Meeting with IAA – What is immigration advice?
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Immigration Advisers, NZIS & Immigration issues
So to recap – my issue with the IALA is that the way it is written means that immigrants are the only section of the New Zealand public who are not allowed to give each other advice. Talking to Mr Smedts, the issue still revolves around whether the advice you give is “informal” or “Formal” and my own person piece of irritating claptrap “systematic” or “not Systematic”. Since nearly two years down the line, no one can actually tell me what those two things mean – we are still basically nowhere further on than when I first discovered that the IALA didn’t actually do what it was supposed to do.
As far as I am concerned, any advice I do happen to give to people is always informal and is in no way systematic and is therefore not covered by this law. I have never been an Immigration agent, am not an immigration agent and never want to be an immigration agent. I still find it quite offensive that this law essentially says that immigrants are too stupid to know that the advice they are given on forums or by people they meet on their journey is not being given by someone who works in the industry. (I would say who is not qualified to give the advise – but as yet no immigration agent is actually qualified – though that will change in the future).
Mr Smedts was surprised to hear from me that his staff have already told me, and his newsletter of November 2009 already states, that Blogs and Forum owners are deemed to be acting systematically (and therefore are giving what, under the law, is now called “immigration advice”), whereas people posting on forms are unlikely to be. I tried my best to explain that there is bugger all difference between advice no matter where it is written (blog, newspaper, forum, book) but I think we reached an impasse there to be honest.
Then we still have an issue that the IAA believes that an awful lot of harm and damage is being done to immigrants by this “informal advice” on blogs and forums. I would like to see one piece of immigration advice written on a blog mind you – because I would bet there isn’t any – other than what I have written that the IAA could deem to be advice if they chose to. (If you happen to be reading this and know of, or write a blog on such issues – do let me know!)
Yet, as part of the preparation for this meeting – I reviewed the three Bill Readings that the IALA went through.
And I still can’t see one speech by any politician from any party who even vaguely suggested that the harmful “advice” they were trying to prevent us from being harmed by was ever from another immigrant. The only people who ever mentioned it – in the submissions – were (you guessed it) Immgration Agents with a rather large vested interest in forcing immigrants to pay them money for advice they could have got for free before.
In fact the most classic illustration of what went so utterly wrong when the IALA was written is this, from the very first reading of the bill in parliament:
HEATHER ROY (Deputy Leader—ACT) :
This bill, though, could be termed the “Tuariki Delamere Protection Bill”. It is a bill to protect people from those who take advantage of immigrants who perhaps do not have a finely tuned grasp of English and are in a very vulnerable position. Those people deserve protection. The Serious Fraud Office said that Mr Delamere received $1 million from his Chinese partner in exchange for part of his company. It went on to say that he recycled the money to trick the Department of Internal Affairs, so that seven immigrants—supposedly millionaires, but who were in fact subject to misinformation—gained entry to New Zealand. Those people then found that their residency had been revoked, and they have since left the country. On looking for information regarding this bill and why this country might need it, I found that the New Zealand Herald was very enlightening. I quote from a piece from 16 November: “The SFO alleges Delamere falsely told the Immigration Service that seven clients had each invested $1 million of their own money in New Zealand—qualifying them for residency under the business migration category.”
So look – the IALA was set up to stop people like Mr Delamere causing harm and damage to immigrants (and the reputation of NZ), not other immigrants like me. So why:
Now to be clear – Tuariki Delamere was acquitted of all charges. Not because he didn’t recycle $1,000,000 dollars of his business partner’s money through 7 immigrants – but because technically it wasn’t illegal to do so at the time. It was however contrary to the whole sodding point of the immigration laws and beyond unethical and considered exactly the kind of thing that a new law was needed to prevent.
It was never considered necessary to write a law making it illegal for me to answer questions on how to immigrate to New Zealand.
Yet he has a licence and still makes a lot of money from immigrants to act as their agent, and I, according to Mr Smedts should not do anything more than cut and paste from the Ops Manual. If I do, I am customising the advice, and therefore am giving “immigration advice”.
