Americans Moving to New Zealand. “We’re Leaving the USA Before It’s too Late”

Moving from America to New Zealand: The Decision

Liz: Chris and Hope, welcome to the NZ Ahead podcast! We are absolutely thrilled to have you both here with us today.

Chris and Hope: Thank you!

Liz: You are long-term members of the famous Slack community, so we know you very well. But for those who don’t know you, who are you? How did you come to be in New Zealand and where have you come from?

Chris: I’m a software engineer. We were living in the Seattle area in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., although we met in Florida. That’s where I lived most of my life.

In terms of coming over, it kind of all started in November of 2024. I wonder what happened then.

When Trump first came in in 2016, since we live so close to BC, we talked a little bit about maybe moving to Canada. We thought, ” This is not gonna be good”.

Hope didn’t know this until just 10 minutes ago, when I told her, but at that time, I actually did start researching it. And I thought, my god, moving to another country isn’t like moving to another state. This is a whole different thing.

We didn’t really go any further.

We just figured, well, we’ll hold out for four years. And we did.

But then this last time, literally the day after the election, I looked at Hope as a kind of a joke and I said, Australia or New Zealand? Having no context of what I was talking about, she just says, New Zealand, duh.

Hope: Like it wasn’t even a question of which one.

Chris: So we started doing some research and said, okay, if we’re really thinking about moving, let’s make sure New Zealand is actually the right place. And after doing lots of research, we still decided it was the place we wanted to go.

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Why New Zealand?

Liz: So you’ve never been to New Zealand before?

Chris: Nope. And that’ll be part of our story. We weren’t able to even make a trip ahead of time to check it out. There were timing reasons for that.

Liz: Of all the countries in the world, then why would you have chosen New Zealand over everywhere else?

Chris: The biggest thought behind it for me was that, especially the larger countries like Canada and Australia, are really having the same problems that we were kind of not liking in the United States.

So it was almost on purpose that we were looking at maybe smaller places that were less likely to have that problem.

And we wanted English-speaking. And we didn’t want too close to any mainland because who knows what may happen in the world.

Hope: One of the primary reasons for English speaking is that I wear hearing aids, and I figured, fast talkers are hard enough, but if it’s in another language, it’s going to be probably three times as hard for me to pick up another language.

Liz: Yeah, another language is never easy to do. One time we wanted to move to France and it was just like, it’s such a barrier. It really, really is.

Understanding the new-zealand-skilled-migration-visa requirements is the essential first step for anyone considering a move, and for Chris, that pathway was about to become clear.

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The Age Factor: A Two-Year Window

Liz: Do you mind me asking how old you were when you were thinking about moving over?

Chris: In 2024, I had just turned 54. And Hope’s 58.

Liz: So, what is the cutoff date for the skilled migrant visa?

Chris: You cannot be 56. You have up until the day before your 56th birthday. So at that point, I was like, I have a two year window to get things done in.

When everyone was talking about how difficult it was to get a job from abroad, I thought I don’t have time to dawdle here. If we’re going to do this, we have to do it now.

I was kind of thinking of Australia as a potential backup plan until I looked at their rules and saw that their cutoff age was 45. So I was already long gone.

Liz: And for those people who don’t know, the partner of someone coming—is there a cutoff age for the partner?

Chris: It’s just the person that’s getting the visa. The partner honestly doesn’t have any effect.

Liz: Right. But at the same time, you’re in your fifties. Change isn’t easy, is it? When Chris said to you, okay, we’re moving, were you all in?

Hope: I was totally all in.

Chris: From my point of view, because I had researched Canada before, I knew how crazy and how much work it was going to be. And I wasn’t sure if she understood that this is going to be like heads down for the next year.

Hope: I had moved around several times willingly by myself throughout the United States. So moving itself was no big deal. We didn’t have any family close by anyway. So honestly, we could have been anywhere and it would have been the same outcome.

A Journey, Not an Adventure

Liz: So did you just look at it as like a big adventure?

Chris: Sort of, but at least for me, I said, especially at our age, there’s no way that we’re going to do this and then do it again. So my thought was, if we’re doing this, this is a permanent thing. Even if we don’t like it, this is the last 20, 30 years of our life.

