NZ - Perfection Isn’t the Point
Every week I speak to someone who thinks New Zealand will potentially fix their life. Migrants move for so many different reasons - some come in search of safety and security, others move to be close to family or for better employment opportunities, and some head in our direction for the lifestyle we can offer. Among all of those motivations comes a degree of expectation - New Zealand will hopefully offer the prospective migrant something better than they have.
I was reminded of how important those expectations can be, through a thoughtful piece provided to me by someone who is also considering the move here from the United States. Having travelled here for a short visit, to get a feel for the country, on his return he provided me with a very balanced appraisal of both the good and the bad that New Zealand might have to offer. As a local, it was initially a little confronting, but in a very good way - helped by the fact that it was also very fair, balanced and accurate.
It was also a really good reminder, that for all migrants that level of expectation and having it set in the right place, can be the difference between a successful move and one that may not pan out at all. New Zealand is a great country and I am a proud supporter of all we have to offer, but I also believe (strongly) that for anyone considering a move here, understanding that it is not perfect, and it has its own issues to deal with, is really important.
These reflections also reminded me, that there is an onus on us as advisers to ensure that people understand, that perfection is not the goal in terms of moving to New Zealand and instead it is about achieving something different - how different will depend on the perspectives each migrant brings.
Two Sides Of Every Coin
One of the biggest mistakes prospective migrants make, when thinking about making the move to New Zealand, is assuming that the positives exist on their own. People tend to seek out the potential upside, and forget that there are of course downsides to any move as well. New Zealand does pretty well and punches well above its weight in many things, but like all countries it has its share of issues.
What you are really doing when you move here is choosing a set of trade-offs. What you will have to trade and to what degree you will need to trade them, will all depend on the motivations for your move, where you are coming from and what you are aiming to achieve.
The Good and the Bad
For every positive that a migrant can see, in making the move, there is an opposing negative. Whether that influences a migrant, depends on their perspective.
The slower pace of life that we often talk about here is very real. You feel it almost immediately when you arrive. Meetings are less frantic, weekends and family time are protected, and people don’t feel the need to parade their level of work and personal chaos like a status symbol. For many, that is exactly what they are looking for.
However that same, slower pace, can also show up in ways that are far less appealing. Things take longer to get done, decisions drift. Things that should move with urgency sometimes don’t move as quickly as you might like and what initially feels like calm can, in the wrong context, feel like inertia. The same duality runs through almost every part of life here.
New Zealand is proudly egalitarian, and for us titles generally don’t carry the same weight, and there is a genuine cultural preference for people who are grounded and unassuming. That can be incredibly refreshing, particularly for those coming from environments where status is highly rated.
But there is another side to that coin. Standing out amongst the crowd can be harder, and pushing aggressively can be frowned upon and this can make it challenging for some migrants to integrate. Success, if it is too visible, can attract a degree of resistance rather than admiration.
Safety is another example people often point to, and rightly so. New Zealand is generally a very safe country in a way that is difficult to quantify until you experience it. It changes how you live day-to-day. But safe does not mean perfect. It does not mean problem-free. It just means the risks are different, often less visible, and sometimes misunderstood.
Even the isolation and our geographic distance, which many people romanticise, has two sides. The distance from the rest of the world creates a sense of separation that people value and in our modern, very complex world, is often sought after. It also creates cost, limits scale, and can make the country feel small very quickly.
When potential migrants understand that every advantage here is paired with a potential limitation, the sooner they can make a genuinely informed decision about whether this is the right move for them.
The Right Expectations
Where most migrations succeed or fail is not at the border or in the application system (although there are plenty of mistakes made there as well), but instead it lies in the gap between the expectations of a potential move and the reality that often sets in, long after they have arrived. This is mirrored in the process as well, because often migrants build up a very different view of how the move might happen as compared to what actually does happen.
New Zealand has a habit of being marketed, both formally and informally, as something close to ideal. As an industry we have often questioned how the same department that decides visa applications is also promoting the country as a destination. We tend to present the clean, safe, balanced, welcoming image to those who would like to share our small slice of the world. And to a large extent, this depiction is accurate.
However when people arrive expecting a finished product, rather than a different version of where they are coming from, that is where things can start to unravel - at least for some. Because New Zealand is not necessarily an upgrade of your point of origin, instead it is better to think of it as offering something different.
Expectation Meets Reality
Understanding that NZ is not perfect, but can offer the prospective migrant something different, is a really important part of any successful move.
As a migrant, you are exchanging one set of pressures for another. I often remind clients that for most, they will still be commuting to work, paying bills, and doing all of the regular daily chores that keep us functioning - they will just be doing all of that in a different place.
