There’s another new immigration Visa on the way
It turns out that Jonathan Coleman, the immigration minister has come up with a new “Interim Visa” to cover the time between someones work visa runs out and INZ supplying a new one. Except its not available till next March.
”The new interim visa is a bonus for businesses. In most circumstances it provides continuity in the workplace as employers have the security of knowing their staff member can continue working legally while Immigration New Zealand processes their application,” Dr Coleman says. ”For some time temporary migrants have been falling through the gaps because in the period between applying for a new permit and receiving that permit, their legal immigration status has lapsed. Knowing they can maintain lawful status while applying for a new visa will provide peace of mind for migrants.”
Umm – but don’t some people get a short term work visa anyway to cover this? And I don’t want to seem picky(honestly – I really don’t), but why should we need a new Visa to be created? Why can’t it be as simple as INZ staff having the ability to extend the work visa already granted to cover this period? But anyway – while I feel another level of bureaucracy is never the best way to solve a problem – at least the problem is being dealt with. Again – something that can only make life easier for people who have emigrated to New Zealand.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
No matter where you go – there you are.
It’s a small world. Never more do yo get that than when you shift yourself half round the world and keep bumping into people from next door.
2 years ago, I became friends with someone it turns out had lived right near Hereford (where I grew up) till they were 8 years old, when their family shifted from the UK to NZ. Which means for about 3 years of my life, we actually lived about 6 miles away from each other. Its one of lifes mysteries to me that we know know each other becuase we live in New Zealand.
Then while hiding away from the world during my “Evony Addiction”, one of my Alliance who lived up in Auckland had done his OE at the PGL Outdoor center Just outside Ross-on-Wye and about 5 minutes drive from where I was living just before we moved here.
Then just last week, the Physio at the gym asked me where I cam from. (It’s the accent – gives me away ever time!)
Now this is not an infrequent query, but fraught with the high possibility that I then have to explain where in the blazes Hereford actually is. I tend to go for “Near Wales”, because even here, with such large links back to the OK, most people are hazy on where anything is other than London.
So I said Herefordshire – and lo and behold he knew where I meant. Turns out he comes from Moreton-on-Lugg, a place I know pretty well, becuase thats where my first Boyfriend lived. Embarrassingly he looks to be about the same age as us, so he may even have known said boyfriend – but I didn’t dare ask!
I’ve yet to bump into anyone from the village I grew up in (Preston-on-Wye) – I’m pretty sure thats a really good thing though.
And it’s not just us ourselves – 2 lots of friends we made, quite independent of each other, turn out to have lived in the same village as each other back in the UK but at different times.
It’s a funny world.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
When is your New Life no longer your “New” life?
I was browsing through some my Blogroll yesterday, and left a comment on the Domestic Executive Blog:
One of the best things about my new life here (which really after 5 and a half years I ought to stop calling my “new” life) is that I am NOT busy all the time. I can say to people – I’m flexible – when’s good for you – when we need to meet up. But I’ve also had to learn to say No when people ask me for favours. Because I found I was spending a lot of time “working” for people for free, and then not having the time to enjoy not working.
As you can see – while I was writing it – I suddenly wondered if I could any longer claim that this was my “New Life”.
At what point are you really no longer a Migrant or an Ex-pat, but someone who lives in New Zealand?
I reckon it might be when you stop complaining about the things that are different here, and start complaining about the things that other Kiwi’s complain about. Which are often the same things as it happens.
Maybe it’s when the novelty wears off. Which in my case it mostly has – but not entirely. I think there will always be moments when I think “Wow! I get to live here??? Really???”.
Either way – it’s not really my own personal “New Life” anymore – it’s just a better version of my old life.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Me and the MX5: The Finale
Filed under: Cost of living, General Budgeting, Life in New Zealand
Well, let’s just say at this point that Motors: Mazda: MX5 has been listed as a favorite on my Trade Me account as long as I have had a Trade Me account. This is basically becuase when I first started getting into Property Investing, I happened to pass by the Mazda garage in Wellington (as you do – honestly its on the route to Moore Wilsons). And I thought I would pop in to look at what they had in the showroom – so that I could build a “Vision Board” of where I wanted the investing to take us.
And lo: they had this really swanky new Dark Purple (so dark its almost black), shiny MX5 that was just screaming at me to buy it.
I was in Wuv.
Slight sticking point – it was $50,000.
