John Williams
Candidate Care Consultant for Waitemata District Health Board
Takapuna, Auckland- healthAlliance
Country of Origin: South Africa
Moved to New Zealand in 2006

What made you decide to relocate to New Zealand?
One of the main reasons I came to New Zealand was to join my family, made up of two brothers, a sister and my mom and dad. I am originally from South Africa, but becauseI have British parents, I moved to London in 2003 to seek fame and fortune. After enjoying the sights and sounds of the UK, I decided to follow the herd and join the rest of the family in NZ, especially after all the wonderful things I had heard!

What was the experience of relocating like?
The whole relocation process was a mix of excitement and stress as I’m sure it is for a lot of people. I was lucky being a single person without a whole household of personal effects to pack up. It was more a case of waiting for my visa to come through and arranging for a few boxes to be collected by the shipping company. And of course saying good bye to all the friends and family! This was probably the hardest part of it all as many of my friends had come over from South Africa at a similar time. There were lots of promises of visits both ways, which helped.
 

Can you comment on your registration experience with your professional board in NZ?
Luckily for me I didn’t need to get registration, although I deal with people on a daily basis who are going through the registration process for my job helping health care professionals moving to New Zealand.

How would you describe your experience with the immigration process?
I found this quite a frustrating experience as I originally tried to apply for Residency straight off under the family policy. Getting a letter saying it was being declined due to the fact that I wasn’t actually the only one living in the UK (my brother was in NZ on a temporary work permit, not as a resident and therefore was technically still living in the UK!!). It was nerve wracking and disappointing to say the least. Luckily my visa officer was really helpful and suggested I apply for a work visa. This arrived the day next day, which was a real surprise. Then the excitement really kicked in and a lot of the stress fell away. After being in NZ for a year, I applied for Residency again as a Skilled Migrant and after a 5 month process it was granted. Now the next goal is tackling Citizenship! Luckily in New Zealand I believe you are allowed to hold dual nationality as I wouldn’t want to give up my British passport!

Would you recommend moving to New Zealand?
Moving to New Zealand has changed my life in so many ways. I feel I’m a different person compared to how I was in the UK. Not that I have anything against England at all (although the weather is a little extreme!) but the lifestyle and work life balance that I have here is nothing short of amazing. I am getting to fulfil all my goals and aspirations in life. The next being to run the Auckland Marathon at the end of the year! (Well, that’s the plan!)

At the end of the day, everyone is different and some people do get the idea that moving to a new country will solve all their problems. This is not always the case, but coming to a place like this goes a long way to relieving a lot of the usual stresses people experience in their lives. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to go for a walk on a sunny beach at lunchtime during work! Both my family and I have never looked back and are truly grateful to be given the opportunity to live in such a wonderful country. Now it’s just a matter of planning where to have my next adventure —Black Water rafting in the Waitomo Glow Caves or walking the Tongariro Crossing… oh the decisions!