# So my wife is trying to persuade me to move to New Zealand
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [October 31, 2020, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402 "2020-10-31T12:50:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2020, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/41 "2020-11-03T05:12:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#):
>
> Then in the late 80s, Dunedin started to be forgotten. They reduced the phrase to “the three main centres”. By the 90s, shops started to close, and the rail service shut down. Unemployment skyrocketed. The University became its primary source of population, which emptied out over Christmas. What used to be a thriving port town with grey weather, now was becoming a ghost town, a shell of its former self. That’s why I left.
I went to Uni there in the late 80’s. I hope it was not my fault that Dunedin started to go downhill then.
I really enjoyed my time there though, as a scarfie.
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### Author:  [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2020, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/42 "2020-11-03T11:10:36Z")
No they do not live on a “ranch”.
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2020, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/43 "2020-11-03T12:04:26Z")
Yeah, I was thinking of saying that too. Either a farm, or a station. Not a ranch.
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### Author:  [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/44 "2020-11-03T14:08:29Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#):
>
> Absolutely right. I’m always somewhat bemused by folks who think “hey, I’ll just move to country X”, without stopping once to consider if country X will even let them in. It just seems like that (non-minor) step is simply assumed.
I always think that too. Unless you open with “we’re eligible for immigration” it’s kind of a pointless exercise.
As for me, New Zealand is a no-go because of the earthquakes and volcanoes. Don’t bother telling me about odds; phobias don’t listen to reason. 😉
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### Author:  [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2020, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/45 "2020-11-03T14:18:21Z")
> [@MoonMoon](#):
>
> I always think that too. Unless you open with “we’re eligible for immigration” it’s kind of a pointless exercise.
Having hung around these boards for _cough cough_ years, I think I recognise enough about long-time poster [Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell) to assume he knows he’ll need to research immigration rules. He’s just asking what it’s like to live there.
I know many people who have either emigrated there from the UK, moved to the UK from NZ (there’s a lot of them in London), or done a bit of both (my Kiwi boss was born in the UK, grew up in NZ, worked in London, went back to NZ for a few years, and is now back ‘permanently’ in the UK). All these people generally have a very positive view of life in NZ, and the ones who don’t want to go back tend to be ones who find it a bit quiet and distant compared to the social life and Europe-accessibility of the UK. So, it depends on what kind of lifestyle you enjoy. There’s a lot of people who talk about retiring back to NZ, presumably when they think they’ll be tired of living in a big noisy place.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/46 "2020-11-03T14:58:14Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#):
>
> Absolutely right. I’m always somewhat bemused by folks who think “hey, I’ll just move to country X”, without stopping once to consider if country X will even let them in. It just seems like that (non-minor) step is simply assumed.
Americans blithely assuming they can move to {wherever} is silly / ignorant as you say.
Europeans and Commonwealth folks have much lower barriers to entry to a lot more places and tend to be more aware of what those barriers are.
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### Author:  [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)
#### Post date: [November 3, 2020, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/47 "2020-11-03T16:00:31Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Europeans and Commonwealth folks have much lower barriers to entry to a lot more places and tend to be more aware of what those barriers are.
True. After I finished my degree in NZ, it was made very clear to me by NZ immigration that I had 60 days to leave the country. Period. There was no option to stay, other than on a tourist visa.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/48 "2020-11-05T21:43:33Z")
A day before the election, my Facebook feed featured someone interviewing Trumpers about a Biden presidency. They were, as expected, outraged at the very idea, they raged on a bit about fake news and stolen ballots, but emphatically announced if Biden won they were, ‘moving to Canada!’
Say what now? How can that make sense?
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [November 5, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/49 "2020-11-05T22:40:12Z")
It makes exactly as much sense as their other decision: to vote for Trump. Ignorance through and through.
