# Hello everyone



## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi there!

My name is Christine. My husband and I are planning to emigrate to NZ within the next few months. We've started the visa application, but are still looking for a job. We would like to get in touch with Kiwis or German expats in NZ to chat with, become friends with and seek advice. I'd also like to hear from Kiwis in Germany and anyone else. Thanks!

We fell in love with NZ during our honeymoon, where we travelled about the South Island. From than on we wanted to migrate to NZ. Work-related we spent 3 years in Britain first, now returned to our home country (Germany), but never intended on staying here. We both are in our 30th, studied biology (worked at the university afterwards) and like hiking, the nature (hence the love to NZ) and meeting new people and listening to their interesting stories of life. So please do contact me.

Have a nice day.
Best wishes,
Christine.


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## topcat83 (Apr 16, 2009)

Christine3 said:


> Hi there!
> 
> My name is Christine. My husband and I are planning to emigrate to NZ within the next few months. We've started the visa application, but are still looking for a job. We would like to get in touch with Kiwis or German expats in NZ to chat with, become friends with and seek advice. I'd also like to hear from Kiwis in Germany and anyone else. Thanks!
> 
> ...


Hi Christine - welcome to the forum.
Hopefully there will be a few Germans on here who can share the experiences of living in our beautiful country.


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks for the warm welcome. I hope to get a lot of replies and find some new friends. Have a nice day, topcat83.


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## bikaz (Jan 5, 2013)

Hello Christine I am from Germany too but live now 13 years in Scotland we will move in the next 6-8 mth to NZ too nice to meet you and a very big welcome to the excellent forum .viele gruesse aus Schottland von Karin


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi Karin.
Pleased to meet you. Germany - Scotland - NZ. Sounds a bit like us. We've been in Bristol, UK for 3 years. Where in Scotland are you now? And what do you do? Where will you go to in NZ? And how is the visa application going so far? Do you apply for residency or are you going for a work visa?
Sorry for bombarding you with all those questions. It's just so exciting. 

All the best for you and your moving plans. Great to hear from you and I'd be very happy to hear more from you.
Cheers, Christine.


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## bikaz (Jan 5, 2013)

hi Christine 
I was in Holland too for 14 years and we have stardet the visa already and going for residency visa 
my hubby have already a job offer and we will move to Christchurch but we have many other things to sort out first we have a dog too and we stay on the moment in Dumfries and I am born and bread in Baden-Baden I am in Hotel branch and my hubby a Qualified Plasterer and what about your self what are you doing and your hubby and where are you living on the moment ? habe nicht verlernt meine muttersprache zu sprchen lol alles liebe Karin und william


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi Karin
Wow, you've been travelling the world! That's great. I've never really been to Holland. Just twice on vacation... And it's funny that you've been raised in Baden-Baden. My Mum is originally from Vimbuch, a tiny village close to Bühl. I've been to Baden-Baden several times, when my grandma still lived. Nice place to grow up. Right now, we are living in Eging, a miniature village in the bavarien forest. It was just meant to be for a few months when we came back from UK, but now it's been a year and in the meantime we've got ourselves a lovely baby girl. That's how life is...

Christchurch is a nice town...well, we've been there in 2008, so before the big quake. We've got friends there and they tell us it quite has changed. But they sure do need qualified craftsmen. Hotel branch and tourism is always needed. Good for you! That's great!  

My husband and I both studied biology and worked at the university afterwards. We are trying to get into the environmental sector, but without luck until now... We'll just keep trying.

Have you been to NZ and Christchurch before? How come that you've decided to move to NZ?
Schöne Grüße aus dem Bayerischen Wald, Christine.


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## bikaz (Jan 5, 2013)

*info*

Christine have wrote you in PM ok karin:bounce:


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## jsharbuck (Jul 26, 2012)

Hi I'm in the Waikato region. Immigrated from Germany to the US and then last year to New Zealand. Any help let me know.


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi jsharbuck

Nice to hear from you and pleased to meet you. Could you please share your emigration experiences with me? Why did you choose NZ as your new home? What do you do and how did you get your visa? Do you hold a residency visa? And how and where did you find your current job?

Sorry for all those questions, but I'm very eager to find out more about the possibilities to go to NZ and about the people who already made/are about to make this big step and journey. Would be wonderful to hear more from you.
Thanks in advance.
Have a great day/night.
Cheers, Christine.


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## Vmorris22 (Sep 3, 2013)

Hi Christine3. I am German, I speak German, but I was born and live in the US. I love Germany, and had the opportunity to live there, but my husband and I are choosing NZ instead. We have just started the process too, but are waiting another year to finalize some things here. 

