I am very interested in relocating my family (husband and 2 young children) to New Zeland or Australia-I do not know if it we can for starters because my husband is a felon and I do not know if they would let us in. He is an air conditioning specialist and we are thinking that he could work there and bring us along. Do we need to completely give up our US citizenship to move?
My main concerns for information gathering at this point is finding an area that isn't isolated and isn't "city", I would like a nice climate because I enjoy all of the seasons if possible( I am from Alaska) and I am very interested in the government situation there-what are the rights that parents have to make decisions for themselves and there children (like vaccination mandats) etc..
Anyone who had the time to give me any information would be greatly appreciated. I do not know where to start with the moving process.
Thanks
Reply to this Hello Tina 😊
I dont know about having to give up your US citizenship but you would certainly need a work permit for Australia or New Zealand. These countries are strict about allowing immigrants in. You could call their consulates to find out what the requirements are.
Can your husband get a passport and leave the US? If he is on probation he may not be able to get a passport.
Mel
Reply to this Yes my husband can get a passport-he got off his 1 year probation in 2004 so he is free to travel internationally. I know that Canada will not allow felons into the country without prior arrangments (paying extra money) so i was unaware of how that might affect us with trying to move. Any advice on the other info I'm searching for...towns and climate and government? I have no clue WHERE we would want to go.
Thanks.
Reply to this Hi Tina,
Welcome to TravelBlog.
There's a lot of information on the
Immigration NZ site.
Maybe have a read of that first, then contact INZ if you have questions - or feel free to post them here and we'll help if we can :-)
Reply to this Hi Tina,
I have relocated to NZ (have permanent residency). NZ and Oz immigration requirements are similar and yes they both ask about criminal convictions. For NZ you have to provide them with evidence of a police check from your home country. It definitely counts against you, and it may provide an automatic bar to getting a visa, it depends on the length of the sentence he served. The relevant section on the NZ immigration website says
To be granted a New Zealand visa or permit we need to be assured that a person from overseas and any family included in their application are of good character. We make this requirement to protect the well-being and security of New Zealanders.
Generally, we’ll not grant a visa or permit if a person:
has ever been convicted and sentenced to a prison term of five years or more
OR has been convicted and sentenced to a prison term for 12 months or more in the past 10 years
Reply to this Oh and no you don't have to give up your US citizenship at all (even if you eventually got Oz or NZ citizenship you can keep your US citizenship)
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