Jamie Williams RN from America who is working in Christchurch, NZ

Sitting on our couch in Albuquerque, my husband and I browsed the New Zealand Immigration website, trying to decipher what the process was for getting there. Do we apply for a job first and then apply for a work visa, or the other way around? How do I get my nursing credentials? Whom do I talk to about finding a job in the first place? We were confused, and didn’t know where to start.Thankfully, we got in touch with Liz from Quality Health Recruitment, who did all the hard work for us. She told us exactly which documents we needed to get my credentials here, helped me choose where I wanted to work, set up a phone interview with the hospital, and walked us through the visa application process. When things got lost, she found them, and when things needed checking, she did it for us. Everything came together perfectly. 

We arrived at Christchurch airport, and Liz was there waiting to greet us.  She helped us get to our temporary accommodation, and then helped us find our permanent flat. She helped us get our bank accounts set up and our money transferred. She kept in touch regularly throughout the first month to make sure we were settling in nicely, and even offered us furniture to tide us over until we had our own. Five months later, and we’re doing wonderfully here in the Southern Hemisphere.

I have been living in New Zealand now just over six months and loving it.

The process to get here was a very long one, mostly down to the Physiotherapy Board of New Zealand and took about 18 months (much longer than it should take).

Liz helped me through the whole process from start to finish, and by that I mean literally picking me up at the airport in Christchurch. As it took a while it was really great having regular phone calls and emails helping me at each stage. When it finally came to getting me a job, this took no time at all, having plenty of communication about how to conduct a telephone interview. I got my dream job and this was all down to Liz, she was great.

I am getting settled into New Zealand life working and getting to travel at the same time, best decision I ever made.

Cecilia Ramirez and Esteban Serrano, RN'S from the UK working in Auckland, New Zealand

My name is Cecilia Ramirez, I am Spanish Registered nurse. I moved to New Zealand with my partner,  Esteban Serrano. We were both advised through the process by agents of QHR; in our case Liz Hill. 

We  decided to come to New Zealand a couple of years ago. We have been working in the North Shore-Auckland since August 2008.

Everything started when my partner and I made the decission that we wanted to go and live and work somewhere else after 3 years in the UK. We did not have any idea of how to do things or who to call, which documents were needed and what to do with them.

Randomly we found QHR via the intertnet, and I have to say that we also tried different  ways previuosly, unsuccesfully.

We were contacted by phone calls and emails and explained step by step the process. It seemed, and I still think it is; a huge thing to do; especially in the beginning.

The documents we had in English were a relief, because for the ones  in Spanish we had to find a translator (more money, MORE TIME) and sometimes we had to go to Spain while we were still working in the UK.

Asking favours to friends, colleagues at work for references…and still nothing ready.

It  seemed like a nightmare then but nowadays, we think about these days like the test we needed to pass to ensure it was something we really wanted to do.

When after a million problems, everything was sorted out and  the day finally came. We said goodbye to family and friends, it was a 30hours flight for us from home. We knew we would not see them for a long time, but the idea of visiting us in NZ, being able to see the other side of the world was exciting for all of us.

Then, Settling down in New Zealand was not easy, new job, new town, new life.

Fortunately we came here with almost everything (job, NZ documents to start working) ready. We were advised by Liz this way.

Auckland is used to welcome foreigners, it is not very difficult to find a home, a car. The first thing we did was opening a bank account  and it only took as 1 hour, although deciding which bank had the best to offer took us a morning.

After six months, our balance is very positive, the hard time has gone.

We are travelling everytime we have a couple of days off work, meeting people from different countries, learning things. We enjoy ourselves here.

We would like to take this oportunity to thank Liz Hill and her team. We would not probably be here without their help.

 Lucy Mwangi RN, moved from Scotland to Melbourne, Australia  My name is Lucy Mwangi and as you can tell from the name, I am from Africa (Kenya). After leaving home I worked in Scotland for four years, it was nice but too cold for me. After many years of contemplating I knew it was time for me to make a move. I had a friend in Australia and she had asked me on several occasions to move there, she said life was much better and the weather too. I had a few workmates and patients who had visited Australia and they all described it as a beautiful lovely place to live in. 

In 2007 I made up my mind and started with the nursing registration in Victoria, I wanted to do it all by myself with the help of my friend. Things went okay until the part of getting the job and it took six months and I couldn’t get anything. I tried different agencies on the internet but I decided to stick with QUALITY HEALTH RECRUITMENT. Liz left a voice message on my phone and when I called back the ball started rolling there and then. In less than two months she organised a job interview for me with a hospital in Melbourne, Victoria. She even called me on my interview week to prepare me and emailed me paper work to use in preparation. After the interview she called me to tell me all went okay . 

I got the job and within two months I had my visa and my kids visa. It was so fast I felt like I was not ready, everything happened within 6 months. Liz sent me all the paper work I needed about Australia cost of leaving, accommodation and transporting my goods. She even wanted to get me accommodation but my friend offered to accommodate us. I later wished I had allowed Liz to get me accommodation as I had to travel 2hrs to and from work. That was the only difficult part but my new boss and my workmates were very understanding they let me off early to catch the train. They even helped me get a place near the hospital and new schools for my kids. 

All has worked out well and I have settled into my new job and am told I have done very well. I now walk to work for only 5 minutes and my boys (Sam) the youngest also walks to school, the older one (Joe) has started high school this year and they both love it here. They love the food, weather, the beaches and not to forget the barbeques. I think we are here to stay we have started thinking of applying for permanent residencey. 

The most amazing thing initially as I never realized that Liz was in NEW ZEALAND and yet she managed to do all this for me. She called me for several weeks after to make sure I settled in alright.