Hope: I didn’t look at it so much as an adventure because to me that means short term. I looked at it more as a journey. These are the red hoops that we have to jump through. And once we get through that, then we can start the rest of our lives.

How It All Began: Finding NZ Shores

Liz: I personally think that’s incredibly brave. So can we go back and tell us how you even did this? How do you move from the United States to New Zealand at your age without a job?

Chris: I think in a former life I was a planner. I tend to over research things, which worked to our benefit in this case.

We found NZ Shores through you guys and listened to some of your podcasts. It started with first researching whether New Zealand was the place we wanted to go. A part of that was researching other countries and other expat experiences.

After getting through a lot of those, YouTube man has been all we’ve done for two years now. We have easily watched 200 YouTube videos on different aspects of living here. I’m not sure if there’s a video titled “New Zealand” that we haven’t seen.

Liz: That’s fantastic though.

Chris: And that’s how we stumbled across you guys’ videos. I think it all started with I contacted you, Liz, by email. I said, you keep talking about the Slack group, which I was familiar with Slack, but I couldn’t figure out how to get there.

That’s kind of how it started. Through the Slack group we started hearing about NZ Shores. We contacted them to determine our eligibility.

For anyone researching how-to-relocate-to-new-zealand, finding the right professional support is invaluable. And for Chris, the eligibility assessment was surprisingly straightforward.

The Eligibility Assessment

Liz: Was that an easy process? Right on the cusp of the age, what did they come back with?

Chris: They basically didn’t even mention the age. They said it was fine. I don’t think any discussion was ever mentioned that it was something to worry about, maybe because technically it was still two years.

Hope: The biggest thing as far as eligibility was concerned is that what Chris does computer wise is on the green list. And also he’s got an advanced degree. When I talk about that point system, I think you have to have six points. And he had like five out of six points just from his career and degree.

Liz: It’s brilliant, isn’t it? When you look at points and you’re like, oh, I’ve got that one. Got the experience. That’s a few more points.

Chris: So the eligibility we found out was, yeah, we could do this. It was a long process.

The Serendipity List Begins

Chris: There were two factors into the reason why we couldn’t come and do a visit first. We made the decision the beginning of November of ’24. We were thinking about maybe trying to get a visit in around December.

But Hope was having a shoulder replacement surgery on January the 2nd. We weren’t able to get it before that. So by that point, we’re like, no way do we have time to continue questioning if this is the right place with the age limit. It was definitely a leap of faith.

Hope: We did enough research that we felt fairly comfortable that it was gonna be a good fit for us. Culture wise, it felt like a really good fit.

This is a key consideration when weighing up the downside-of-moving-to-new-zealand against the benefits. For Chris and Hope, the cultural fit was a major green flag.

The Job Hunt: A Slack Connection

Liz: So Chris, how did you find a job in New Zealand?

Chris: In terms of getting here, that’s kind of part of the serendipity list. I’ll give you a little hint. The person that I first interviewed with at the company I’m now working for, who’s my lead now, she’s also in the Slack group.

Liz: That’s right! I didn’t know that. So how did that work?

Chris: When I was looking for the job, at first I did just a little bit of milling checking to get a feel for the opportunities. I put in a few applications earlier in 2025. Didn’t get any bites.

Everyone I had seen talked about using Seek. So I was using Seek. At the time, I figured as a software engineer, the opportunities are going to be only in the big cities. So I was limiting my search to Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.

And it turns out I ended up getting the job in the fifth biggest city of Tauranga.

The Fifth Biggest City

Liz: Was purely where you ended up just because of the job or did you have your heart set somewhere else?

Chris: We were kind of pushing towards Christchurch. But we knew from the beginning, wherever the job offer came from, that’s where we would go.

Liz: What was the reason for that?

Chris: Because we heard you guys say a million times, just get the job and move. If you want to move once you’re here, you can.

Liz: Yeah, that’s it. Just get your feet on the ground, get some experience in the country. Then you can always think, I can move in two years. Especially Tauranga—it’s a very desirable area.

Chris: Yes, exactly. We got here and thought, this is a nice area. We like it.

If you’re exploring cities-in-new-zealand to decide where to settle, Tauranga is definitely one to consider. And for Chris, the job came faster than he ever expected.

The Age Anxiety

Liz: I remember you coming on the live Zoom and it was just like, wow, you guys are going to have a mountain to climb at the age that you are. And the next month they were like, oh, these guys are going to be here before you know it. You just made those things happen.

