CASE STUDY: JOHNATHAN & GWYNETH
MEET THE MOVERS
Names:
Jonathan (62) and Gwyneth (54) Seaton
Occupation:
Jonathan used to work in database and system design in the UK, an occupation he hopes to pursue in NZ.
Gwyneth worked in the voluntary sector in the UK and hopes to explore new opportunities in NZ
Moved From:
Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
Moved To:
Porirua, Wellington, New Zealand
“Faced with the prospect of not seeing our children (or grandchildren) my wife Gwyneth and I decided to seriously investigate moving Down Under.
In January 2008 our middle daughter Anna took up a job with a charity in Wellington. We visited Anna in October 2008 and enjoyed our three-week visit and tiki-tour of the South Island. She brought her future Kiwi husband to the UK to marry him in December 2009, and we again visited New Zealand in January 2010 for a repeat wedding. During 2010, our youngest daughter, Sally and her husband Craig, announced that they were moving to Sydney, Australia. They emigrated in November 2010.
As we had planned a holiday in Fiji to celebrate my 60th birthday in October 2011, we thought it would be an opportunity to dip our toes in New Zealand properly. We met with our eldest daughter (Jenny) and her husband Simon in Milton Keynes and talked it through with them and they gave us their blessing.
We decided to rent out our Milton Keynes home for six months, and after our holiday in Fiji we flew down to Wellington in the hope that we could rent a property on the Kapiti Coast. We secured a rental in Raumati. In March 2012 we set out on our return to the UK, via a visit to Sydney, with the intention of applying for residency in New Zealand and selling up in the UK.
Just before our Fiji trip, the husband of our eldest daughter Jenny applied for a job as a pastor at a church in Wellington. He was successful in applying for the job and so he, Jenny and their three daughters moved out to New Zealand 15 months ahead of us. Their visa application got processed in two days, and we were the last to make it here!
VISA PROCESS
Borey Chum at Migration Associates was our migration agent. We made a visit to Borey Chum’s office in Guildford in May 2012 having met him at a Down Under Live expo in Birmingham. We found the whole process quite logical. Borey gave some invaluable insights into health issues and enabled us to put some actions in place that we believe led directly to a less-problematic and successful visa application. Within days of our visit to Migration Associates, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) announced that they were closing their Family Category stream while they introduced a policy change. Our application had to effectively be put on hold, which was somewhat disappointing for us.
In August we started talking to Borey again about the criteria we would use for our application under Tier 1, and at the end of August our Expression of Interest (EOI) was accepted. Exactly three months later, our EOI was selected by INZ for consideration. On 13 February 2013 we were invited to apply for permanent residency and our application went in one month later. Although we were quoted 4-6 months to get a response, we were given the approval, in principle, just three months later, in late June 2013.
SELLING UP
We sold our house privately in the UK just a week after receiving confirmation of our permanent residency status. We financed our migration from savings and the sale of our house. We also investigated our pension status and obtained some advice from Global Qrops. We took the decision to take most of our belongings with us.
Our children had saved money by shipping less but had then found that the cost of replacement was beyond their means. We arrived in Auckland in September and flew straight on to Wellington. We set ourselves a two-month limit on living with our daughter and this spurred us on each day to do what was needed.
During our first week we bought a new car and we started house hunting. We were the proud owners of our new home towards the end of October. We had three criteria for a house; it must have a view, a wood burner and if possible a ‘self contained’ guest area. We also wanted some land for a veggie patch. We bought our home outright using the money raised from our house sale in the UK. We used Smart Currency to effect the money transfers from our UK bank to our New Zealand bank.
We live in a traditional cedarclad, timber-framed house, with four bedrooms, a study, a large kitchen diner and large lounge. We are close to good local amenities. A local shopping centre is three minutes away by car. We can see Pauatahanui Inlet from our bedrooms, and the old Whitby golf course is behind us. The house was completely renovated by the previous owner and it was like moving into a brand new house, even though it was built in the mid 1980’s.
We love the style of Whitby. It’s probably as close to ‘little England’ as you’ll get north of Wellington. It has all the beauty of Pautahanui Inlet but is elevated, avoiding the dangers of tsunamis. It has lots of walks and recreational areas and it is just 12 minutes from our daughter Anna in Aotea.
FEELING SETTLED
We couldn’t be happier since moving here. The scenery is stunning. I am slowly beating the garden into shape! Over Christmas recently the whole family stayed with us for two nights. There were 14 of us in the house. We visited the beach on Christmas Day and went surfing, but we also had roast turkey and all the trimmings.
We are much happier than we were in the UK. New Zealanders seems to have a more positive outlook on life. There are less crowded shops, it’s easier to get to see a doctor, parking is easier and we love watching films amongst an audience of only 60 people on comfy two-seater sofas. There are lots of sporting opportunities here, such as horseriding, sailing and tennis. Kiwis take their personal fitness much more seriously than Brits.
We live on a seriously steep road and we often see runners, joggers, fast walkers, cyclists, and families taking an evening walk.
NO REGRETS
We wouldn’t change anything about the move here. We came with a very positive attitude and knew that we couldn’t delay in getting our lives organized. We have not been shy and people here have responded positively. We miss some of our special friends in the UK but we’re of an age when many will be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversaries and may be making the effort of getting to NZ. As for the future, we’re hoping to get fulltime work in Wellington for a few years and build up some savings.
We’re also looking forward to seeing the growing-up of our grandchildren and trips to Sydney when Air New Zealand are offering deals. Our advice for other British people wanting to move to New Zealand is to do your prep! There are loads of resources available on the internet. If possible, come and try it out at least for two months. When you’re here, embrace the Kiwi way!”