An example I asked about.
Say I am asked by someone who has had a Kidney Transplant if they can emigrate here? My Answer would be (if it was legal) that you will basically have a bloody hard job getting in, because transplants are an Apendix 10 condition and that means you do not have an acceptable standard of health. You would have to apply for and be granted a Medical Waiver. I would then copy and paste the relevent bits of the ops manual with links as to where to find them.
Mr Smedts would prefer that all I do is the copy and paste bit. Saying you are going to have a really hard time of it is customising the advice, no matter how true it is. I have no idea why- it makes no sense to me, and to be honest I don’t think it ever will. And by the way – this didnt stop a fully licenced agent from NOT telling a client of his this information and costing the an awful lot of money in INZ fees, and the RRB & INZ [RRB case 15350 if the link doesn't work] taking a very dim view of the crap “advice” the licenced agent gave his client.
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Access to healthcare in New Zealand
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
The UK Telegraph has just run a really useful guide to healthcare in New Zealand. Im afraid being a UK paper it really does relate the situation best for people emigrating from the UK, but that aside, it’s a very well written article and covers all the most important bits you need to know.
New Zealand’s healthy image is reflected in its remote countryside. But access to its health care system is tightly controlled for new expats, and it performs only marginally better than the UK
This relatively efficient performance is partly due to a mix of public and private health care. There is strong uptake of private health insurance (as in Australia), partially triggered by long waits for state hospital treatment.
The main issue here is that in New Zealand the policy for many serious illnesses seems to rely on waiting long enough to treat you that you die and it’s no longer their problem to deal with. Recently one of the District Health Boards stipulated 14 types of cancer that they would not even send patients to an oncologist for. This is where the chance for survival is slim, and if affected you would be sent back to your GP for “management” rather than be treated.
Also New Zealand justifiably operates a severely restrictive immigration policy. Like most developed nations, it does not want its care system even more overloaded. Waits for surgery can exceed a year.
Public hospitals are of good standard and well spread across the country. They treat citizens, or permanent residents, free of charge, and are managed at district level.
Not all treatments at hospitals are free. You may have to pay for some investigations depending on what it is for and who has referred you. Also, in some areas access to a hospital may not be available 24/7 in the more remote areas, so be aware of that.
This has not stopped waits for treatments, encouraging a big market in private medical insurance. Southern Cross Health Insurance, a non-profit-scheme, is the biggest operator. It claims half the market, which covers almost a quarter of all New Zealanders. Southern Cross also has its own hospital chain.
Private health insurance is expensive, and you should definaltly shop around and get some expert advice on what is best for you. Particularly look at what insurance covers in the way of cancer treatments. Many policy do mot cover it – because the public service does – but then you are back to waiting so ling they don’t need to treat you at all.
ARE YOU AN ACCIDENT VICTIM?
New Zealand has taken a novel approach to financing part of its public health system.
Any treatment deemed to result from an accident is not centrally financed, but funded by a tax on employers, employees and sources such as car registration. Treatment is open to all people legally in New Zealand, including tourists. One advantage is that it limits the spread of the compensation culture. It is not easy to bring an action for injury under New Zealand law. However, the system is often abused. “Once people know the ropes, they call everything an accident,” says one administrator with first-hand knowledge. “You have a neck problem and say you got it when you tripped, so you’re covered.”
Yep – its easy to get ACC cover for almost anything – which then makes it difficult for the more extreme cases to get cover at all. Like a lot of “benefits” a huge amount of money is wasted by bad management and policy. But the bottom line – even as a tourist – accidents are covered. Bottom line is that you also pay for it in ACC levies – especially on Car Tax – almost all of which is made up of the ACC Levy.
FAMILY DOCTORING
Patients pay to see a GP, and also for medication. But these payments are subsidised, especially for people with community health services cards or high-user health cards. Emergency services are primarily provided by the charity St John New Zealand, supported with a mix of private donations and public funds.