Professionally, and for skilled migrants especially, this can be one of the biggest adjustments. Careers don’t always translate in a straight line or across borders. Networks matter, particularly in a country as small as ours, but you don’t arrive with one already set up and ready to go. Progress can feel slower, not because opportunity doesn’t exist, but because it operates differently and the way we do things, as compared to many other countries can take time to adjust to.
Socially, it can take time to integrate and assimilate. New Zealanders are friendly, but I would add they are not always immediately open. Relationships tend to build gradually rather than instantly and it can take time for trust to develop. For some, that feels authentic. For others, it feels isolating.
Financially, there are also realities that don’t always get enough attention. Cost of living, housing, distance from larger markets. These are not deal-breakers, but they are factors that need to be understood. The people who do well here are not the ones who arrive expecting perfection. They are the ones who arrive with clarity as to what to expect and what they need to do, to achieve that “difference” they were hoping for.
Well prepared migrants, understand what they are gaining, what they are giving up, and where they will need to adapt. They don’t necessarily try to recreate their previous life in a different location. They build a new one that fits the environment they are now in.
Expectation, plays a really big role in a successful move, and as advisers I believe it is our role to help clients to set the right expectations against their very unique and specific circumstances.
Perfectly Imperfect
At some point, usually not long after arriving, there is a quiet moment where most migrants realise that life in New Zealand differs from the perception they might have started with. It doesn’t happen dramatically, and there is usually no single event that brings it to the surface. It tends to creep in through the small things that you experience day to day and as you settle back in to your usual routines. It might be a process that takes longer than expected, or something that doesn’t quite work the way it should. A conversation over dinner, that leaves you wondering whether you’re pushing too hard, or not hard enough.
It is in those moments that the version of New Zealand people arrive with in their heads begins to soften, change and grow. For some that shift can signal to them, that they made the right move, for others it might lead to more questions. This is where having the right expectations can be crucial.
Perfect Isn’t The Point
If there is one theme to this article, it is that for a migrant, perfection is never the goal. New Zealand has a lot to offer, but you have to accept it warts and all.
For all the things this country does well, and it does a lot well, it is not seamless. New Zealand is not trying to be the most efficient, the most ambitious, or the most globally dominant place to live - although personally I think we could do more to move in that direction.
That perspective can be difficult to reconcile at first, particularly for those who are used to environments where progress is measured in speed, scale and constant movement.
As a new migrant, hopefully in time, you will start to notice that the absence of that frantic and chaotic pace, is not always a weakness. That the lack of urgency, frustrating as it can be in certain contexts, is also what improves life elsewhere. That the same culture which might resist overt ambition is also the one that allows people to exist without constantly having to prove themselves. I would also add, that if you want to carry that busy, frantic lifestyle to New Zealand, you can - its a choice you can make.
What initially might feel like a country that is limited, can start to feel like definition. Not better, not worse, just different in a way that reshapes how you think about success, progress and even what a good life looks like. That shift doesn’t always happen for everyone. Some people never quite reconcile it, and for them, New Zealand will always feel like a place that almost works, but not quite. I have sat with plenty of migrants who have suggested that New Zealand never feels entirely like home - but that’s okay.
There is a certain honesty in a country that does not pretend to be perfect. A recognition that things could be better, sitting alongside an acceptance that not everything needs to be optimised to the highest possible level.
What New Zealand offers is something far more complex, a place where the trade-offs are visible, where the gnarly edges are real, and where, if it aligns with what you value, those imperfections stop being problems and start becoming part of the appeal. And that is where it tends to either work for people, or it doesn’t.
How To Make A Successful Move
For our part, we do what we can to encourage clients to think about what it is they are trying to achieve, and whether New Zealand is able to offer that. In some cases, our clients are moving here for reasons that can often override those questions - they might be applying to secure residence as a much longer term insurance policy or being close to family, moving here with a partner and so on. However I think it is still important for all prospective migrants to think about whether their expectations of the move, will meet up with, or completely bypass, what happens in reality.
There are a few simple things you can do to try and work all of that out:
Ask the right questions - think about what you are trying to achieve in your move and then consider whether New Zealand is likely to offer that.
Filter your resources - there are so many places to find information for migrants, that it can be overwhelming. Focus on the resources that provide a balanced review - the good, the bad and the ugly.
Remove the rose-tinted glasses - it can be very tempting to romanticise the move, because you want this to be exciting, but it just as important to consider all the boring things, that will be a part of your daily life.
For the individual that served as the catalyst for this article, one thing they did to follow up on the perspectives they shared, was to answer questions about their motivations for the move, that a friend had posed to them. I thought that was a really clever thing to do. Being challenged on what your motivations are and whether they might fit with the reality of a new life in New Zealand, might be confronting, but it could reveal things you haven’t considered.
Of course, for those that do embark on this process, having the right advisers alongside you, who can help you to set the right expectations and to make sure you are prepared for what life is really like here, can be another really valuable tool in the toolbelt.
Until next week!
