OT Thinking of moving to New Zealand

[Warpspeed]

Even President Obummer seems to have a slight little problem with his Social Security number not being valid..............

[kiwipaul]

THe best to do is get in contact some one from nz that can tell you what you have to do to move there. Hot Rodding has come a long way in NZ in the last 20 years I wish you all the best

[Warpspeed]

Another way would be to contact the New Zealand embassy in Washington.
http://www.nzembassy.com/united-states-of-america/about-the-embassy/contact-us

They will send you a big stack of forms to fill in, to begin the whole immigration process.

You can always change your mind later on and decide not to go. But nothing is going to happen until you actually start the process.

I would also very strongly recommend contacting the Australian embassy as well. It may not be your first choice, but once in Australia with Australian citizenship, moving to NZ would then present no problem at all.

There are no travel restrictions at all between Australia and New Zealand, you just get on a commuter flight and go there for as long as you wish to stay.
You may eventually decide to take out NZ citizenship, or keep your Australian citizenship, it really does not matter.

[Carps]

Australia was first settled by criminals that England shipped there.

Not entirely true, my ancestors paid $250 to come out with the first fleet as Squatters.

[Carps]

Australia was first settled by criminals that England shipped there.

Not entirely true, my ancestors paid 250quid to come out with the first fleet as Squatters.

Mrs Carps ancestors were the ones in chains.      

[Warpspeed]

Not entirely true, my ancestors paid $250 to come out with the first fleet as Squatters.

That was a vast sum of money in those days.
Pretty intrepid too.
Must have seemed like going on the first manned mission to Mars.

[BFS57]

Hello;
From the info I'm getting here it looks like a lot of investigation is in order to find the "pitfalls" of this move.
I know we can go to Philippines without much hastle, my wife has duel citizenship, so she can buy property legally there, trouble is that prices are seeming to be as high as they are here! There are lots of opportunities and if you wave cash at anyone, they will grab-n-go!

Bruce

[Warpspeed]

Hello;
From the info I'm getting here it looks like a lot of investigation is in order to find the "pitfalls" of this move.

Many Americans simply could not live without having loaded guns constantly within reach. they simply would not feel safe.

That is the single biggest reason Americans say they do not wish to move to a different country, they simply would not feel safe there.

Much better to live among crime and corruption, pedophiles, muggers, murderers, totally corrupt government officials and crazies , and be armed, than move to a peaceful and safe country and to just trust people.

The other big problem is a lowering of living standard.
Income is much lower in most other countries, and prices for goods and services significantly higher. Americans still like to have lots of money and very low prices for things.
Anything less would just not be acceptable.

Americans love freedom, the freedom to use drugs, freedom to be homosexual, freedom to follow satanism, and not be discriminated against.  
People have rights, and Americans usually don't want to live in countries where they may be forced to conform to strict social and moral norms that they see as hugely limiting, discriminatory, and oppressive.

Yes, moving overseas to a totally different society and culture means you will need to be prepared to fit into that culture and perhaps give up a few things.

[phat rat]

Hello;
From the info I'm getting here it looks like a lot of investigation is in order to find the "pitfalls" of this move.

Many Americans simply could not live without having loaded guns constantly within reach. they simply would not feel safe.

That is the single biggest reason Americans say they do not wish to move to a different country, they simply would not feel safe there.

Much better to live among crime and corruption, pedophiles, muggers, murderers, totally corrupt government officials and crazies , and be armed, than move to a peaceful and safe country and to just trust people.

The other big problem is a lowering of living standard.
Income is much lower in most other countries, and prices for goods and services significantly higher. Americans still like to have lots of money and very low prices for things.
Anything less would just not be acceptable.

Americans love freedom, the freedom to use drugs, freedom to be homosexual, freedom to follow satanism, and not be discriminated against.  
People have rights, and Americans usually don't want to live in countries where they may be forced to conform to strict social and moral norms that they see as hugely limiting, discriminatory, and oppressive.

Yes, moving overseas to a totally different society and culture means you will need to be prepared to fit into that culture and perhaps give up a few things.

Why not tell us how you REALLY feel? You certainly don't sound at all prejudice about Americans!

[tomslik]

Much better to live among crime and corruption, pedophiles, muggers, murderers, totally corrupt government officials and crazies

yeah, i'm sure you have NONE of those there...

[phat46]

You talk like the freedom to arm yourself, to have a good standard of living and enjoy freedoms not found other places is a bad thing!!!!    I find the misconceptions of life in the U.S. baffling and sometimes humorous, I have many Canadian friends and even some of those that haven't spent a significant amount of time here have a skewed view of us. those that have spent the time here know it's a safe and sane place to be. You sometimes have to look past the headlines to really know what's really happening. I can't imagine living anyplace else although i'm sure there are places every bit as nice as the U.S. There are places within the U.S. where living is much easier than other areas...check out Alabama for instance.

[Warpspeed]

Yes the American headlines can be pretty alarming, and are becoming more so as time goes on.

I have had numerous internet discussions on different Forums with Americans about crime and violence, and it is fascinating.
Always the same exact comments repeated.

It usually goes something like this....

You Australians let them take away your guns.
No, we all agreed after much public discussion fewer guns would make the community much safer, it is a completely dead political issue here and still a strongly held view held by the vast majority.
Since you gave up your guns violent crime in Australia has increased.
Yes it has, but it has increased much faster in America than here.
In Australia you are a sitting duck for heavily armed criminals.
True, but statistically you are eight times more likely to be shot dead in America than here (per 100,000 population).
You shot Crocodile Dundee dead because he owned an illegal gun.
The cops returned fire when he fired on them first in a siege situation, don't American police return fire when shot at ?

Well I don't want to live in a country where I cannot own powerful hand guns and assault rifles, crossbows and openly carry around hunting knives. I will stay right here in America the FREE COUNTRY.

It's a fundamental cultural difference. Not right or wrong, just different.

But many Americans have told me they don't want to come to Australia only because of the very tough gun restrictions.  
This is all something I hear repeatedly, and it's certainly something to think about.

This seems to be a very big issue for Americans, and certainly a worthy and important topic of discussion about the advantages and disadvantages  of immigration to either NZ or to  Australia.

[phat rat]

You opened the can of worms with this. Enjoy the way you live and don't preach to us how we should live. It's not needed here.

[Crosley.In.AZ]

Not a problem for me on the gun thing in Australia or other countries.  Although my 357 Dan Wesson is about 12 feet from me.  

I do not have a passport and never will to travel to foreign countries. I have no interest to

[grazza]

Hey, warpspeed, who 'agreed' fewer guns would make a much safer community? Not me Buddy! And who said it was "a completely dead political issue here and still a strongly held view held by the vast majority." Again not me buddy!!

And Australia is the easiest country in the world to migrate to. Simply duck into your local Travel Agent and get yourself a ticket to Indonesia. Once there, go down to the local fishing village and hand over between $5,000 and $10,000 and one of the kind Fishermen will take you on his boat to an area where the Australian Navy will pick you up and take you to Christmas Island. Once there refuse all offers to take you to Narue and within no time at all you will be in Australia on a full Guvmint handout every fortnight, free medical, housing and every other * thing. After 6 months, get your family back home to send all your cash over to your Australian Bank account and then apply to have them come join you. Easy peasy me mates.   Oh, while you are in Indonesia, loose all you documentation, cause you wont need it once you get here, they will give you all new stuff as part of your resettlement.