to balance a strange, hectic year in work, with a promotion, the events that happened, people I was getting close to moving on etc. rather than a true state of affairs. People here are friendly and I have a good mix of people I am pleased to call friends.

    5) as noted above, work took off with a bang, I was asked to apply for promotion within 9 months of starting, which I did, with some trepidation. It has impacted on the work life balance we had hoped to achieve though, but it was also good to be offered the challenge, which I am not sure would have come my way had I stayed in the UK.

    6) we were lucky enough to find a rental we liked within a couple of weeks, having booked furnished accommodation for our first month. It is gets the sun, has a heat pump and wood burner, is warm and has enough space to store our belongings....which are decreasing with each quake. The wedding china carefully packed by PSS is no more, but the ornaments in the boxes are still whole despite being thrown around three times or more...

    7) the boys love their school. Being twins they were split for the first time when they arrived here. They were fine about it. They love the more holistic nature, boys are expected to fidget here, more emphasis on sport and movement, more things to do. They think the weather is great, enjoy being next to a beach, can now stand on a surf board, think their swimming lessons are great( they really teach technique here, for winning, from an early stage which is fantastic). They enjoy the oscar childcare programme. Life is different for them, but from possibly returning to Scotland when older, both are now at the stage where they say they will only go back for a holiday.

    8) it is far from friends and family...but Skype is wonderful. The time difference less so. I have not experienced homesickness that often, once before my first summer Christmas, and some bouts of people sickness.i have problems with seasonal shift still...July is summer in my head!

    9) love the food and am not really missing anything from the UK...found a replacement for most of my food vices, apart from Crunchy sticks...no plain maize snacks here...though cruskits can occasionally help. A strong cheddar would also help....especially if orange to give better color to sauce, but that's about it

    10) the more I see of the country, the more I love it...travelled to some of NI in March...it is very different. SI reminds me of Scotland on steroids!

    Would we do it again? Yes! Looking at the state of the UK, I doubt my OH would be working yet. Life would have changed there, but without the benefits of better weather!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Scotland to Wellington
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    Get your form in quick just in case the fees go up! Good luck with your application, at least you don't have to do another medical!
    Lovely post, and I think you have summed up your experience really well, especially as it has been such a traumatic one.
    Agree wholeheartedly about swimming lessons, none of that messing about with arm bands, they just get in there. Our child couldn't swim when she got here and yesterday she jumped off the wharf in a raging gale and strong current. All just to celebrate mid-winter! All the best for the future!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
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    Lincolnshire to Whangarei
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    Quote Originally Posted by girlwithanewf View Post
    at least you don't have to do another medical!
    I heard about this as we are here on a WTR. So we don't need to do another medical when we transfer to PR?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
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    Scotland to Wellington
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    Sorry M & co for temporarily hijacking your thread, I will just answer this question from noodles3 - is that the WTR accredited employer talent visa? Is so, you can apply for residence after 2 years. You need to do the full residence application with police checks and medicals. If you fulfil certain conditions (ie earn over a certain amount) they can give you permanent residency - for the whole family - straightaway but essentially you apply for residency. The details are hidden somewhere on the NZIS site but do pm me if you have any questions.
    Back to you now M & co!

  5. #5
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    Feb 2009
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    Auckland
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    Well done Mamee and Co, I still remember your epic thread on "THings I have done today to get to New Zealand" .

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    San Francisco to Auckland
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    Thanks for sharing your experience with us. It is always wonderful to hear people's thoughts on their time in NZ.

  7. #7
    Manks's Avatar
    Manks is offline Serial procrastinator and general busybody
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    Aug 2009
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    What a ride you've had! Here's to the next two years

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Christchurch
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    Hi Mamee,

    Congratulations on your two years and glad that you and your family are doing great in Christchurch. Wonderful updates. Thank you for sharing. Cheers...

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    Ōtepoti, Aotearoa
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    Great you can enjoy it here so much, considering the circumstances!!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
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    Christchurch from Scotland
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    Wow Sun777, I had forgotten that thread. There were a number of us at that time all struggling to get here. The visa app is now off for Permanent Residence (IRRV) which will be the end of a long long process started in 2008. Suppose the next stage will be a citizenship application in less time now than we have had since we started all this............

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