Emigrating

[NorfolkAYA]

Hi all, 

Finally convinced the Mrs that maybe emigrating would be a good idea.

Really open to Canada and NZ.

I've been to Canada (edmonton) before, although we are looking at BC for the milder winters.

Never been to NZ though, I don't think aus is in the question as we like the heat but wouldn't want it year round.

My brother spent a year in NZ and preferred the South island to the North.

My question is, has anyone done it on here? Either Canada or NZ? Obviously we would go before we made the jump.

ATB 

[Wb123]

I have had several colleagues do NZ and about half have ultimately then moved onto Australia. If there isn’t a huge gap in earning potential and quality of life between the two in your field that may not be a problem, but I would take a good look first. 

 

I had always assumed I would end up in NZ but am currently very happy in Northern Ireland. 

[Benthejockey]

29 minutes ago, NorfolkAYA said:

Hi all, 

Finally convinced the Mrs that maybe emigrating would be a good idea.

Really open to Canada and NZ.

I've been to Canada (edmonton) before, although we are looking at BC for the milder winters.

Never been to NZ though, I don't think aus is in the question as we like the heat but wouldn't want it year round.

My brother spent a year in NZ and preferred the South island to the North.

My question is, has anyone done it on here? Either Canada or NZ? Obviously we would go before we made the jump.

ATB 

On her own or with you 😉 

Would love to go to NZ to live but the wife isn't too keen. She'd prefer a ranch in Texas, despite being of the ginger persuasion and getting burnt by daylight 😂 given ourselves 8 years to finish this place to a high spec and make it worth a small fortune and then the step daughter will be 21/22 and the baby will be 9/10 and finished primary school and then we'll look into going abroad. 

[DUNKS]

We have a daughter in Eastern Canada. Whilst it's a beautiful friendly country it's not all roses. NO and I mean NO concessions for seniors at all, and unless you have paid into insurance schemes all your life you have to pay for all of your drugs if needed when you get old.

Our daughter is a Pharmacist and she says it's heart breaking to see older folk having to sell all they have worked hard for to buy drugs. Even good insurance will only pay for so long.

[Scully]

I have quite a few friends who have emigrated to either NZ or Australia, I don’t know of any who have returned. All rave about it, except the heat in Australia. 

[oowee]

1 hour ago, NorfolkAYA said:

Hi all, 

Finally convinced the Mrs that maybe emigrating would be a good idea.

Really open to Canada and NZ.

I've been to Canada (edmonton) before, although we are looking at BC for the milder winters.

Never been to NZ though, I don't think aus is in the question as we like the heat but wouldn't want it year round.

My brother spent a year in NZ and preferred the South island to the North.

My question is, has anyone done it on here? Either Canada or NZ? Obviously we would go before we made the jump.

ATB 

Good news!  Make sure to pass on any shooting to your mates before you go. Enjoy. 

Only joking 🙂 I have never emigrated but often had to move for work. There is a saying that whilst the grass is always greener its still full of cow ....

[Lloyd90]

There’s a lot of romance about moving to many countries but I’m not sure the grass is always greener. 
 

Especially for shooting lads who think you can just go somewhere and take up shooting and hunting. 
 

Im sure some of these places require you to have citizenship before you can have firearms and that itself can take several years. 
 

 

Then if you have any issues there’s no family or friends to fall back on. 
 

My partners sister and husband moved to Oz, there’s no doubt they have better standard of life out there, there’s no way they could afford a 4 bedroom house with a swimming pool in the U.K. as nice as theirs is out in Oz, and that’s with only 1 of them working. 
 

BUT they are missing out on family, birthdays, friends and family are starting to die and they are missing it all. Any problems they have they’re on their own. 
 

Think you’d be better off going on holiday or buying a home abroad personally. 

[ph5172]

One of our friends moved to Oz about 10 years ago. 
Got married and had a family and has no plans of returning. 
 

[bavarianbrit]

I have a canadian father that I never met so I did the emigration thing (landed immigrant status) in 1971 when I hit 21 intending to meet him, never did. I arrived with a little pocket money and £500 sent over well in advance by Lloyds to a Toronto bank, turned up for it and they knew nothing about it. I had a tough time with never met before relatives till the funds arrived and gave up on it all after 6 weeks & came home using the last £110 for a one way and they put me in 1st class on a 707. Have always wondered what I had missed but I made a good living so no regrets, now turns out I am entitled to claim canadian citizenship from the fathers side but now at 70 why? My apprentice mate went over after I had and became a multi millionaire in Ontario with century 21 real estate dealing in only 12 years.

