₦airaland Forum

Reverend:
Then go home immediately

What do you mean? I do not live in London.

There was an international survey of quality of living in different cities. The top 5 cities were Zurich, Geneva, Vienna, Vancouver, and Auckland. London is 39th.

(The criteria were: Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc), Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services, etc), Socio-cultural environment (censorship, limitations on personal freedom, etc) Health and sanitation (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc)Schools and education (standard and availability of international schools, etc) Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transport, traffic congestion, et Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc) Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc) Housing (housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services, etc) Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters)

London, being one of the richest and most expensive cities in the world, could do better. There are places where you can have a better life while the costs of living are lower.

London isn't that bad, but it's surely overrated as the primary destination.

I visited London a few times, but I wouldn't like to live there.

okeyz,

It's not that immigrating requires previous NZ work experience (would make no sense), but many employers require it and finding your first job after arrival may be difficult, it gets easy later.

GBGHOSTBOY is right that I am not the right person to give immigration advice. However, I know a lot of people who went through it without the help of agents (me too, but I wasn't applying as a skilled migrant), the official website mentioned in one previous post has all the information and even if reading it all requires time, there's nothing there that a "skilled migrant" (=an educated person) would not understand. Agents often overcharge for their services, so I encourage you to at least read it all yourself before you decide to use an agent.

I know that the requirements for skilled migrant include professional qualifications and not all overseas qualifications are accepted - it depends on when and how you got them.

GBGHOSTBOY, when exactly will you come to New Zealand? I'll contact you then.

GBGHOSTBOY,

Saturday night is a time when we phone all our friends in other timezones, so I go to sleep very late on this day and then sleep most of the day on Sunday

The time difference is a bit of a problem here, it's night in Europe when there's day here and my family and friends are all in Europe.

I'm currently employed in a financial company, but I begin thinking about doing some business too.

GHOSTBOY,

I can't help you much with student and business visas, because the way I got here was that I married an NZ resident whom I met during studies in Europe, so I got a resident visa straight away when he decided to go back to where his family is.

I know that after you complete studies here, you have six months to find permanent employment and if you find it, you get another visa that allows you to stay, but I do not know if this is temporary or permanent. As for business visas, I've heard that they are for people who have a significant amount of money to invest here and you've got to be quite rich to get it. Maybe you are, I don't know. You probably know the website immigration.govt.nz, it's the official NZ government website and they have requirements for all kinds of visas listed there.

Good that you mentioned the Maori. They are great people and although you won't meet many Africans here, Maori can make you feel at home. When I arrived, the Kiwis were very polite and nice to me, but they did not understand how it is to be in a new place. The Maori noticed me, understood it and did a lot to make me feel good here. Try to make friends with them and your NZ experience will be much better.

About ladies, are they lovely? Eh, ask a brother about that, how should I know? They look same as the British, and there are also many Asians here. People are very friendly and warm, girls too, but I have an impression that this place is more conservative than Europe.

What is the business you have, if that's not a secret?

GBGHOSTBOY,

It is true that wages are low in NZ compared to Australia, Western Europe and the USA, but the cost of living is also much lower, so you can live quite comfortably here. It is all right if you plan to stay here, but if you want to move elsewhere later, your savings may be not worth so much in a richer country.

Unemployment is very low, companies are in fact fighting for employees, the problem for a new migrant is that many businesses require "New Zealand experience" and won't honour experience from another country, but getting a decent job is easy nevertheless, at least in Auckland.

Wages are good in technical occupations, like software developers, engineers or doctors, there's a serious shortage of them here. But if your degree is in marketing or other area of business, it is harder to find a satisfying job because most big companies in this region have their headquarters in Australia and here they have only a local office.

It is also very easy and cheap to set up a company here and people who have their own successful businesses can earn a lot. In fact, most successful migrants I've met were employed for a few years and then started their own business investing their savings from these years, because that was the only way for them to earn more than average.

As for moving to Australia, Australia is richer but also more racist, whereas New Zealand is the least racist country I've seen. It is thanks to their immigration policy - people arriving here are students or skilled migrants and their standards are high, so if people see somebody from a very exotic country, they actually assume that this person must be very smart and educated if he or she got here. (This does not apply to some ethnic groups like the Pacific Islanders, who have other criteria of entry, but that's not our problem).

Life is slow, as I said, but it is a good thing for me. You can really relax here, it feels like a big village sometimes. Many people are leaving for better opportunities in Australia, but many people from rich countries migrate here, willing to earn less in exchange for this relaxed lifestyle and beautiful surroundings. It is a matter of priorities and what you seek - a fast pace career in a busy environment or a relaxed life in which entertainment and family are important and you have time for them.

