Hospitality industry is also a good choice. I know many people over here who work for hotels. They make a decent living, get excellent travel perks, have assistance with housing expenses. Some will pay education expenses for children to attend international schools. I have friends here in Seoul who work for The Four Seasons, Marriot, and The Grand Hyatt. Two families were just relocated from here to Bali and Singapore. I also have a friend here who is from New Zealand who is the representative of the wine industry and another friend who represents California wines to the restaurants in Seoul.
Lol. Just to let you know what it is like to be an expat...we are spending the weekend at a resort in PyongYong—where the 2018 Olympics were held. We went out to dinner last night and paid cash. Apparently I left my cell phone at the restaurant but didn’t realize it. I just had a call from the front desk, letting me know my phone had been turned in. A customer at the restaurant gave it to a waitress and said it was found at the table where the foreigners had sat. That was enough to get the phone back to the resort and then for the resort to know which room to call. Apparently, we are THE foreigners here this weekend and we stick out like a sore thumb.
My husband is Canadian, and as bad as things are down here, there is no way he wants to go back to Canada. He got his US citizenship about 10 years ago,
He has a cousin whose wife has been waiting on Canadian citizenship for nearly 10 years now. As long as she is a dependent, she can’t work, nor can she leave the country to see her family in the US (who ironically, immigrated to the US at the same time she went to Canada’s and the US process was still faster). They have thought about moving out of BC as they cannot compete with the wealth that gets potential citizens bumped to the head of the citizenship list.
I think the grass is always greener applies here too.
I always had it stuck in my head that Newfoundland was bilingual. Oops!
(can you tell I never lived in the maritimes? visited a handful of times as a kid, but never lived there...)
Parts of Labrador that border Quebec are very French language dominant. My company does a lot of work in that region. Newfoundland, the island, however has basically no French to speak of. I have several friends and coworkers from the island and they are more likely to know how to swear in Irish. ETA: I know next to nothing else about Labrador. I would never suggest someone who has New Orleans as their tag move there because it is the opposite of that area in every way imaginable. I mean, the Arctic is worse but just barely.
If you were to move to Canada, I would suggest a job hunt in Kingston and Ottawa Ontario (where I have lived and live so I’m not at all biased you know). It is a somewhat overlooked area of the country, but has excellent outdoor spaces (lakes and baby mountains), good restaurants, enough of an arts scene (or a train ride to Montreal or Toronto for a major show). House prices are rising by the day but are not sky high like Toronto or Vancouver. Our climate is varied, however we aren’t getting the bitter cold winters of my childhood anymore. We are generally insulated from the worst effects of climate change and are otherwise low risk for natural disasters (some flooding In some area some years, but you’re fine if you don’t buy direct waterfront property). The ragweed pollen situation is quite bad in the area.
The cities are quite liberal, although Ontario goes back and forth. It is to be noted that the Conservative party of Canada’s policy falls to the left of the Democratic Party of the US when you are doing a direct comparison. So our most right wing policies are lefter than your most left wing policies (generally).
My company has offices that I work with in Calgary and I genuinely think I could make a play to join the team up there. Similarly, DH's company has offices in several locations around the world and could also probably make a similar play. He is wrapping up a doctoral degree this year with the University of Calgary and there's a possibility he could get a university position with an international school, whether in Canada or somewhere else. I think it's doable for us, but, as lots of others have said, it would be to follow employment opportunities.
All that said, I honestly don't feel a strong pull to leave the country in spite of what I might yell exasperatedly at times. Europe has plenty of racism and corruption. Canada, Australia and New Zealand all seem like good spots and would be potential options available to us for jobs, but Australia and New Zealand are realistically just too far for us to move right now. New Zealand truly is a magical place, but I don't know enough to really understand if we could have successful careers there and live comfortably. Ultimately, Canada is probably the best option and I'd happily move someplace like Calgary, which is not dissimilar to Denver. Of course, ask me again on November 3rd how I feel about this and I may be packing my bags. lolsob.
I'd really advise you to think carefully about Calgary depending on your industry. I spent a portion of my childhood and teen years in the city and still have lots of family and friends there. It is a good city, with lots of fun outdoor stuff an hour or so away. But it is very much a boom and bust town, and right now things are pretty bad there. I know a number of people who have lost their jobs recently and the current provincial government seems wed to oil and gas with little to no investment in other sectors.
