Starting a new life in a new country

I’m Jake, I’m from Pennsylvania in the US. I moved to NZ solo 🙂

Challenges

Finding housing was trickier than I expected. I rented an airbnb for 6 weeks when I first got here in Auckland. 6 weeks was barely enough time as I was also working full time too.

The process

My Adviser Charlotte has been fantastic since day one. Efficient, understanding, able to translate complex and constantly changing immigration law into bite sized chunks the lay person can understand.

First impressions

I moved here for the outdoors and natural beauty but my expectations were still exceeded. I’ve spent a lot of years in Colorado, and if Colorado was a country it would be New Zealand (but New Zealand is even better because it has beaches!)

What I miss from home

I miss really good donuts, bluegrass concerts, and In-N-Out. Sometimes it is still cheaper to buy something cheap on Amazon and pay a crazy amount to have it shipped here than it is to actually buy the product in person here in the NZD equivalent.

My advice to other migrants

If you wait for the perfect time to do it you never will. Research everything as much as possible, but know there will still be a lot of bumps in the road. Use New Zealand Shores because they are amazing.

One thing I wish I knew before I moved

I wish I had done more research on being a dual tax citizen prior to arriving. It caused me a bit of stress until I figured out how to best manage it, just make sure you apply for your IRD number and Tax Certificate as early as possible.

Other comments about the move

Whether you come for 2 years, 20 years or a lifetime you will not regret it. It’s hard but it’s worth it. I took a 30% pay cut to move to New Zealand and the quality of life, quality of people, and quality of outdoors activities well make up for any dollar amount.