And it was brand new – which means as soon as you drive it out the dealership its worth a lot less than you paid for it. Not great odds for anyone planning on making squillions in the property game. Besides – didn’t have $50,000 sitting around burning a hole in my pocket. But dammit – thats the car I wanted, so it went on the dream board, and I have been keeping an eye out on Trade me for 2nd hand ones. One came up a while back, but still with a price tag of $35,000 which is still too much for me.
Ho Hum. Of course now that I need to buy a new car, the swanky purple one isn’t available – at any price, but I have been watching and planning. I was hoping to be able to spend about $20,000 but in the end the pennies just weren’t there. So I decided to buy a cheaper version – and I can always spray it when I have some more money.
2nd hand MX5′s can be had for between $3,000 and $45,000 – so I thought I’d better be at the lower end. I test drove a few in the 8-10k range, but in the end decided I wanted an Automatic. Basically because most cars over here are automatics, all ours were, and I’ve just got used to them. Besides – my original 2 MX5′s were as well.
On Friday last week, I called a guy in Levin who was selling an 1999 MX5, automatic, British racing green (no pop up headlights). Asking price $7995. A quick price check said that was very reasonable – I looked at one a year older for $11K, and one a year younger at $14k. We drove over to take it for a spin, and I loved it! It was in good nick (needs a good clean inside), but the roof is sound, it drove well and everything worked. Experience says theres not likely to be a huge amount that needs fixing – they are not cars that are run by complicated computers so they tend not to be expensive to fix. And the big expense which was a new Cam Belt had already been done and there was a service bill to show it.
All it took was a call to the bank manager, who had been warned this might be coming, and she put the payment through straight away. The guy was comfortable enough from talking to me to let me take the car straight away, and within 10 minutes I finally had my long sought after dream: an MX5.
We then drove a little north to Foxton Beach, grabbed fish and chips from Mr Grumpy’s and coffee from the Simply Balmy Cafe and had a late lunch at the beach sitting in my new car with the hood down. I couldn’t stop grinning.
In fact – I still haven’t stopped grinning every time i get in the car.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Me and the MX5: part3
Filed under: Cost of living, General Budgeting, Life in New Zealand
Well, we managed with one car for the first year, sharing it between myself and hubby, mum and dad. The fact that we managed that long without a car each and 3 spares was a minor miracle. Never before has my family coped with so little vehicular choice.
Being countryside dwellers for so long – we are into the habit of having to get around under our own steam. Theres kinda point relying on public transport when theres only one buss a week into town, and the train station is 10 miles away. Its no different here in NZ – public transport doesn’t start till you get to Carterton, and thats 15kms away.
But when mum and dad came back for there second 6 month stay they decided to go buy themselves a car. They went out one day – and came back with an old Jag XJ6 – basically a Tank with bigger comfier seats and a fuel consumption to match. Cheap to buy – small mortgage needed to fill up at the pump.
So we managed for a few years like this, then when they came to stay full time, my brother also bought a car, as he was now going to be living separately from the rest of us, and needed to be able to get about.
It was at this point that I made the comment over of coffee or two that if there were any more cars to be bought by this family – it was damn well going to be mine. Any deviation from this plan would be met with a major Grumpage alert.
At which point the Jag decided to die on us having failed its WoF and being about to cost considerably more to repair than was spent buying it. This was a few weeks ago. So I jumped and suggested that maybe now was the time for me to replace my MX5.
Obviously there are a lot of changes to our lives right now, with Hubby changing jobs and us moving into the city. So I figured that we could use a small car, and mum and dad could keep our big, fast, blacked out car with the big boot. Much more useful for the country life, and lets face it – a small car in the city is much easier to park.
Only problem was – how the hell do we buy a new car when we have little money and a credit card bill we cant pay in full?
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Me and the MX5: Part2
Filed under: Cost of living, Getting to New Zealand, Life in New Zealand
So we arrived in New Zealand, and oddly enough, as these things tend to pan out – I did not end up buying a new car straight away. Mostly this was because we started out living in Wellington City, right in the middle of the CBD and could walk almost everywhere. And as we were fainting with shock over the true cost of living, we decided that being sensible {shudder} we would leave the expense till we needed it.
I even on occasion succumbed to using Public Transport {Shudders}.
We made the most of it, there was a good bus service to Eastbourne and Days bay, or we could take the ferry over and get breakfast at the cafe and bum on the beach. But it was awkward for food shopping, because we weren’t as free to shop around. And lets face it – its a right pain in the patootie when you have to lug carrier bags full of food across town!