Expect to pay $30 – $60 to see a GP. Sounds expensive but generally it means you get to see a doctor, rather than the waiting room being full of people with spare time on their hands going because its free. People tend to make sure they NEED a doctor. You also get a decent consultation (usually half an hour with our GP), and the doctor actually talks to you rather than having a prescription half written by the time you sit down.
Note (thanks Sophie): Under 5′s get free GP visits depending on the surgery – so it’s well worth asking around. In some areas you will get charged for out-of-hours visits to a GP for them though.
TIGHT ENTRY CONTROL
Those seeking permanent residence in New Zealand must be in good health before they are accepted into the system. Simply buying medical insurance (although it is widely taken up there) is not enough. The reason given by the authorities is that they would not be able to prevent someone newly arrived with a pre-existing medical condition from using the public system, even if they had good private cover. Immigration New Zealand states that it “is not able to limit any New Zealand resident’s access to the health system, and therefore if you do not meet health policy, we are unable to accept offers to pay for private health insurance”.
I actually agree with that in priciple they just need to get rid of the imcompeteant twats making these decisions – cos it looks like the have some “corpses with certificates” determining who meets these criteria.
HOW DO NEW EXPATS JOIN THE HEALTH SYSTEM?
The short answer is that they don’t join at all, unless they have a work permit in excess of two years. Any less, and new arrivals are told to get private health insurance. Official advice is: “Government funding of health and disability services means that eligible people may receive free inpatient and outpatient public hospital services, subsidies on prescription items and a range of support services for people with disabilities in the community. “If you are not eligible for publicly funded health and disability services, you can still get the services, but you will have to pay for them, and should get health insurance.”
UK-NZ RECIPROCAL HEALTH COVER
Just as a New Zealander in Britain is entitled to free NHS treatment in an emergency, so the same applies to Britons in New Zealand. However, the health ministry stresses that this provision is likely to be insufficient. It says that those ineligible for full state care, and those relying on UK-NZ reciprocal arrangements, should buy private insurance “because the reciprocal agreements only cover immediate and necessary treatments”. It adds: “Visits to a general practitioner, non-urgent or discretionary services, rehabilitation, and repatriation are not funded within the reciprocal agreement.”
I really hate this. Kiwis visiting Britain get free GP visits and would get free prescriptions if they came under the same policy as a brit, as well as free hospital treatments. Going the other way – we have the same entitlement as a kiwi to pay for our healthcare. This is not what I personally call reciprocal!
HEALTH TEST
As well as the two-year work permit requirement, the authorities assess applicants to determine whether they are likely to be a burden on the public system. As ever, the test basically boils down to money. Are you likely to cost the system more than NZ$25,000 over four years? That’s under £3,000 sterling a year.
See post on Acceptable standard of health.
The immigration service employs medical assessors to resolve borderline cases. They weigh up any health condition or combination of factors, whether chronic or acute.
(or not if you happen to get the idiot who looked at my Dad’s case who didn’t know his arse from his elbow and end-stage kidney failure from normal ageing kidneys – a bit worrying.)
HEALTH INSURANCE FOR QUALIFYING EXPATS
People who meet the eligibility criteria decide for themselves how much coverage they personally want, above and beyond publicly funded services. A 55-year-old man could buy a comprehensive plan with reduced out-patient cover from Aviva for £2,144 a year (budget £1,501). Bupa International’s comprehensive cover is £2,938 (budget £1,704) for the same man. Axa PPP would charge £1,967 (budget £1,709).
Be very careful buying an insurance package from your home country for use in NZ. Most policies have exclusions based on the length of time you are outside they country. You must check your policy wording before relying on it.
Ive quoted most of teh article, but I really think it’s worth a full read-through.
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Why do so many Kiwis leave for Australia?