My husband is Canadian, and as bad as things are down here, there is no way he wants to go back to Canada. He got his US citizenship about 10 years ago,
He has a cousin whose wife has been waiting on Canadian citizenship for nearly 10 years now. As long as she is a dependent, she can’t work, nor can she leave the country to see her family in the US (who ironically, immigrated to the US at the same time she went to Canada’s and the US process was still faster). They have thought about moving out of BC as they cannot compete with the wealth that gets potential citizens bumped to the head of the citizenship list.
I think the grass is always greener applies here too.
No, this doesn't seem right. There's got to be some other reason for the hold up. My H is American and was able to apply internally for permanent residency via family class. He got a work permit within 4 months and permanent residency within 7 months. We did not use an immigration lawyer and the process, though involved, was very doable. You only need 3 years of residency in Canada to be able to apply for citizenship. Maybe she's waiting on citizenship but it doesn't make sense that she can't work. Even dependents of people on student visas are allowed to work.
ETA: The border guard who first admitted H explained that he was allowed to leave, and very likely would be let back in, but did admit that there was a small risk associated with it (if he got the wrong border guard on the wrong day). So no one is prevented from leaving and re-entering through the process.
My company has offices that I work with in Calgary and I genuinely think I could make a play to join the team up there. Similarly, DH's company has offices in several locations around the world and could also probably make a similar play. He is wrapping up a doctoral degree this year with the University of Calgary and there's a possibility he could get a university position with an international school, whether in Canada or somewhere else. I think it's doable for us, but, as lots of others have said, it would be to follow employment opportunities.
All that said, I honestly don't feel a strong pull to leave the country in spite of what I might yell exasperatedly at times. Europe has plenty of racism and corruption. Canada, Australia and New Zealand all seem like good spots and would be potential options available to us for jobs, but Australia and New Zealand are realistically just too far for us to move right now. New Zealand truly is a magical place, but I don't know enough to really understand if we could have successful careers there and live comfortably. Ultimately, Canada is probably the best option and I'd happily move someplace like Calgary, which is not dissimilar to Denver. Of course, ask me again on November 3rd how I feel about this and I may be packing my bags. lolsob.
I'd really advise you to think carefully about Calgary depending on your industry. I spent a portion of my childhood and teen years in the city and still have lots of family and friends there. It is a good city, with lots of fun outdoor stuff an hour or so away. But it is very much a boom and bust town, and right now things are pretty bad there. I know a number of people who have lost their jobs recently and the current provincial government seems wed to oil and gas with little to no investment in other sectors.
Yep, I hear you. I work for a major industrial engineering and construction firm and there's a lot of stress in the Canadian market within our firm about how to pivot out of oil and gas. We're wrapping up some major oil sands projects and there's really not a lot else left to do.
It will be some time before we even consider a move (not necessarily out of the US, just in general) and if we do, it will very likely be for DH's job, which would probably be relatively stable in academia (covid notwithstanding). Thankfully, I am able to work from home, so if we make a move like that, I don't think it will be too much of an issue for me to continue working within my current group, which has a ton of market diversity and is very "safe" from a financial perspective.
My husband is Canadian, and as bad as things are down here, there is no way he wants to go back to Canada. He got his US citizenship about 10 years ago,
He has a cousin whose wife has been waiting on Canadian citizenship for nearly 10 years now. As long as she is a dependent, she can’t work, nor can she leave the country to see her family in the US (who ironically, immigrated to the US at the same time she went to Canada’s and the US process was still faster). They have thought about moving out of BC as they cannot compete with the wealth that gets potential citizens bumped to the head of the citizenship list.
I think the grass is always greener applies here too.
No, this doesn't seem right. There's got to be some other reason for the hold up. My H is American and was able to apply internally for permanent residency via family class. He got a work permit within 4 months and permanent residency within 7 months. We did not use an immigration lawyer and the process, though involved, was very doable. You only need 3 years of residency in Canada to be able to apply for citizenship. Maybe she's waiting on citizenship but it doesn't make sense that she can't work. Even dependents of people on student visas are allowed to work.
ETA: The border guard who first admitted H explained that he was allowed to leave, and very likely would be let back in, but did admit that there was a small risk associated with it (if he got the wrong border guard on the wrong day). So no one is prevented from leaving and re-entering through the process.
I’m with loira too. I know several couples with non-citizen spouses and none of them have ever been prevented from working. That’s like the opposite of what Canada wants generally speaking. Even refugees get here and start working right away as they are able. That timeline is also super long. It doesn’t track for a spouse legally married to a Canadian.
