Hello everybody,
I'm interested in moving to NZ. Not just interest, I really want to do it.
For a few weeks, I have been browsing through the INZ web side, reading the information there, studying guides, forms, etc. until I had the impression that NZ doesn't really want me to come. I suspect that I'm not the only one who at some point felt like that. I'm going to describe my situation and my problems in the hope that somebody reading this is/has been in a similar situation and can relate what they did to overcome the problem.
To start with, some facts about me: I am 71 years old, male, widowed, no children, hold a German passport and live currently in Rio de Janeiro Brazil.
At the age of 27, I was offered a two-year contract in London, UK. Those two years lasted a lot longer, and during my time in London I met a Brazilian lady who became my wife.
From an early age, I decided that I didn't want to work until I reached the state retirement age. I wanted to stop earlier and enjoy myself while I still could. For this purpose I put part of my salary aside, learned a little about bonds and shares and built up a diversified portfolio of investment. In 1996, I stopped working and moved with my wife to Rio. Ever since then, I/we have been living on the income from my investments.
My wife passed away 7 years ago. At that time I considered my options (leaving Brazil to move to another country, leaving Rio to move to another city in Brazil, staying in Rio but moving to a smaller flat) but decided that there wasn't any good reason for changing anything. I still live in the same place, and my income - with only one mouth to feed - is more than enough to live comfortably. In addition, since I turned 65, I receive a small pension from both the UK and Germany.
However, over the last few years, the political and economic situation in Brazil has taken a turn for the worse. There will be elections next month, but none of the candidates looks like he/she will have enough support in parliament to push through the necessary reforms. The one who leads the opinion polls at the moment is the worst of the lot. His supporters want a return to the military dictatorship of 50 years ago. I definitely wouldn't want to live in Brazil under his rule.
I have fond memories of my holidays in NZ, and it is the first, and so far only, option for my next residence. It seemed all very easy. I have enough money to support myself, and have shown that I can over the last 22 years. I have no health problems and my character should be acceptable.
At one stage, as I was looking through the INZ site, I clicked on a button that said "retiring in New Zealand". The next day, I received an en e-mail explaining that there is no specific visa for retiring and suggesting that I have a look at the visa options for Investors or the Temporary Retirement visa. So I did.
There are two Investor visas.
Investor 1 requires investment funds of a Minimum of NZ$ 10 millions for 3 years. That's a lot more than I have.
Investor 2 only needs a Minimum of NZ$ 3.0 millions for 4 years, which I could arrange, but has a maximum age of 65.
Conclusion I'm not rich or not young enough to get a visa in the Investor category. Looks like new Zealand, like the rest of the world is only open to the rich and young.
Next I looked at the Temporary Retirement Category Visitor Visa. As the name says, it's temporary. It is valid for two years, full stop. It is renewable, but there is no guarantee that it will be renewed again and again until I no longer need any papers.
To be clear: My plan is to sell my apartment in Brazil and use that money to buy something in NZ. I would pack up my stuff and ship it to NZ. Some items may be too old to warrant shipping. Also electrical equipment might not work in NZ. I would also sell my car, because it's left hand drive. So I would be investing a lot of money in moving and getting settled. And what would I do, if after two years somebody decides not to renew my temporary visa? I don't know of any other country where I'd want to live. And even if I did, moving again after only two years would mean a lot of upheaval and expense. I would be worried from the day I arrive in NZ, that i might be told to leave at the end of the two years.
And there's something else: In the Guide to the Application Form there's this sentence about being "bona fide": "This includes the requirement to be ‘bona fide’, which means you genuinely intend a temporary visit to New Zealand." It goes on to explain that the applicant must not only confirm that he only wants to stay for two years, he must also provide evidence concerning family ties or personal, financial, employment or other commitments in his "home country". I don't even know anymore which country is my "home country". If it means Germany, the last time I was registered as resident there was August 1981. The only people I know there are my sister, her husband and his sister.
This post turned out a lot longer than expected. Thanks for your patience, if you're still reading.
What I'm hoping for, is someone putting my mind at rest, or point out another option. I'm sure that if I ask an advisor, they will say, "No worries, we'll sort it for you."