Filed under: Cost of living, Economics, Getting to New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
The herald ran a piece asking kiwis for thier thoughts on whether they are considering moving to Australia. I thought it was interesting because for a lot of immigrants there’s a bit of a toss up between going to Aus or NZ – things like this give a different perspective on the whole issue. A frequent complaint about us immigrants from Kiwis is that we only come here so that we can get residence for 2 years and then go to Aus. Of course it ignores the fact that people also get residence in Asutralia as a way of getting into NZ because it’s easer for people to get jobs in Australia.
It also completley ignores the fact that the vast majority of people so sick of New Zealand that they move to Australia – are KIWIS.
Not Immigrants.
Here’s a selection of some of the more colourful comments (inclusion in no way should be taken as a sign that I agree with these comments)- but I really recommend working through them all.
“NZ – where we are forced to pay global prices for our products – but cannot earn global incomes. As a social experiment, NZ is a failure, if not a disaster.
New Zealand employers need to realise that they are in a global contest for talent. To attract and retain the best workers they need to benchmark pay and conditions with the rest of the world, especially Australia.
Of course, we may never be able to match what is offered overseas but more of our companies must strive to become globally competitive to “raise the bar” on our wages and salaries. New Zealanders are some of the most mobile people in the world and have proven they have no qualms about leaving New Zealand for greater opportunities
I am going to Australia because of the complete lack of job security and career options in New Zealand. Five years out of ten NZ has a recession and there is no sign that change is on the horizon.
Number one is because of the money but a close second is all the PC rubbish that goes on in this country. A particular annoyance is the prefrential treatment of Maori and the amount of tax dollars spend on Treaty settlements that would be better used elsewhere.
Our polititions have been way too sucessful in making their policy buying billionaire mates very rich. Unfortunately they forgot to leave some leftovers for the local peasants.
Yes me and my family are moving in october, we have A young family with two kids under the age of three and the only way we can give them the best in life with more opportunities is if we move over.
I have to say I love new zealand but with our pay rates staying the same and only climbing A little each year but the price of everything going up including mortgages, rates, rent and normal cost of living were only going around in A little rat race and only have the option to move.
We live in australia (qld), but cant wait to return to nz, the weather is awful, too humid and hot, in the winter its always very windy so we dont even get to use our boat, the fishing is crap also.
The aussies dont look after their elderly and nz’ers get no help unless you become a citizen (not even nz flood victims), we wish we had never wasted so much money and come over.Its not all its cracked up to be, cost of living very much the same as nz, fuel rising, food prices high, nz is still the best place to be.
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Seems the ombudsman gives a crap about some immigrants.
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
While they may have done absolutely sod-all about how INZ treated our case, and basically let INZ walk all over them, they have just beaten INZ up over their treatment of a load of Pacific Islanders who were also let down. These were people who were “advised” by the now defunct “Pacific Division” set up my Mary Anne Thompson, and disbanded after issues of corruption were highlighted by the Attorney General.
13 people – who have been in New Zealand illegally -have now been granted residence subject to police and medical checks.
Now, it’s all very well doing this – its the right thing: INZ let people down and behaved appallingly. The division was badly run, and applicants were badly advised.
The Ombudsman ruled that the information the families were given during the 2005 meetings was confusing and misleading.
Um – but so are hundreds of other people applying to immigrate to New Zealand. INZ still continue to give misleading information , still treat some applicants like crap, and they still get away with it (as do licensed advisors). While I am glad the Ombudsman has at least done something for these people, I fail to see why they can’t be bothered to do it for the other applicants like us, who have suffered mistreatment at the hands of INZ. This is at the end of the day grossly unfair, and still does nothing to force INZ to ensure that the information they give to all applicants is correct, and hold them to account when it isn’t.
Especially when many of us, when faced with INZ misinformation – still do not overstay illegally.
Somedays I do get really fed up with staying on the right side of the law, and really can’t always see the bloody point.
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Can the Exchange rate actually get any worse?
Filed under: Economics, General Budgeting, Getting to New Zealand
Having lunch with mum the other day, she told me that she had been checking the exchange rate, looking to bring a bit more money over, and seen that it have actually gone below $2 to the £!