GBGHOSTBOY:
Well, there is no big deal regarding the question I wanted to ask. Thanks

1. Wellington and Auckland which one is far better when it comes to migrant?
2. Are you a Filipino?
3. How is life out there in general?

thanks

1. I'd say Auckland is better because it's bigger and there's a bigger migrant community here, you can meet people from all the world and in Auckland it is nothing special to be an immigrant. It is also easier to buy different types of ethnic food here thanks to this big migrant community and last but not least, the weather is better. That's my opinion, but you should also ask somebody who lives in Wellington. I live in Auckland.
2. No.
3. That's too general. There are so many things to write about. I personally love the big spaces here and the nature - Europe is a bit claustrophobic. The weather can be quite cold though, so bring warm clothes with you. The lifestyle is much slower and more relaxed than in Europe and America, no rat race. Anything else you want to know?

GBGHOSTBOY, sorry - I'm married and I do not exchange emails with unknown guys who want to ask personal questions. Please take no offence.

I searched for your previous posts and I see that you are going to come to New Zealand, so I guess the questions you want to ask are about life here. Feel free to ask them here (or create a new topic), it may be of use to others too, although this is not a popular African destination. I will be happy to answer any questions you have.

It wasn't me who made this assumption, Vicjustice. It were other people in this thread, who had their own experiences.


Posted by: awolumate
"All these our embassies are just money making centers.At our embassy in Beijing,they are all business mens. Buying and selling is the order of the day with no interest of the citizens at heart.
I was at our embassy in Rome recently.I took these pictures from their toilet. It was an eyesore. And these embassy make an average of 12,000euro daily from consular and passport services to Nigerians.God dey oooo Lips sealed"

Posted on: January 18, 2007, 11:55 PM
Posted by: Radiant
"Why won't they extort money from people if they can? when a whole Nigeria owes her Embassies salaries for up to 4 months. I'm very sure about 2 Nigerian embassies in Europe that have been owed salaries for a long period."

I got an impression that you Vicjustice support making difficulties as a revenge for the way European embassies treat Nigerians applying for visas. I do not see any sense in that.

Vicjustice, I do not know what is egus's friend business in Nigeria, but I guess he's going to spend some money while in Nigeria and tourists and businessmen are good for the economy. Discouraging them isn't good for anybody. There are better ways to express pride than that.

I think they should simply make these fees official. There should be a price list hanging in the embassy, "visa for European tourists 500 euro" and let it be spent on staff's salaries if they are so unsatisfied with what they get now that they demand bribes. The difference will be that this won't be corruption anymore and it won't be seen as corruption, and people who do not know Nigerian "customs" will not feel confused and offended as they are now when they are treated badly for no apparent reason. For you it may be obvious that such a behaviour of the embassy as described means they want money, but believe me, many people raised in societies where there's no corruption will have no clue and won't even think about it. They will just leave with the impression that Nigerians are unfriendly and rude, and this will add to the bad image of Nigeria.

The admin moved this thread and he was right about it, but it took me some time to notice that it is here now.

emmablow11: sorry, I won't tell where I am from, for now, because I'm afraid some people in the house may have prejudice against my nationality. After I hang around for a while and people get to know me and won't judge me by stereotypes I'll tell it, so ask me again in a few weeks.

GBGHOSTBOY: it's ok for me if you ask your questions here.

blow11,

I'm not a Nigerian and I've never been to Nigeria. I'm from a country from which people are migrating a lot, too (and so did I - I live in New Zealand, I also spent some time in two Western European countries). I'm happy, but I have met many migrants from Africa and other places, who were not happy. The reasons why they were not happy were as I said: loneliness, lack of respect they experienced, the fact that their dreams about riches were not fulfilled and longing for their family, for the food they were used to and for the way people behave and live in they home country. I've met happy people too. Going abroad is not a good idea for everybody, but is also not a bad idea for everybody.

The problem is, in some places "going abroad" is seen like "being saved": the ultimate goal, achieving which solves all problems. People are even ready to risk lives for it! What happens is that when someone makes it, when all his family invested in giving him this happiness and he does not feel happy, he is not able to admit it. First, such people do not want to disappoint their family who often made sacrifices to send them abroad. Second, their pride won't allow them to return because if the streets of USA or UK are paved with gold, like some people at home believe, they must have been a failure if they aren't happy. So they lie to people at home about how happy they are. O, I've seen people crying and complaining when they talked to me and then I've seen them on the phone telling their family how good things are.

Anybody considering going abroad: let this not happen to you, be honest with yourself, make a promise that if you'll feel bad abroad, you will return and not make your life one big lie.

And what are your experiences and thoughts, emmablow11?