• 15 Posts
  • 31 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 13th, 2023

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  • It sounds like you would qualify for residency easy enough. You can start the process now, it takes a long time and there is a lot of paperwork to go through. I wouldn’t bother with a so called consultant. Just do the calculations on the web site and if you have enough points you should be OK.

    Here is a suggestion for you.

    See if you can get a work visa first. In your fields you should be able to get offers and once that’s done you can get a work visa for two years. During those two years you can file for residency here if you like it.

    As a US citizen you can have dual citizenship and can always go back if it doesn’t work out.

    Healthcare work here is tough, long hours, very low pay compared to the USA and Europe or Australia.

    Finally.

    Have you considered Australia? More money, more opportunities, friendlier people (but still pretty damned racist towards aboriginals, asians, indians etc).


  • There is lots of racism in NZ but it’s mostly targeted at Maori, Chinese, and Indians (both Fijian and from India). If you are not one of those groups you should be mostly OK. I haven’t seen too much hostility towards trans people so you should also be OK in that regard.

    Be aware though, this is not an easy place to live. It’s expensive as hell here and you’ll be shocked at how much you are paying for food, utilities, rent and every day goods like clothes and electronics.

    I have talked to countless expats and the number one thing they complain about is how impossible it is to make friends here. Kiwis are polite enough and nice enough for superficial interactions but they won’t let you in their inner circles and become friends. Most expats are friends with other expats although not necessarily from the same country. Since you are in a marginal community I think this will be less of a problem for you. I presume the LGBTQ community will be more willing to embrace expats.

    Having said all that I still think this is a great place to live. Just go into it with open eyes. Prepare well, bring in a shit ton of money and all your goods. You will regret not bringing something when you try to replace it and it costs triple what you paid for it.