She was right. On the third of January this year, the interbank rate was a sickening $1.986 for every £1.
I actually had a look back to see when it last went that low, but unfortunately first I came across what it was like before it went into freefall.
In fact I had to go back to the earliest date allowed on the charts at HifX, and even going back as far as 1998, the rate for people moving money this was has never been so bad.
On the plus side (I guess) this is an absolutely great time for anyone with $NZ sitting around with nothing to do. You can convert it to £ or $US and wait for the cycle to come round again. Now there are people who claim that this might not happen – that actually $2:£1 might be the new “normal”, but always before these things have worked as a cycle. Oddly you get the same argument with house prices – we shouldn’t this time be expecting house prices to rise again, and we should all get used to lower house values. I’ve noticed these are generally the same people who poured scorned on others who were claiming that there wouldn’t be a downturn in the housing market – that this time would be different.
The thing is human behavior is what causes these cycles – and at some point house prices, interest rates and the exchange rate will start improving. The real problem is that there is no way to tell when that will happen.
Unfortunately this just means that right now it is going to be very hard for most people to emigrate if they are relying on fund from their home countries. I thought we were hard done by when we moved and were getting a paltry $2.50! You notice when it was nearly $4 to the £? Thats when there was a huge spike in immigration to New Zealand – whereas at the moment, immigration is pretty low.
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Think you are having problems getting food through NZ customs?
Some things are allowed, some things arent – and to be honest it’s all a bit of a balls up as to where the line is.
But we should think ourselves lucky we are dealing with German Customs – either they are thick, or somewhere there has a really wicked (and geeky) sense of humour.
You see, one of my favorite websites sells Canned Unicorn Meat.
Radiant Farms Canned Unicorn Meat Specifications
- 14 ounces of delicious unicorn meat, canned for your convenience
- Imported from a small independent cannery in County Meath, Ireland
- Crunchy horn bits in every bite – an excellent source of Calcium
- Tastes like rotisserie chicken but with a hint of marshmallow sweetness
- Easily spreadable for sandwiches, hors d’oeuvres, and more
- Sparkly meat lends the unmistakable air of class and sophistication to your parties
- Unlike other meats, unicorn fat is polyunsaturated and lowers your LDL cholesterol
- Not yet approved by the USDA or FDA, but the nuns have eaten it for centuries and they’re healthy as horses
- Okay, for real: you can’t eat this. It’s a dismembered stuffed unicorn in a can.
- The bottom of the tin is easily removable to gain access to the mini dead unicorn inside. No can opener needed!
However, it seems one unlucky purchaser sent this email to ThinkGeek:
Folks,
I just learned that it is not very helpful to describe the “canned unicorn meat” as “canned unicorn meat” on the invoice when trying to import this.
Customs get really irritated as it’s supposedly food and meat of a “rare” animal. For the sake of keeping things smooth please label it as “canned unicorn (plush toy)” or something less conspicuous.
My delicous unicorn is stuck in customs for almost a week now.
Best regards,
Ingomar
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AirNewZealand joins the ranks ripping us off on CC charges.
Filed under: Cost of living, General Budgeting, Getting to New Zealand, Interest Rates, Credit Cards & Mortgages in NZ
Hat tip to KiwiBlog and Lance Wiggs.
From the 15th December, Air New Zealand are going to add on another extra charge to your flight.
A Credit Card Fee.
- $2 for domestic New Zealand fares
- $5 for short haul Tasman and Pacific Island fares
- $10 for long haul fares
Even worse – if thats possible, they are going to charge you per one way leg, even though it is only 1 single Credit Card transaction. How the hell they justify that I have no idea. Probably some bullshit about how they are charging flat fees rather than a % which works out cheaper for us so they are being nice to us really. Bollocks to that.
And I was really beginning to like Air New Zealand.
Now, for those who want to check this out, as I did, you can find the info here. I couldn’t find it at first, and after 10 minutes of searching the website, was beginning to think this was a figment of someones imagination – but no.