Chris: It didn’t always feel like we were moving ahead. And I won’t lie, the whole age thing terrified the hell out of me. That was something that I could not help with.

Liz: Why did that terrify you?

Chris: Because everybody had been saying just how hard and long it takes to find a job. I’ve got a year and a half window and everyone’s saying, oh, it takes at least a year. We’ve been hearing about people submitting 200 plus resumes and not getting jobs.

I submitted probably 20 resumes. This job that I got was the very first one I had an interview with.

Liz: The very first one?

Chris: Yeah, the very first one that offered me an interview, I got the job.

The Serendipity List Explained

Liz: Talk to us about your serendipity list. What was that?

Chris: It starts with an old Taco Bell commercial from the States about 20 years ago. There was a sports announcer who’d say, serendipity, baby. And it just always stuck with me.

We had so many amazing lucky things that we weren’t even planning. Sometimes it just fell into our lap. After like the fourth or fifth one, we said, we gotta keep cracking these. This is just insane. So we started making a list.

Hope: We tend to be people that really do look on the optimist side of things. There were so many pieces of our story that fell into place that we feel we didn’t have any control over, but they were all good things.

Liz: So you’ve got one side saying, it’s meant to be. And then you, Chris, did you not believe it?

Chris: I have a background in testing and it’s my nature to be very antithetical to everything and always assume it’s not going to happen the way you expect it.

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The Biggest Serendipity: Adoption Papers

Liz: What was the biggest thing on that list?

Chris: The biggest thing was the fact that my father died about six months before we made the decision to move.

When my father died, I went back down to Florida. My brother and I were cleaning out the house, trying to find his will. We never found the will. What we did find were my adoption papers. I was technically adopted. He was my stepfather who adopted me.

And that was needed for NZ Shores for the immigration application. Had all that not happened, I doubt my father even remembered it was there. We would have never found it. I would have spent weeks or months trying to get this from the court system.

Hope: I don’t even think Chris knew that existed. Saved us probably three months.

Selling the House: Jumping In With Both Feet

Liz: So, were you renting a house or did you own a house in America?

Chris: We own the house. We went through all the selling off and downsizing in a very short period of time. And the older you are, the more you have.

Liz: So what did you do with all your stuff?

Chris: We were having arguments between taking all and taking nothing. I was team take nothing. She was team take all. We eventually met in the middle and decided we’re taking one 20-foot shipping container.

Hope: Another part of the serendipity list is, just as we were selling the house, a good friend of mine had an apartment he wasn’t using. He’s like, you guys want it, take it over.

Chris: And here’s the best part. This apartment had a garage unit. And I taped out the exact dimensions of the container so we knew exactly the size we needed to fit everything in.

We had the container ready to go before we actually left.

Selling Everything in America Before the New Zealand Job Offer

Liz: So you sold your house before you had a job offer. How did that feel?

Chris: Yes. It was scary. But we were so committed. My thought was worst case scenario, we’d have to move and buy a house somewhere in the US.

Liz: And how long had you lived in that house?

Chris: Five years. It was a brand new house when we bought it. Big yard, fenced for the dog. It was a great house.

Liz: Did you bring your dog to New Zealand?

Chris: No, that was another serendipity item. Our dog was kind of old and she never would have been able to make the journey. She ended up dying just a month or two before we made the decision. I think she helped us in her own way.

Liz: Yes, I agree.

Chris: That was a very beloved dog and we would not have left without her.

The Timeframe: 10 and a Half Months to arrive in New Zealand

Liz: So how long did it take from decision to arrival?

Chris: 10 and a half months.

Hope: We got here at the end of September.

Liz: That’s quick. That really is.

This rapid timeframe is a great moving-to-new-zealand-reminder that when you’re committed, things can move faster than you think.

Leaving Family Behind

Liz: Was there anything you thought, my God, I don’t want to leave that?

Chris: We each have some older family members in terms of aunts and uncles. If something happens, there’s nothing we can do. That was really more her side.

My father died, I only have a couple of old aunts and uncles. The only one I was really concerned about leaving was my brother and his family.

Hope: I have a sister who moved to London 40 years ago. So, leaving the country is not new to my family.