But then of course we decided to buy a house in the Wairarapa, and couldn’t put off buying a car any longer. Hubby would need it to get to work, even if he was using the train, and where were buying – will – there wasn’t a Tescos within walking distance. Nope – for country living – a car is a necessity.
So – MX5 it was then.
Ah nope!
Dammit but we needed a “sensible car” {Shudders}.
We ended up buying a “Station Wagon” which just sounds so hideous to me. Estate Car is so much more “English”. There were a number of reasons for this. Its was big, comfy, and very very fast. The fact that it was black, had blacked out windows and black lights glinting blackly on a black background also helped.
It was also only $9000, though we did have to spend another few $$$ on it afterwards. This was also at the time that my family were coming over for their first 6 months trip, and we figured it was big enough to fit all 5 of us plus a lot of luggage, which saved us a considerable amount of hassle and expense on getting them from Auckland to their new home, as we were going to take a few days holiday to do the trip and see some sights as well.
So that was that – still no MX5, all the money for a car spent on a fast, black, but decidedly non-convertible “sensible” car.
That was 5 years ago….
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Me and the MX5: Part1
In a previous life – I went through a divorce. And as many people do, I went out and spoiled myself afterwards with a completely unsensible and frivolous spending spree and bought a convertible. So about 11 years ago I bought my first wonderful British Racing Green MX5 – with pop-up headlights.
I had so much fun.
Then as luck would not have it – a bumble bee spoiled all my fun, by stinging a young lad in the arm while he was hurtling round a corner in the Forest of Dean, and he drove right in to me.
Which hurt. A lot.
So that was a write off, but the insurance paid out, and I went straight back to the dealer I had bought it from, and bought another one. That was my second British Racing Green MX5 – with pop-up headlights.
I had some laughs with that – as it had a disturbing habit of spinning wildly out of control at the most inconvenient moments – like just as I was going round roundabouts, and ending up facing the wrong way. So as this was just as me and new hubby were getting married and buggering off to NZ for 5 weeks on honeymoon, we dropped it back to the specialist dealer, and asked him to try and figure what was wrong.
When we got back – on a stupidly early flight into Heathrow, we detoured to Ilford to pick up the car. Apparently no one could replicate the madcap spinning – but they changed the wheels anyway, twiddled with the suspension, and prayed a bit. Thankfully – that seemed to do the trick, and I didn’t die mangled in a spinning car.
Of course at this point – we decided emigrating to NZ would be laugh.
Well, I wasn’t going to give up my lovely car, so started looking at shipping costs. Most companies were looking at charging about the same, and basically we were looking at hiring a 40ft container instead of a 20ft container, and boxing the car in.
At which point the gits at LTNZ (Land Transport New Zealand) threw a bureaucratic spanner in the wheels: we were not allowed to import the car becuase it didn’t have a Frontal Impact Standard Pass because it was 2 years too old.
But – I thought – the car obviously passed a frontal impact test in as much as a Transit Van driving at speed frontally impacted my last MX5 and I didn’t end up squished on the road. How much more frontal impact can you get than that????
Well – we reckoned this was those economic scams designed to stop scummy migrants from not spending more of their hard earned cash in New Zealand setting up their new lives.
Bah Humbug!
So I had to sell it.
When the guy came to buy it – I couldn’t watch as he drove it away. It was a few weeks before we were leaving – and I was gutted to be saying goodbye to my car. I swore I would buy another one as soon as we got to New Zealand….
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Moving to the city: not as easy as it sounds.
So we are becoming “Trendy City Folk” with an apartment in the big city and a county pile to escape to at the weekend.
I’d be turning in my grave if I had one.
On the plus side – we started with the country pile so we don’t have to work up to it, but still!
Now we actually own an apartment in the City, but that is rented out with really good tenants, and would actually cost us a small fortune to live in. So we are continue to keep that rented, and have rented another apartment ourselves in the same block. As much as I am not a city person – I have to say I do love the apartment itself. The building lets it down, and I am going to have to have words with the body corporate about what is going with the on site Gym and pool – I real selling point for me – as its a disgrace.
But – I’ve slept really well the couple of nights we have stayed there so far, we have a proper kitchen (cooker so clean it definitely wasn’t used by the previous tenant – not unusual), and space for a separate office. And our stonkingly large TV and surround sound system.
It could definitely be worse.