What I am learning from this is that there is no hope unless I want to teach or become a nurse. Which is what I already knew. 😥 or take up scuba.
Or some STEM fields. Or become independently wealthy?
Seriously, though: I lived 4 months in Denmark, which I know isn't long enough but gave me some insight. There were fabulous things about it, but I also came to appreciate things about the US that I hadn't before. I expect there are good and bad things about most countries.
I'll be honest with you. I think the grass is greener in this case. You only hear the bad in the US, but those of us living overseas, well, we hear the bad that's happening over here and, while it's not the same, it's still not great. We also have corruption, idiocy, right wing stuff, etc. There is no one place that will make anyone perfectly happy. I get wanting to leave the US right now but I do hope that the majority of people are actually not Trump supporting idiots, same as hoping that in England, we don't have a BJ supporting majority...but the minority of idiots are louder. I'm trying to work on making this place as best as I can, despite the fact that we're leaving the EU and life is going to get very difficult. I have the option to buy a golden visa and yet, we're not going to do it. If you really want to leave the US, a golden visa may be the way to go for you, as it is for many expats (if you have at least half a million euros).
All of this is true. My husband is British and we live in the United States, but he thinks the UK is just as badly off as we are at the moment. I disagree, but I think it’s because we’re here. If we were still in London I’d probably be trying to figure out a way to get out of there as well.
Yep. My British husband has zero interest in moving back to the UK, especially with what is going on there now. We always joke that 3/4 of our family have dual citizenship to the two countries that are the most embarrassing in the world. Also, take every experience while traveling in a new country, find the bad in it, and amplify it by 1000 when living there, especially at first. When I moved to London I would stand in the grocery store and cry because I couldn't find the stuff I was used to. After a few weeks I got used to it but the first few months were super hard (and I moved there to be with my now husband)
I think a work visa is one of the easiest ways since the company does all the legwork for the visa - saying this, I would imagine many companies are not doing expat packages anymore, because they are so expensive. My husband works for a very large French company with a large presence in Singapore as well and they no longer do expat packages because of the costs involved.
Post by pizzaandtulips on Oct 23, 2020 22:07:08 GMT -5
The Netherlands has the DAFT visa for entrepreneurs who want to go there and start their own business. I believe that’s how a lot of expats entered the NL without being sponsored by a company.
My husband is Canadian, and as bad as things are down here, there is no way he wants to go back to Canada. He got his US citizenship about 10 years ago,
He has a cousin whose wife has been waiting on Canadian citizenship for nearly 10 years now. As long as she is a dependent, she can’t work, nor can she leave the country to see her family in the US (who ironically, immigrated to the US at the same time she went to Canada’s and the US process was still faster). They have thought about moving out of BC as they cannot compete with the wealth that gets potential citizens bumped to the head of the citizenship list.
I think the grass is always greener applies here too.
No, this doesn't seem right. There's got to be some other reason for the hold up. My H is American and was able to apply internally for permanent residency via family class. He got a work permit within 4 months and permanent residency within 7 months. We did not use an immigration lawyer and the process, though involved, was very doable. You only need 3 years of residency in Canada to be able to apply for citizenship. Maybe she's waiting on citizenship but it doesn't make sense that she can't work. Even dependents of people on student visas are allowed to work.
ETA: The border guard who first admitted H explained that he was allowed to leave, and very likely would be let back in, but did admit that there was a small risk associated with it (if he got the wrong border guard on the wrong day). So no one is prevented from leaving and re-entering through the process.
I don’t know the specifics. DH’s cousin is a Canadian, who married a woman from Africa. I wasn’t around when all this happened, but only telling what she told me. As her siblings in the US are highly educated (doctors, lawyers) I presume she is too. Maybe she can’t work due to licensure?
I know that the province she is in has delayed her citizenship due to the lines. Apparently, in BC you can buy your way to the top of the line....which is why it is taking so long. They were kicking about moving to Saskatchewan, as the lines aren’t as long.
The border issue might be due to her African passport....she is not a US citizen.
I occasionally glance at the fast track/in demand skill sets for Canada and NZ. We also could pursue Germany due to family connection (MH’s family is basically 100% German and fairly recent immigrants relatively speaking - compared to my Native American/Irish/German family that has been here for generations).