So, you dont have to pay the fees if you pay using:
- Internet banking (POLi)
- Air New Zealand Airpoints Dollars™*
- Air New Zealand Travel Card
- Cash or EFTPOS at an Air New Zealand Holidays store or travel agent
- *Bookings made with a mix of Airpoints Dollars and Credit/Debit card are not charged a CPF.
I’m personally curious as to how they are going to make it possible for us to book online and then pay in cash at an AirNZ store – but hey – I’m willing to go to the effort, and as with the bank, make them pay staff to a job that they have the sodding cheek to charge me for when I do it for them.
As an alternative, I wonder just how little they will let us pay on our Air Points – can we pay $5 on airpoints, the rest on CC, and then not pay the fee?
How bloody stupid is this? Still no line item for Staff Toilet Rolls though 
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Would NZ accept TSA style “security” at airports?
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
If you take any notice of world news, you will probably be aware that there are issues in the US (where else) regarding the next level of “security” measures being foisted on the travel public. The issue is that the TSA (Transportation Security Administration – a government agency) has been using high level X-Ray scanners for a small proportion of travelers. These basically give an image of your body underneath your clothes. I don’t think too many of us would be comfortable with that. You can choose to opt out of this – but at that point you are then given a pat-down. Now this is NOT the usual pat down you get if you happen to set off the metal detectors becuase you have a forgotten hair grip in your pocket!
No – this is a full pat down, which includes having your breasts groped, and having someone feel between your legs.
It is being likened to sexual assault, something I can fully understand. I would not accept that. I am not alone in that, and there are now hundreds of complaints being made in the US about these screening procedures. These procedures were even being done on children, Now the TSA has said that children under 12 are exempt – but that still leaves teenage children at the mercy of adults touching them in a way that is considered inappropriate, but somehow is allowed when the US Government does it. Why?
The images from the full body scanners are not supposed to be saved or stored, however Gizmodo has managed to get hold of 100 of these “they will never be stored” images. Apparently the people involved are relatively lucky in this imager was not taking the clearer pictures where little is left to the imagination.
Theres a very good blog showing the issues with this latest “Security” measures, from John Tyner, who refused a body scan and a pat down. Please do read it if you ever intend to fly to the USA. You need to know just how you could be treated, and that you are likely to bullied and threatened if you choose to stand up for your right to be treated with dignity.
The TSA believes “if you don’t like it – don’t fly”. Which is why we refuse to travel to the USA, and have done since they started requiring fingerprints for us to travel there. We are clearly not the only ones who refuse to travel to the US, and it looks like rather than things improving over time, the “security” is getting more extreme, not less. And “freedom” in the USA is a distant myth – with too many people willing to give up their dignity (and that of their children) for the sake of a 1 in 25 million chance of being caught in a terrorist plot on an airline. It’s barmy.
And the barmiest thing of all:
TSA estimates that fewer than 2 percent of the 2 million passengers screened daily, or 40,000, are given the patdowns.
This is what people really need to get their heads round with airport security (in fact any security). This is a procedure that is being carried out of just 2% of the people you are flying with. 98% of the travelers on your plane will NOT go through this extra screening – they could well have set off the metal detector and got an old fashioned pat down. So all this grief, all this mis treatment of people, all this groping of peoples genitals – covers a whopping 2% of the flying public. If the danger was real, everyone would have go through it. Not just 2%. 2% isn’t going to “catch” another “underwear bomber”.
So what does this have to do with New Zealand?
Well, there is an issue with travel to and from NZ. When we first came here, we could not choose to fly with Air New Zealand, as they only fly from the UK via the US. As more and more people refused to fly via the US, Air NZ opened up flights via Hong Kong. I think that says quite a bit about how many people won’t fly via the US.
But more worrying, as a result of the latest media interest in the new scanning procedures, the Dom Post ran a (totally unscientific) poll on whether people thought the pat downs were justified.