Arriving in New Zealand: The Lack of Culture Shock

Liz: So you went straight to Tauranga?

Chris: More or less. We spent a few days in Auckland to get our IRD numbers sorted. We’d already pretty much purchased the car ahead of time. We literally hours after we got off the plane picked up our new car.

Hope: Somebody over planned.

Chris: I used to have a Toyota Highlander. It was probably my favorite car I ever had. Might as well just get a new car. No messing around. We’re planning on making this permanent.

Hope: A couple of days in Auckland, hit Costco, stock up, and head to our Airbnb in Tauranga. Set up our bank account and IRD number. By the time we left Auckland, we felt pretty well set to begin life.

Understanding auckland-international-airport-new-zealand-entry-questions and having your paperwork ready makes that first arrival so much smoother.

The Lack of New Zealand Culture Shock

Liz: What was your initial reaction stepping off the plane?

Chris: High fives. Lots of high fives.

Hope: The biggest shock was the lack of shock. There was no culture shock. It just seemed like the United States with a little bit of a different accent.

Chris: They drive on the left and they have a slight accent, but culturally it felt very, very similar.

When I went to the UK, I had a big culture shock. I was expecting the same thing here and I didn’t. The lack of culture shock was a surprise in itself.

Liz: That’s really interesting. As Brits, we tend to warn people, oh, be careful, it’s a big culture shock. So I’m glad you pointed that out. No other American has ever said that.

Trading the Big Things for the Small Things

Chris: There’s a lightness. There’s no cloud of politics holding you down.

Hope: In the States, politics is in the background of every single conversation. Here, you can just talk to the person and forget about that.

Chris: The shocks I got here was trading the big things for the small things. We traded the big things like national healthcare, being able to go out in public and not worry that somebody’s packing a gun.

But the small things are, my God, every sink in this country is this big. Paper towels are just horrible here.

Liz: Where are you shopping?

Chris: Everywhere! I can’t find any good paper towels.

Chris: It’s like a lot of the smaller products are dollar store versions. I have to remind myself that we did trade the big things for the little things. Putting up with trivial things to have the big things in life that matter.

Life Without the Political Cloud

Liz: Have you changed since moving? Is it New Zealand or your mindset?

Chris: I think it’s both.

Hope: It’s hard not to continue to watch American politics, but I’m trying to get away from that.

Chris: I keep up with it, but now it doesn’t affect us. It’s nice.

Hope: We do have a little bit of that survivor’s guilt for our family that’s still there.

This feeling is a common thread in many stories of usa-marine-moves-to-new-zealand and other Americans who have made the leap.

Lifestyle Changes USA Vs NZ

Liz: What do you do different now in New Zealand?

Chris: Not really. I think it’s very similar. Other than not paying attention to the outside stuff as much.

Hope: Here we can just focus on life a bit more.

Chris: With New Zealand being so much smaller, even the news is different in terms of topics.

Hope: They’ll be talking to an MP and just have them in the studio. In the States, it was always remote.

Settling In: Making Friends

Liz: Hope, how have you coped with settling in?

Hope: We’ve been here almost five months, still working on branching out. We have amazing neighbors. For the first time in our lives.

They are everything that I wanted. They have three kids, five-year-old twins, and a nine-year-old, so we get to be auntie and uncle.

Liz: Lovely.

Hope: In a couple weeks, I will start a Māori language and culture class. Hopefully I’ll meet more people.

Liz: It takes time.

Hope: I love coming home and they’re telling me that the five-year-olds have been asking about me all day.

Passing On Wisdom

Liz: I look on you as the wiser ones in the Slack group. We really appreciate it when you turn up for the live Zooms.

Chris: I have a whole list of pieces of wisdom.

Hope: I hate to give unsolicited advice, but it’s a list from our experiences.

Chris: I’m writing our story of what we did and when. If you think about certain things earlier, it’ll just help you a lot more in the end.

Liz: That would be fantastic.

Chris: I spent so much time researching bringing batteries. In the end we weren’t able to bring our e-bike batteries. But I was able to bring my power tool batteries on the plane.

Liz: The rules are so specific.

Chris: From what we found, the rules tightened up right before we came. It seems like only people with special licenses could do it. We just couldn’t find anyone.

