Destination Auckland - moving from the UK to NZ

Hello there,

Well as we are at the beginning of the New Year, and we have started the paper work and organisation in earnest, this seems like a perfect time to start our blog about our emigration from Portsmouth in the United Kingdom to Auckland in New Zealand.

The Background:

My name is Alex, my partner is Sarah and we have a 2 ½ year old called Amelia, and a cat called Kai. I’m from the Portsmouth area and Sarah is a born and bred Kiwi from Auckland. She has been living in the UK for over 5 years, so it’s high time I did like wise in NZ.

We did an brief investigation into emigrating when we returned from a Christmas visit in Jan 2011. Our initial rough estimation for application was as follows:

Alex:

Chest x Ray: £90

Medical Examination: £100

- blood tests: £160

Police cert: £35 each plus £7 delivery (Alex and Sarah)

Application fee:  £665

Migration Levy (once approved) £140

Amelia:

Dual Nationality Fee £94

Passport £40

Total: Alex + Sarah police report: £1232

Total: Amelia: £134

Final Total: £1366

This is without factoring in Kai’s costs, shipping and flights. So this isn’t going to be cheap!

Work:

It seems strange to say this, but fortunately I have been made redundant! They are moving some of our jobs abroad, so I have been asked to stay until the end of June to help in the transition period and get paid an additional bonus for this. We were already planning to leave around this time, but now I don’t have to feel bad for quitting and I leave with some extra cash. Perfect timing.

Sarah has a relatively new job which she loves, so will be at pains to hand in her notice.

Amelia obviously doesn’t work, but she does love her nursery that she goes to a few days a week, so I think she will be very upset to leave her friends.

As far as work in NZ goes, we have nothing lined up at the moment, so we will probably have to find some when we get there. If we are unable to get jobs in our related fields, we may have to take any job we can get at first. I work as a digital artist in the films, games and simulation industries, with a degree in computer animation. This should help with my application, as this is considered an area which NZ wishes to develop. I may use this as an opportunity to go freelance, or I might be able to get a job with a 3D company. We’ll see what happens.

I think that is everything I need to say so far, and we’ll keep the blog updated as things happen.

Alex & Sarah