[Retsdon]

2 minutes ago, Benthejockey said:

and preferred the South island to the North.

Rural.....

Many years ago I worked on the drill floor with a bloke from South Island. He never lifted weights that I ever knew of but he was built like Arnold Schwarzenegger and was naturally strong beyond belief. He was also a man of very few words and most of those you had to pull from him like teeth.  Anyway, one day when we were standing around waiting for some job to go off with not much to do and the following conversation took place (pretty much word for word). 

Self:  So where in New Zealand are you from then, Billy?

Billy: South Island! (said like a challenge) ...he added the name of a place but I can't remember it now.

Self: Good place?

Billy: Not much there, mate. Out in the sticks.

Self: So what do you for fun there?

Billy: Hunt pigs!

Self: Pigs, eh? What calibre do you guys use for pigs? 

Billy: Calibre? You mean gun!?! **** off! We don't use guns mate. Only sissies use ***ing  guns. Nah, a pack of dogs and a knife. The best sport in the world!

 

He was a character this bloke. Another day we were in the galley at food time. The drill was you worked your way along a line of choices with a tray, and  behind the counter the catering stewards would give you what you wanted. The food was good too, and  among other things this day there was a choice of roasts - leg of lamb or chicken. I don't know why, but most of the stewards were gay and pretty camp, and when Billy, who was in line in front of me came up, the steward lisps to him 'And what would you like, lamb or chicken?'

'Lamb'! (said like 'hunt pigs!) So the steward cut off about 4 slices and put them on his plate. ''Nah! *** off! That's not enough!'. So the steward grudgingly adds another couple of slices  to Billy's plate. 'Jesus! more than that, mate!" Another tiny slice gets added. 'I haven't got time for this ****!'...and next thing he reaches across the counter, picks up the whole leg of lamb, puts it on his plate and moves on to the spuds and veg. The steward just stood there looking at him with his mouth open until someone says to him 'you'd better go and get another one'  Afterwards Billy sat at our table eating the thing like a chicken leg with his two hands.

South Island....

 

[Vince Green]

I looked seriously at Canada about eight years ago. They wanted a $200,000 CAN bond (refundable after 5 years) from me to grant me residence and proof of my assets, medical cover, pension etc. Plus about $50,000 for an immigration lawyer to process / expedite my application. Oh and I wouldn't be able to own firearms which rather negated my reason to go.

In the end I bought a house in Abercynon / Mountain Ash, South Wales instead and absolutely loved the place. Absolutely brilliant

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by Vince Green

[Retsdon]

There's a good golf course in Mountain Ash. The club is supposed to be very social too.

[DUNKS]

5 minutes ago, Vince Green said:

I looked seriously at Canada about eight years ago. They wanted a $200,000 CAN bond (refundable after 5 years) from me to grant me residence and proof of my assets, medical cover, pension etc. Plus about $50,000 for an immigration lawyer to process / expedite my application. Oh and I wouldn't be able to own firearms which rather negated my reason to go.

In the end I bought a house in Abercynon / Mountain Ash, South Wales instead and absolutely loved the place

 

Sounds about right! Also I do believe they have a rule that true Canadians are given first offer of all jobs.

[Retsdon]

1 minute ago, DUNKS said:

Also I do believe they have a rule that true Canadians are given first offer of all jobs.

Sorry, but I tend to agree with that.

[DUNKS]

34 minutes ago, Retsdon said:

Sorry, but I tend to agree with that.

No need to be sorry I think we must all agree.

[Lever357]

I believe to emigrate to either country, they have to want you. They are both very hard to get in to. I have relatives on Vancouver Island and looked at emigration back in 1999. It was and I think still is based on a points system - answer a set of questions, tot up your points and you either fail the minimum criteria, you exceed the minimum comfortably so can submit an application or you're borderline and can submit if you want but you really dont stand a good chance.

The only people they were interested in when I looked were IT bods or hosptail 'ology' specialists. You really have to be able to fill a role, a resident Canadian cannot. I think if you intend being self employed you have to show financial statements proving you currently have $100,000s, and I believe that is true for NZ as well.

