Migrant Stories

Resn - Newcomers give Wellington digital interactive edge

Wellington-based Resn, creative digital partner of leading brands and advertising agencies worldwide, needed to recruit flash developers and designers who are on the long term skills shortages list. Resn has been proactively recruiting from overseas, successfully bringing in three migrants thus far.

Iain Shaw - Market Research Analyst from Scotland

Iain Shaw hails from Scotland and is employed by 4RF as a Market Research Analyst. He decided to settle in New Zealand because of the high quality of life, the outdoor activities available, and being from Scotland he finds the weather here a huge improvement!

Vincenzo Paparelle - Chef from Italy

It’s a case of second time lucky for Italian, Vincenzo Paparelle who works as chef at Soprano Ristorante restaurant on the Kapiti coast.

Annie Rastello - Project Manager from France

Annie Rastello is a Project Manager at 4RF. Originally from France, Annie moved to New Zealand from six years in the US because she was attracted by the fact that there are fewer people here than in many other English speaking countries.

Paul D’souza - Chef from India

Monsoon Poon is a restaurant located right in the heart of Wellington’s Courtenay Place cuisine precinct. One fifth of its workforce is migrants.

Mark Hussey - Emergency Doctor from The United Kingdom

Wellington's lifestyle and its people are unbeatable, according to UK-born emergency doctor Mark Hussey.

Cecile Diamante - IT Analyst from the Philippines

Wellington’s walkability and friendliness wowed Filipino IT analyst Cecile Diamante from her first moments in the city.

Professor Jeroen Douwes – Co-Director from the Netherlands

“This may come as a surprise to many Wellingtonians,” he says,“but I prefer the climate here with its mild winters.”

Petr Tobias – Anaesthetist from the Czech Republic

Its a long journey from the Czech Republic to Masterton, and for Petr Tobias, it was one that was a long time coming.

Carlos Zevallos –Beekeeper from Peru

It was the loud buzz of thousands of honey bees, music to a commercial apiarist ears which enticed Carlos Zevallos from his native Peru to the temperate shores of New Zealand.

Luca Fascione – Software engineer from Italy

It is not often that the Wellington wind gets good press so when Luca Fascione mentioned he loves the wind a further explanation was needed.

Ray and Diane Cherrell – diesel truck mechanic from UK

Ray and Diane Cherrell immigrated to New Zealand from Lincolnshire, England, in 2006. "We’d visited Auckland on holiday in 2002 –it rained every day but it didn’t put us off,” explained Diane.  So when a friend announced he wouldn’t be seeing them anymore because he was moving to Wellington, they decided to follow suit.

Ray said that there were several reasons behind their decision. "England had become such a rat race – a lot of people had become jobless.  We were fed up with the weather............with everything really.”  The move was made easier by the fact that the friend had already lined up a job with Cable Price for Ray – a diesel truck technician. According to Ray, the Wellington region is the ideal place for his occupation. “It’s too humid any further north to work in garages where you’re standing over a hot engine all day”.

Ray and Diane have found that the people here are really friendly.  So friendly that Ray’s not once thought about moving back to the UK.  Diane’s been back to visit her sister and her octogenarian Mum, and in between visits enjoys the fact that technology allows her to be in weekly contact with them.  Although she’s on the other side of the world, thanks to Skype, she doesn’t feel that far away from them.

The couple live in Upper Hutt and from their home have a view of the Hutt Valley and Trentham which, they say, they’d never have been able to afford in the UK. They remark on the region’s scenery which they describe as ‘marvellous’ and the relatively close proximity of Upper Hutt to Wellington city.

During the past three and a half years, Ray and Diane have travelled around the country and have visited most parts of the North Island.  They love showing off the popular tourist spots such as Rotorua to a constant stream of visiting friends and relatives – "three lots of visitors in the last six months".

So successfully has Ray been able to apply his knowledge and skills to his job, he’s already secured a promotion to senior technician.  After a spell in her own business venture, Diane is now back on the job market looking for a position as a medical centre receptionist.

The icing on the cake for Ray, as far as the move to Wellington is concerned, is that here he can have a boat. ‘Wellington Harbour is my playground” he says “and on a good day you can’t beat it.”

Angela Ballantyne & Ryan Orange – academic & policy strategist, Kiwis returned.

After 10 years away, expatriates Ryan Orange and Angela Ballantyne were nervous that Wellington would not live up to their expectations on their return.

Cynthia Patterson – CIO from United States

“We wanted to live in a more progressive-minded society. Australia was too much like a mini-US, Canada was too cold, but luckily New Zealand was perfect.”

Desi Ramoo – Scientist from United Kingdom

“I’ve been lucky but when you are moving your family from one side of the world to the other it is important to make sure you know what you are getting yourself into, make sure everything is in writing.... "

Thomas Kuhne – University lecturer from Germany

“Wellington is a fantastic city with very friendly, relaxed people. We love the natural scenery and the fact it isn’t crowded at all.”

Gilbert Sanseau – Software engineer from France

It takes a certain kind of person to find the south of France boring but luckily for Wellington that is exactly what Gilbert Sanseau and his partner found.

Jitendra Bothara – Seismic engineer from Nepal

Back in 1993 Jitendra Bothara was in Nepal working on an earthquake engineering project when he met two men who would change his life. Beca directors Dr Richard Sharpe and Rob Jury.

Kation Cai – Banking consultant from China

Seven years ago Kation Cai set out on an epic journey. His goal, to learn English. Spurred on by the competitive cost of living and study, the friendliness of New Zealanders and the breathtaking environment, Kation made the 11,000km journey from Guangdong to Wellington.

Heli Matileinen – Research scientist from Finland

Heli and her husband, Mika spent two years in California while Heli was doing post doctoral research in breast cancer targeting but despite the sunny climes, America wasn’t where they wanted to settle and they applied for residency in New Zealand.