Based on my glancing it seems like engineering fields are desirable and a fast track in demand employment field is a pretty reasonable path. I focus on that a bit because that’s MH’s degree and because his expertise is tied to energy efficiency and climate change. Things have been okay for the past four years, but I do worry about it because it just seems like one side keeps doubling down if you know what I mean. Anti-science government when your job is funded by the government and is 100% science based is...CONCERNING!
I actually tried to convince MH to apply for the French program Macron touted a few years ago but he refused. Anyway. 11 days until I know how much I need to freak the fuck out!
No, this doesn't seem right. There's got to be some other reason for the hold up. My H is American and was able to apply internally for permanent residency via family class. He got a work permit within 4 months and permanent residency within 7 months. We did not use an immigration lawyer and the process, though involved, was very doable. You only need 3 years of residency in Canada to be able to apply for citizenship. Maybe she's waiting on citizenship but it doesn't make sense that she can't work. Even dependents of people on student visas are allowed to work.
ETA: The border guard who first admitted H explained that he was allowed to leave, and very likely would be let back in, but did admit that there was a small risk associated with it (if he got the wrong border guard on the wrong day). So no one is prevented from leaving and re-entering through the process.
I don’t know the specifics. DH’s cousin is a Canadian, who married a woman from Africa. I wasn’t around when all this happened, but only telling what she told me. As her siblings in the US are highly educated (doctors, lawyers) I presume she is too. Maybe she can’t work due to licensure?
I know that the province she is in has delayed her citizenship due to the lines. Apparently, in BC you can buy your way to the top of the line....which is why it is taking so long. They were kicking about moving to Saskatchewan, as the lines aren’t as long.
The border issue might be due to her African passport....she is not a US citizen.
It would make sense that perhaps she couldn't work in her chosen field, but that she was still eligible to work. Canada doesn't reciprocate medical licences (or engineering degrees or other professional certifications) from all countries, unfortunately. It is a problem for many new Canadians, and it's something that needs to change. But legally, she would have the right to work if they had applied for the proper visas.
The part about buying citizenship, no. Some residency programs in Canada are province specific, but citizenship is not. As far as I know, there is no cap on citizenship numbers, and no cap by province. Perhaps she is having trouble gaining residency, and this could be for a number of reasons: lack of proper documentation from her home country (I know of someone married to an Indonesian whose residency took forever because the Indonesian government requested an enormous bribe for surrendering the police background check), her H doesn't meet the sponsorship requirements, or he has a criminal record, or perhaps also her file was more highly scrutinized because of where she's from, but this still wouldn't explain a 10 year delay.
Post by basilosaurus on Oct 23, 2020 23:35:46 GMT -5
I got a job teaching in Thailand, but I initially moved without a job offer. I literally bought a ticket on a Monday, movers packed my stuff and put it in storage on Wed., and I was on a flight Fri to start my TEFL course Mon. It's pretty common for people to do that. A lot of the schools will even pay for the trip to Laos which is the closest where you can convert tourist visa into a work visa.
The city I was in had a very large digital nomad/expat community. They run the gamut of online jobs, from teaching to programming to (ugh) influencers. Vietnam is another digital nomad destination. For a long time people could just stay on tourist visas. You just have to leave the country every 60-90 days which is how I found myself stuck in Malaysia.
I'm glad someone posted the NZ recruited fields. IIRC it's teachers, nurses, IT. I looked into it about 10 years ago. Then I went there for a couple weeks while I was living in Korea and fell in love more than I already was just from reading about it. And they didn't even have a female agnostic PM then!
You'd be a strong candidate for JET which is for teaching English in Japan. The downside is that I don't think you get to choose location. I taught English in a tiny little school way up north where we were stationed without JET, but I knew the 3 JET teachers in our town. There's no way they would have chosen such a location.
Lol. Just to let you know what it is like to be an expat...we are spending the weekend at a resort in PyongYong—where the 2018 Olympics were held. We went out to dinner last night and paid cash. Apparently I left my cell phone at the restaurant but didn’t realize it. I just had a call from the front desk, letting me know my phone had been turned in. A customer at the restaurant gave it to a waitress and said it was found at the table where the foreigners had sat. That was enough to get the phone back to the resort and then for the resort to know which room to call. Apparently, we are THE foreigners here this weekend and we stick out like a sore thumb.