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### Author:  [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/50 "2020-11-06T03:26:20Z")
Is she going with you? No? Hmmm…
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### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [November 6, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/51 "2020-11-06T23:55:18Z")
> [@SanVito](#):
>
> There’s a lot of people who talk about retiring back to NZ, presumably when they think they’ll be tired of living in a big noisy place.
My sister and her husband. They’ve bought the house from his family, they’re working (in Australia) until retirement.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [November 8, 2020, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/52 "2020-11-08T03:58:51Z")
> [@Princhester](#):
>
> No they do not live on a “ranch”.
Okay, farm, whatever. It’s not, say, a small apartment.
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### Author:  [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/53 "2020-11-11T20:40:50Z")
Kiwi’s do have shortages in certain skilled labor areas.
Here is a site that allows you to search if your skills are a match. If they are, getting a permanent visa is much easier.
> **[Skill Shortage List Checker – Immigration New Zealand](https://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/?_ga=2.151161470.650134971.1605126935-697777309.1605126935)**
>
> Official tool to check Immigration NZ's Skill Shortage Lists (Essential Skills in Demand). Search the Long Term, Regional, & Construction and Infrastructure skill shortage lists here.
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### Author:  [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2020, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/54 "2020-11-11T21:15:37Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#):
>
> Here is a site that allows you to search if your skills are a match
It looks like you can’t get enough points unless you have a job lined up in NZ.
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### Author:  [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2020, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/55 "2020-11-11T21:16:45Z")
+1
Devious things, those Kiwis.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [November 11, 2020, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/56 "2020-11-11T22:22:15Z")
The median house price in Auckland has just hit $1,000,000 (NZD). Median house prices across the country are up 20% in a year and are sitting at $725,000. It will help bringing in GBP or USD but it is still expensive.
> **[Auckland's median house price reaches record $1 million high, rest of NZ...](https://www.1news.co.nz/2020/11/11/aucklands-median-house-price-reaches-record-1-million-high-rest-of-nz-soars-nearly-20-per-cent/)**
>
> The median price in Auckland leapt 16.3 per cent on October 2019.
We just bought a house and I’m happy we did it when we did. We had thought that the COVID situation would put significant downward pressure on house prices as people lost jobs, couldn’t afford mortgages, and looked to sell, but this hasn’t happened at all.
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### Author:  [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/57 "2020-11-12T01:57:20Z")
Amused, smiling quietly to myself.
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### Author:  [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2020, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/58 "2020-11-12T04:35:38Z")
I’ve never been to either country, but FWIW the UK is still next to Europe if not a part of it politically. NZ is somewhat isolated globally (with the exception of Australia) at least in comparison. So in NZ you’d lose easy access to over a dozen nearby countries with different cultures, languages, history, etc. America is somewhat similar in that regard, though just traveling from one state to the next can mean significant changes in geography.
Anyway, global remoteness is the one thing that would give me pause, but that’s just me. If I lived in southern England I’d be crossing over to the Continent at least a few times a year just to visit the art museums (not that the UK doesn’t also have excellent ones).
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### Author:  [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2020, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/59 "2020-11-12T06:27:35Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#):
>
> NZ is somewhat isolated globally
This is not true. NZ is totally isolated … and long may that last.
A few years ago now Kiwiland decided that they were not going to maintain a navy and other arms of the conventional military service.
There were numerous vocal critics, including Australia who were hoping to sell them some hardware, whose argument was that without an navy etc NZ would become strategically irrelevant.
This was very well refuted by the proponents who said NZ was strategically irrelevant.
Which gives me another excuse to post: [Gruen: Australia’s Invade New Zealand Day](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xUYbI64QHI)
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2020, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-my-wife-is-trying-to-persuade-me-to-move-to-new-zealand/924402/61 "2020-11-12T06:41:27Z")
Dudes, I want to remind you that moving to a nation to permanently live and work there is not easy. Every nation (that one would want to move to)has rules on immigration. You cant just pick someplace that looks nice and became a resident.
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