Hi, apologies if this isn’t allowed. I’m a US citizen looking to move to NZ. I have all the technical stuff taken care of, just waiting on my documents to be processed and approved.
Basically I am looking for groups I can reach out to to help me get build a social group, and hear what others think about different areas of the country. I am LGBTQ, so it seems like Auckland or Wellington will be my best bet. If I’m in a big city, I would prefer not to have a car.
I’m a nurse, and it looks like salaries are good but not great (between 70-90k/year is what I seem to be finding).
Is this reasonable? Is NZ easy to settle into? Any other expats that can offer advice? Am I going to be broke all the time (I also have a cat I am bringing unless I am physically unable to)?
I did some research prior to applying, but I find more and more opposing views on where the country is headed. I guess I am just looking for some folks that had a similar situation to see how it worked out for them. I had a fair bit of options in where I could go, but the culture in New Zealand just seemed like the best fit. Thanks for taking the time to read or reply.
We happen to have a conservative government right now. This means that stuff you read online will have a recency bias to criticism of them. Our “right” is still well-left of the US “left” though. They’re still dicks though.
It’s expensive here. Especially housing. You’ll probably need to find a flat. That’s probably just easier when moving country anyway.
Good choices, either will be good. Wellington is a little more liberal than Auckland, Auckland is considerably bigger in every way.
Public transport is just good enough that you can just survive without a car. It’ll restrict where you can live and work though to areas that are well served by PT.
You’ll be welcome here!
Just to be clear here, I think @deadbeef79000 is meaning sharing a house with other people. In NZ the term “flat” can mean either a group of friends/strangers sharing a house together, or it can mean a small housing unit often attached to 2 or 3 others in a block. I believe the former is what’s being referred to here, while the latter may be more common for the term internationally.
Thanks for clarifying. I’m seeing a lot of variance in housing costs and types so far. I may try a shared living arrangement the first year to have some other humans around and figure out if I can stay long term before bringing my cat.
Just as a warning, I have heard there are hideous costs to bringing a pet. NZ has very strict biosecurity requirements, our ecosystem is quite fragile due to being completely separated from another other land mass. So you’ll be paying for weeks of quarantine, plus travel costs to fly them here. Thousands of dollars. So waiting to see if you’ll stay long term seems like a good move!
And to add that if you’re renting pets are often basically a complete no-go unfortunately.
Upcoming law change:
The current page also says it’s pretty dubious as to whether a landlord is actually allowed to ban pets, but I guess the new law coming into effect makes it clearer that pets are allowed unless the landlord has reasonable ground to deny it.
Yeah true; I wonder if that means they can’t even ask about it.
Landlords push the boundaries heavily though - especially property managed ones. Oh you left the place a little dirty - that counts as damage & im taking it out of your bond. They just rely on most tenants not having the stomach for the fight.
From what I understand if the new laws, you have to ask permission to have pets, your landlord can’t say no without reasonable grounds, and they are allowed to hold a pet bond.
Landlords (as you say, especially property managers) definitely put in clauses they know are unenforceable. I believe there was a different law change that meant if you won at the tribunal you don’t get your name published, because in the past landlords would refuse to rent to people seen as trouble makers even if they were in the right. With all the complaints about lack of action, Labour did manage some strides for the working class.
Thanks for the reply. Wellington seems to be the better of the two options from most replies I’ve gotten so far. And yes, as an American my expectations for public services and politics are very low, so I imagine I will be at least content with what’s out there.