If you're where I think you are, get the cheese filled pretzels. Heavenly. Actually, you probably aren't, as I was there pre-Olympics, so there weren't many options. So, just look for the one hotel at the base of the lifts that looks old
Post by basilosaurus on Oct 23, 2020 23:50:04 GMT -5
Oh, also, some countries have really specific and local visas. I know most about Thailand because of recently living there (hell, half my stuff is still there). They have a muay Thai visa. It's good for a year I believe, and you just have to go to an occasional class. So I've known people that got there on that while working online and then sought out local employment during that year. They also have a student visa to learn Thai. I got that before I got a work visa. I think it was something like $300 for 6 months, but you could also do 1 year. That one you do have to show you attend class and occasionally take a test. I already have studied Thai intensively for a year, so I wanted to continue instruction anyway. But, again, that's another way to gain entry while working online and seeking out employment.
If you want to know more about Chiang Mai I'm more than happy to talk. It's really a great city with the exception of the burning months. I think I saw an AQI close to 700 back in February. You'd easily get hired in local schools or in the various English cram schools. There are a handful of excellent international schools as well.
Post by foundmylazybum on Oct 23, 2020 23:51:19 GMT -5
Look into how Americans purchase property in foreign countries like Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica etc.
Idk. I think I'd consider moving first and keep my citizenship.
We almost moved to Germany when I was a military contractor. You might look into that and see if there are contracts that have jobs you are qualified for.
For the teaching route I also agree with pps who said definitely do your due diligence. H and I taught English in South Korea, but we were lucky to have the amazing advice of a friend who spent 3 years there after uni. She recommended a recruiter and that recruiter found us a hagwon (private school) that taught younger students, so the hours were a lot more 9-5. Our housing was excellent and we were paid well and on time, but we heard some real horror stories from other teachers in the expat community where we lived.
Even though the logistics worked well, teaching was definitely not for me. I was also really sick with cold after cold after flu when we were there. Actually anytime I've moved to a new country I get ALL the colds I've not met before. In a COVID context, that becomes a bit more important because you definitely don't want your immune system already occupied if you get something worse like COVID.
I don’t know the specifics. DH’s cousin is a Canadian, who married a woman from Africa. I wasn’t around when all this happened, but only telling what she told me. As her siblings in the US are highly educated (doctors, lawyers) I presume she is too. Maybe she can’t work due to licensure?
I know that the province she is in has delayed her citizenship due to the lines. Apparently, in BC you can buy your way to the top of the line....which is why it is taking so long. They were kicking about moving to Saskatchewan, as the lines aren’t as long.
The border issue might be due to her African passport....she is not a US citizen.
It would make sense that perhaps she couldn't work in her chosen field, but that she was still eligible to work. Canada doesn't reciprocate medical licences (or engineering degrees or other professional certifications) from all countries, unfortunately. It is a problem for many new Canadians, and it's something that needs to change. But legally, she would have the right to work if they had applied for the proper visas.
The part about buying citizenship, no. Some residency programs in Canada are province specific, but citizenship is not. As far as I know, there is no cap on citizenship numbers, and no cap by province. Perhaps she is having trouble gaining residency, and this could be for a number of reasons: lack of proper documentation from her home country (I know of someone married to an Indonesian whose residency took forever because the Indonesian government requested an enormous bribe for surrendering the police background check), her H doesn't meet the sponsorship requirements, or he has a criminal record, or perhaps also her file was more highly scrutinized because of where she's from, but this still wouldn't explain a 10 year delay.
You can buy citizenship, through investment. From what they told me, the listing is long for citizenship in BC and investing this way is one way to expedite things.
Post by basilosaurus on Oct 24, 2020 0:21:26 GMT -5
Like loira said, there are definitely horror stories of teaching in S Korea. A hongwon was going to hire me. I showed up for an interview, and they basically offered the job before I'd sat down. They wanted me there 2 hours ahead of class, unpaid. I was given a handbook that was all about Korean work culture where work is #1 priority before even family. The hours overlapped the few hours I got to see my spouse. Before I even had a formal offer, they wanted me to find my replacement and tell them my end date which, military, we got about 30 days notice ourselves. Some of the schools will hold on to your passport.
But, my BIL taught there in the 90s and loved it.
The int'l school that hired me in Thailand hired me to teach high school science. A week before school started I was given a class of 40+ 5 year olds, all from China with no English skills. And that is how my employment lasted exactly 2 days. 3/4 of us K teachers quit in the prep week. It was a shitshow.
It would make sense that perhaps she couldn't work in her chosen field, but that she was still eligible to work. Canada doesn't reciprocate medical licences (or engineering degrees or other professional certifications) from all countries, unfortunately. It is a problem for many new Canadians, and it's something that needs to change. But legally, she would have the right to work if they had applied for the proper visas.