Also with the place being less populated, when things happen such as recession, they get hit worse. My cousin is a truck driver for a logging company and hasnever had a full years employment in his life.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutley love the place but it's not always rosier on the other side of the fence.

[enfieldspares]

A work colleague and her husband emigrated to New Zealand and get on their very well from all accounts. 

[Vince Green]

2 hours ago, Retsdon said:

There's a good golf course in Mountain Ash. The club is supposed to be very social too.

There is a lot of good stuff around that part of Wales. They have the best café in the whole world  in Taffy's Café. responsible for me putting on a stone. You can get your hair cut for a fraction of what you would pay in London. Car servicing, and things like dry cleaning.all so much cheaper

If you have an interest in shooting, getting permissions is like falling off a log in Wales. The farmers will actually phone you up rather than the other way round. And lots of history too. Not all good, but history is what it is, mining disasters, Aberfan , Richard Trevithic and the first ever railway station was at Abercynon. The history of the Labour Party etc. And shed loads of Rugby 

The little push me pull you train gets you down to Cardiff in about 25 mins.

I really wish I was down there at the moment 

Edited May 10, 2020 by Vince Green

[udderlyoffroad]

2 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

Then if you have any issues there’s no family or friends to fall back on

Why would you not make friends if you emigrate?  Being able to integrate is a vital skill.

Mate has just emigrated to Oil-berta, he's having a whale of a time.  He found a job quite quickly, and has survived his first winter.

I say go for it, having done your research first.  Canada would be my choice over NZ, having visited neither, based on a few factors, not least of which is flight cost+time to get back to Blighty.

 

[Lloyd90]

1 minute ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Why would you not make friends if you emigrate?  Being able to integrate is a vital skill.

Mate has just emigrated to Oil-berta, he's having a whale of a time.  He found a job quite quickly, and has survived his first winter.

I say go for it, having done your research first.  Canada would be my choice over NZ, having visited neither, based on a few factors, not least of which is flight cost+time to get back to Blighty.

 

 

Yes, although there seems to be a strange process where people from a country emigrate to another country, then look for only ex-pats to hang out with  ... might as well have stayed where they're from! 

[AVB]

14 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

Yes, although there seems to be a strange process where people from a country emigrate to another country, then look for only ex-pats to hang out with  ... might as well have stayed where they're from! 

I have a niece in Perth, WA who I have visited a few times. All of her friends are expats and if you know Perth it seems that 9/10 people are Brits. 
 

On the subject of Canada vs NZ I would plump for Canada simply for the logistics of getting back. That is unless you are 100% certain that you are not going to want to get back much. 
 

I have never considered immigration  but have worked abroad many times. It’s less about you but you but your wife needs to be 1000% committed to it. If you have had to persuade her I am afraid it is unlikely to work out imo.  

[enfieldspares]

I lived in France from 2002 to 2006 and from 2015 to 2019. I did not mingle with ex-pats and wouldn't wish to either. 

[Lloyd90]

14 minutes ago, enfieldspares said:

I lived in France from 2002 to 2006 and from 2015 to 2019. I did not mingle with ex-pats and wouldn't wish to either. 

But you came back both times?  

[Retsdon]

People are just people the world over. The main reason that ex-pats tend to mix together is language but if you go to an anglophone country where you can communicate at any level there's really not much point in confining your social life to Brits.

On the language point, day to day stuff is not so hard but your foreign language skills need to be very good before you can express concepts and emotions satisfactorily. And that's why ex-pats tend to socialize together. It's not insularity so much as that  we like to be able to communicate with our friends at a deeper level.

[enfieldspares]

1 hour ago, Lloyd90 said:

But you came back both times?  

Yes to enable my mother to live the rest of her final years until she died aged ninety-four in 2014 at her own home and not in a care home. And once her estate was sorted I went back to France in February 2015. And in August 2019 because of Brexit the likelihood with May's incompetence that there'd be a "hard Brexit" or "no deal Brexit" and I'd lose my right to both reside and work there. In life it's best to play the percentages. And ongoing no-one still knows what Brits rights will be to work in the EU after December 2020. 

Edited May 10, 2020 by enfieldspares