As far as jobs go, check out some of NZ jobs search sites like SEEK.co.nz. You could also look on the immigration website for some job listings, or do a generic Google search. My husband is a mechanical engineer in oil and gas, so our options are limited on where we can live (just Taranaki, really). But, we have done research by finding recruiters who specialize in that area, and found heaps of listings! Another way of doing it, is to find companies that specialize in your job area and see if they have an employment page or just contact their HR. 

Viel Glück!

Victoria


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## jsharbuck (Jul 26, 2012)

Hi Christine,

My husband is a mechanical engineer also. I have my own specialized travel company. We decided that we did not want to live in the US and applied for jobs in several counties, Germany, Poland and even Saudi A. We found a recruiting website nz.indeed.com. It takes a specialty area and gives all companies and recruiters looking for candidates. We contacted a recruiter and had a reply the next day ( I guess due to my husband's specialty area). 

We were on the plane for an interview within a week and left with a job offer. His employer hired an immigration specialist who helped us get a 30 mth work visa. Less than 6 weeks later we were back in country. Once here we applied and received our residency. We love it here, don't plan on returning to the US.

What type of occupation are you in ? There will be many recruiters who are a waste of time . My son is in a critical skill but a recruiter told him to be in contact if he was here already. A good recruiter and employer will invest in getting you over here.

I can PM my contact info if you would like to be in touch

Ricci


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## Vmorris22 (Sep 3, 2013)

jsharbuck said:


> My husband is a mechanical engineer also. I have my own specialized travel company. We decided that we did not want to live in the US and applied for jobs in several counties, Germany, Poland and even Saudi A. We found a recruiting website nz.indeed.com. It takes a specialty area and gives all companies and recruiters looking for candidates. We contacted a recruiter and had a reply the next day ( I guess due to my husband's specialty area).
> 
> We were on the plane for an interview within a week and left with a job offer. His employer hired an immigration specialist who helped us get a 30 mth work visa. Less than 6 weeks later we were back in country. Once here we applied and received our residency. We love it here, don't plan on returning to the US.


jsharbuck,

What kind of mechanical engineering does your husband do (you said specialty area, so I thought maybe something other than just a generic "mechanical engineer") and in what field? How many years of experience does he have? Congrats on getting a job so quickly and moving! That's great! We haven't applied for anything yet because my husband doesn't have any experience yet, just started his career (but three years of internships--does that count?). We were thinking two years at least would make us look more appealing. What are your thoughts?

Victoria


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi Victoria, hi Ricci.

Pleased to meet you and hear about your experiences.
I know about seek.co.nz. I check there regularly for job offers. But, Victoria, do you mean the Immigration NZ webpage by 'the immigration website for some job listings'? I didn't know they advertise jobs there as well. Or could you please send me the link? Maybe in a PM in case you don't want to post it here? That would be great! Thanks in advance. 

We also tried to find a good recruiter for our field of work and experience but were not very successful until now... I guess I'll just try again. My husband and I both studied biology, did PhDs and my husband worked at the university as a post-doc. So unfortunately, we don't have any experience in the industry yet... But we are in contact with some researchers and company members in NZ, hoping to be noticed and find a job offering via this route.

Your experience, Ricci, sounds pretty fascinating. Congrats on the job and the quick move! Engineer is a very good qualification and during my job search - until now - I've seen lots of offers for engineers. Sometimes I think I should have studied something different... 
Where in NZ are you now?
I'd very much appreciate it if you could send my your recruiter's information via PM. Thanks in advance.

Great to hear from you all, guys. It's brilliant to get such good comments and advice and to get to know so many people. Thanks!!!
Have a nice day,
Christine.


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## Vmorris22 (Sep 3, 2013)

Christine3 said:


> I know about seek.co.nz. I check there regularly for job offers. But, Victoria, do you mean the Immigration NZ webpage by 'the immigration website for some job listings'? I didn't know they advertise jobs there as well. Or could you please send me the link? Maybe in a PM in case you don't want to post it here? That would be great! Thanks in advance.
> 
> .


Well, in our search we found a page on there with job vacancies for engineers, but I can't find the link. This link: Job vacancy and recruitment websites has a ton of job sites you could try!


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## Christine3 (Aug 14, 2013)

Hi Victoria.

Sorry for the delayed reply and thanks for the link. I think I stumbled over this link before. It was kind of familiar. But thanks, I've checked it. There is definitely a lot of information on that webpage. Though I couldn't really find a suitable recruiter yet, I'll just keep looking.

Thanks very much for your help.
Best wishes,
Christine.


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