The part about buying citizenship, no. Some residency programs in Canada are province specific, but citizenship is not. As far as I know, there is no cap on citizenship numbers, and no cap by province. Perhaps she is having trouble gaining residency, and this could be for a number of reasons: lack of proper documentation from her home country (I know of someone married to an Indonesian whose residency took forever because the Indonesian government requested an enormous bribe for surrendering the police background check), her H doesn't meet the sponsorship requirements, or he has a criminal record, or perhaps also her file was more highly scrutinized because of where she's from, but this still wouldn't explain a 10 year delay.
You can buy citizenship, through investment. From what they told me, the listing is long for citizenship in BC and investing this way is one way to expedite things.
Like I said in an earlier post, lots of countries offer a path to citizenship by investment. This path usually begins with residency first, then leads to citizenship, just like that website states. And then you still have to have your 3 years of residency in Canada to apply for citizenship. I don't know why they would bother going that route if the husband is Canadian. Unlike the crappy process that exists for spouses of US citizens who want to apply for residency and are forced to do it from outside the country, family class sponsorship in Canada makes it easy for spouses to stay together, for both to work etc. And if she is already a permanent resident, then investing isn't going to make her jump the queue to citizenship.
Post by dulcemariamar on Oct 24, 2020 5:12:56 GMT -5
I live in Luxembourg and there are tons of Americans here because there are so many American companies here.
It is not the most exciting place to live in Europe and the weather could be better but the quality of life is so high and I think you get a lot for your tax money. It is incredibly safe and family friendly. I would recommend it if it is your first move overseas since English is quite common and 50% of the country is made up of foreigners.
Post by SusanBAnthony on Oct 24, 2020 6:33:38 GMT -5
I had no idea engineering was in demand in new Zealand. Huh. I've never visited so I'm not going to pick up and move but fun to think about!
@@@@@ My kid is autistic which seriously limits our interest in picking up and moving. I know it's only anecdotes but all the people i know in Canada and Mexico have described the special education system as much more dire than in the US (for autism specifically, I don't know about across the board). @@@@
I imagine there are 1000 little things like that which you just don't think about (grass is greener) until you get there are it's like Fuck there is no ______ in this country.
Look into how Americans purchase property in foreign countries like Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica etc.
Idk. I think I'd consider moving first and keep my citizenship.
Well it’s a REALLY lengthy and difficult process to renounce US citizenship so even if you can find somewhere to let you live and work, it’s not like people are hopping on planes for the first time and leaving their passports behind.
“With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,”
Look into how Americans purchase property in foreign countries like Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica etc.
Idk. I think I'd consider moving first and keep my citizenship.
Well it’s a REALLY lengthy and difficult process to renounce US citizenship so even if you can find somewhere to let you live and work, it’s not like people are hopping on planes for the first time and leaving their passports behind.
I know a couple who have lived abroad for years teaching at The American International School. They were in China (not sure where) for many years and are in Vienna now. My husband’s cousin has been teaching English as a Second Language in several Asian countries for decades.
My GTFO plan was to get an entry-level English teaching job in China that would sponsor my visa (that's how my brother originally moved there) but now China won't even admit Americans. But once countries start reopening their borders, that's an option.
I believe NZ offers a special visa or path to residency for workers in high-demand fields. I'll see if I can find more info. ETA: skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/
My husband is Canadian, and as bad as things are down here, there is no way he wants to go back to Canada. He got his US citizenship about 10 years ago,
He has a cousin whose wife has been waiting on Canadian citizenship for nearly 10 years now. As long as she is a dependent, she can’t work, nor can she leave the country to see her family in the US (who ironically, immigrated to the US at the same time she went to Canada’s and the US process was still faster). They have thought about moving out of BC as they cannot compete with the wealth that gets potential citizens bumped to the head of the citizenship list.
I think the grass is always greener applies here too.
I married a Canadian and move up here immedietly with a visitor Visa while my permanresident papers were being processed. Took 19 months. I had no job and no skills and was just a dumb 22 year old. This was 10 yrs ago. I cant imagine why shes being held up. I got the permanent residency after 19 months and I qualify citizenship after 3 yrs. My relative was deported from the US and claimed asylum in Canada hes a citizen now and I brought my aunt uncle and their kids here from Iraq as refugees and they are also citizens now.