It worries me that more Kiwis aren’t mad about these issues. 40% thinking this behavior is acceptable is actually worrying.I wonder if they realise just what these patdowns entail. I hope that if ever the NZ government loses the plot and for some strange reasons think that these invasive and demeaning measure will somehow stop terrorists, that the NZ people tell them to get stuffed. It wont. The only terrorists here are the TSA who are treating the American Public like paces of crap and hoping that continued fear will keep the public in line. Unfortunately it seems to be working.
Interestingly – in Australia, the “security du jour” is an explosives test, where people are ”randomly” taken out of the normally security line and given an extra test. Now its annoying, and honestly, I’d love to know if they have ever found any explosives residues, cos I imagine it’s just as pointless. What I can say is that is It is not in the slightest bit random.
You see, until this trip, every single time I have been though an Aussie airport, I have been given this extra screening. I finally figured out why I was being targeted. It’s becuase Hubby takes longer than me to re-pack his laptop up, and I wait for him before heading off to the shopping area. I’m a target becuase I’m standing around. I got through without being screened this time, because I didn’t wait around at the security check, but went on through. This meant that poor hubby got the explosives test instead of me, because he was waiting round too long.
That means the test isn’t random. Which suggests that neither are these scans or patdowns – which begs the question – how are the staff really choosing who to screen? Are they even aware that they actually aren’t picking random travelers?
There are many things to be afraid of in this world, but giving in to terrorism like this is not the way to fight this. The people who flew those planes into the WTC have managed to completely alter the American way of life and sense of what freedom means. If you chose to fly to or from the US, or in the country – you have no freedom.
I hope one day they wake up and realise what they have given up, and decide that the only real way to fight terrorism is to refuse to give up your freedoms. In the mean time – well done to John Tyner for standing up to the TSA and refusing to be terrorised by a bunch of bureaucrats. And I remain grateful that I live in country that continues to refuse to give in to the sillier “security” abuses.
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Are you taking your children with you?
I’m currently watching an episode of Undercover Boss UK. A series where CEO’s work for a week as a pleb, in order to better understand how the company they run really works. This week, its Crown Relocations – the company we used for two out of three shipments to New Zealand.
So well worth a look. Though with some trepidation – maybe after all we don’t want to see behind the scenes of what they do with all our stuff.
Well, a cracking moment came when the boss was working in the Leeds office: they take Internet inquiries and call the prospective clients back to find out their requirements and try and book a time for someone to come out and do a quote. He has to do a “Dry Run” with one of the staff before being let loose on the phones, and real life customers. The woman is prepped to be awkward, and the scenario is that shes moving to Hanoi. She has three children.
One of the questions he asks her is:
“Is it you or are you taking your children with you?”
Um no – I thought I’d bung them in a kennels for the next 5 years????
Classic!
The good news is that the program did show two sets of packers, who were packing up the lives of two families moving to Australia. The care and pride those guys took in packing up their homes was heartwarming and reassuring. They really did come across as having a real care for how they treat our worldly goods.
Which is probably why we have twice chosen Crown to ship stuff here, and then went on to get the local branch in to move us into our Wellington apartment.
If you get the chance, I would try and have a look at this program. And I would seriously consider Crown for your removals: they weren’t the cheapest – but all round, we were personally impressed with them.
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Immigration have now noticed the Christchurch Earthquake ;)
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
As of Wednesday 8th Sept, there is now a notification in the INZ Website:
Immigration New Zealand’s Response to the Canterbury Earthquake
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
As part of its response to the Canterbury earthquake, Immigration New Zealand is working closely with other Government agencies to identify occupations where skill shortages may occur, for example, in the infrastructure or construction sectors to ensure that where an immigration response is required we are able to respond in a timely manner. For instance, this may result in changes being made to the Essential Skills in Demand Lists before our next review which is due for completion in mid 2011.
So, part way there – this is undoubtedly something that needs to happen, but also someone in Immigration also needs to think about people with Work Visas who may not have jobs to go to anymore. But the good news is – if you have skills that could be useful in re-building – keep a very close eye on the skills shortage lists.
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