My e-bike was a well known brand. There were vendors here. I was able to get a bike here. Her bike we got rid of because the battery cost more than the bike was worth.

Avoiding common mistakes-in-new-zealand starts with good planning—and Chris’s research definitely paid off.

The Weather in Tauranga

Liz: What’s your weather been like?

Chris: We’ve been in summer. It feels like a perfect mixture of both Florida and Seattle. It’s warm. And it’s even more humid than Florida. I didn’t know that was possible.

Liz: Have you got AC in the house?

Chris: No, we have one heat pump in the living room. I’m very interested to find out what winter will be like. From what I’ve heard from locals, it’s probably not even going to be as cold as Seattle.

This is a key consideration when deciding between new-zealand-south-island-or-north-island—the climates are quite different!

Hope’s One Piece of Wisdom

Liz: If you had one piece of wisdom for people wanting to move from the United States to New Zealand, what would it be?

Hope: Celebrate every step forward that you make, no matter how small.

Liz: Why is that important?

Hope: I think it’s what keeps you going. You have to notice how far ahead you’ve come from where you started.

Liz: That’s a great way of saying it.

Chris: And I say being part of the NZ Ahead community. Worth every cent. The Zoom calls have always been super motivational for us.

Chris’s One Piece of Wisdom for those moving from America to New Zealand

Liz: Chris, what was one thing you’re so glad you planned for?

Chris: I think the biggest thing was organizing where to be and at what times. Selling the house first, having the apartment available, being ready so that when we got the call, we could just up and go.

Liz: We have people in the Slack group that got the job offer and now they can’t sell the house. You did it like, just sell the thing. We’re going.

Chris: That was a big time saver. Too many people try to hang on just in case it doesn’t work out. If you’re gonna make the decision, jump in with both feet.

Liz: It’s not just the physical holding onto the house. It’s the emotional parts, too. That’s a really great point.

The Container Arrives

Chris: You’ll find that after a couple months of not having your stuff, you open the boxes and it’s Christmas! And it’s part, I have nowhere to put this and I don’t have as much emotional attachment as I thought.

Liz: I totally agree. We had a 40 foot container full of stuff. I got to the point where I just thought, I don’t care if it sinks. I’m starting a new life.

It was like Christmas when we opened them. It goes back to that emotional weight. When you let go of it, it’s bliss.

Chris: And things aren’t as expensive here as we were fearing. At least in terms of Seattle money.

Understanding life-in-new-zealand means adjusting to these little differences—from appliance costs to the joy of a new routine.

Any Questions We Missed?

Liz: Is there anything we haven’t covered?

Chris: Speaking of appliances, we came with none. Chris researched converters and transformers.

Hope: A lot of our appliances now do double duty. Our microwave is also an air fryer and oven. Our blender is also a food processor. It really pays to do your research.

Liz: Dishwashers are small. I forgot to say, bring a container filled with paper towels.

Chris: We looked into buying paper towels on Amazon. It was $80 for a large pack, but $250 to ship it.

Liz: It’s the bulk.

Chris: I searched everywhere for bouncy paper towels in New Zealand.

Final Thoughts

Liz: Thank you so much for joining us. I just know you’re perfect for the country. You’ve made it home. And the fact that you’re next door to those kids—it’s wonderful.

Hope: I don’t know if we were ever perfect for the US, but I think we feel perfect for here.

Liz: That’s lovely.

Was Christmas all good?

Chris: We’re so low key. It’s almost just another day.

Hope: Because the kids were next door, it was fun.

Chris: We went down to the beach and had McDonald’s for dinner.

Thank You

Liz: Thank you for being such wonderful members of the NZ Ahead community. We really cherish you.

We’ll see you on the next live Zoom. Thanks for sharing your story.

Chris and Hope: Thanks for having us. Bye.

Liz: Bye.

Ready to Make Your Move from the United States to New Zealand?

Chris and Hope’s story is proof that with determination, planning, and a little bit of serendipity, moving from the United States to New Zealand is absolutely achievable—even in your 50s, even without a visit first, and even with all the unknowns.

Your next steps:

1. Head over to nzahead.com/free for our free 5-day video guide on life in New Zealand.

2. After day 5 of the free 5-day videos, join our private NZ Ahead community on Slack for support from people on the same journey!

Your new life in New Zealand is waiting. Let’s make it happen.