Our biggest issue was actually organizing the removal. We used Crown Relocations, who we recommend for the emigration move – they were brilliant. However shifting from the Wairarapa to Wellington with a fraction of the stuff we hauled half way round the world was much more tricky. It took hubby a lot of sorting out, and I believe at the final count he had to confirm our starting address, final address and access no less than 6 times. They have to paid in advance, but didn’t get the invoice to us till midday the day before. I had tp get the bank manager to set up the payment, and then send a confirmtion email, but the lady at Crown had gone home by then. Thankfully there was an out of office email which gave details of someone else to send the confirmation to, and he then called to confirm we were in fact moving.
All to get to wellington!
So we moved in - Crown arrived with our furniture, and i promptly left to have a coffee with a friend of mine, just round the corner from the apartment. City living has its benefits after all – I may as well make the most of them!
We topped off the evening with a couple of friends round and a bottle of wine.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
An amusing reply
Mum and dad recently sent out a “we have been here a year” email to their friends back in the UK.
This was a reply to that email:
No Clotted Cream
No Scones
No Gold Top
No Frozen Veg
15 miles to the nearest shop
No proper Weetabix
Good bread though for Dad, but he cant eat it.
Prices going up
VAT on food.
Dismal weather
Tragic deaths.
No bloody wonder you enjoyed the English elections????
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
In any country you get idiots working in Immigration
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when i saw Nadene Ghouri’s story come up on my Google news alert this morning. Nadene was born and raised in Britain, and want to bring in her Kiwi husband to live with her there. They married in New Zealand a few months ago, but are planning a church blessing in the UK in a few weeks. Only her husband Sam has been refused a visa to live in the UK. Despite Sam having already lived in the UK for 5 years previously (and – as demanded of all long-suffering legal immigrants everywhere) left the UK when his previous visa expired.
Why, you ask? Is he a Terrorist? A repeat drink driver with a criminal record as long as your arm? Un-educated?
Nope. among the reasons given were that they have an overdraft, and are thus likely to try bludging off the state.
‘I am not satisfied that you or your sponsor will be able to maintain you or any dependants adequately without recourse to public funds,’ declared the immigration officer.
She said she’d reached her conclusion because my bank statements show an average overdraft of £1,000 to £2,000 each month. Sam’s accounts also show a small overdraft.
Well, I demand that forthwith – everyone with an overdraft be summarily removed from the shores of Britain – especially anyone in the immigration department (and especially especially anyone working for INZ in the UK who doesn’t have a spotless bank record).
Then theres there blindingly stupid assertion that
‘Given your history of working overseas I am not satisfied you intend to live permanently with your spouse.’
Well, it seems that what the silly bint at immigration failed to grasp was that these two people work in Journalism, and it seems they often travel abroad reporting for such fly-by-night outfits as SkyNews and the BBC. So if they had switched their brains on (assuming they had any) I think its not too far a stretch to realise that while they may both work abroad a lot, their marriage is no more false then that of a pilot, air hostess, soldier or a host of other professions.
I have actually heard of people coming to New Zealand being asked to prove thier relationship was real – despite having been married 40 years. You just cant make it up.
Besides – you cant have it both ways – refuse them because they work for a living at the same time as refusing them for being probable bludgers on the state????
Thankfully Nadene and Sam have lawyered up and are appealing the decision. They have also done what we did, and starting getting letters of support and help off other people who know them and support their decision.
I also hope that the person responsible for this blindingly stupid decision is sacked for being so thick. It offends me immeasurably that people this stupid are given jobs that are so vitally important. These are the people supposed to be protecting our borders from undesirable immigrants – not keeping out a newly married couple who can earn money, pay taxes and make a successful life together. I hope their lawyer wipes the floor with the UK immigration Department, and the case officer goes and get a less demanding job – flipping burgers for instance.
Id also be tempted to say scratch the UK and come here instead – except you might get just as unlucky and get a case officer just as stupid. It’s still pure luck. Most people get decent case officers, who treat them as people and take time to use a bit of common sense. But without doubt, some of get robots with no ability to make sensible decisions. I guess you are as likely to meet the problem going from New Zealand as you are coming in.
Finally – good on Nadene for using the fact that she is a journalist to highlight this issue. If I was the UK Immigration Department I would be asking some pointed questions as to why my staff made such a huge balls-up with the case of a BBC / Daily Mail journalist.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Buy Avalon’s Guide
-
