Immigration To

According to UN statistics, a stagering 200 million people globally lived outside of their native country of birth in 2005. Approximately one-third of these international immigrants resided in Europe. When talking of European migrants, approximately 254,000 immigrated to Africa. 8,730,000 immigrated to the Americas. 6,830,000 immigrated to Asia. 35,395,000 decided to immigrate within Europe. 2,813,000 immigrated to the Oceania region. Finally around 2,149,000 chose to immigrate to Southern hemisphere countries that are still developing.

Taking a closer look on how exactly this translates to the regions of Europe:

Northern Europe - 1,868,000 resided in the Americas. 309,000 resided in Asia. 3,406,000 resided in Europe. 1,605,000 resided in Oceania and 60,000 in the developing South.

Eastern Europe - 2,275,000 resided in the Americas. 5,620 resided in Asia. 18,609,000 resided in Europe. 183,000 resided in Oceania and 1,806,000 in the developing South.

Western Europe - 109,000 resided in Africa. 1,704,000 resided in the Americas. 726,000 resided in Asia. 4,659,000 resided in Europe. 368,000 resided in Oceania and 109,000 in the developing South.

Southern Europe - 100,000 resided in Africa. 2,883,000 resided in the Americas. 183,000 resided in Asia. 8,723,000 resided in Europe. 656,000 resided in Oceania and 173,000 in the developing South.

Source: Migration and Remittances Factbook 2011.

By far the biggest immigration to, has been a shift from the Eastern Europeans to other areas of Europe. Clearly for someone like myself who's only just immigrated from London to New Zealand, It's all too clear to see that the influx of Eastern Europeans has been the most noticeable. It's also interesting to see that in relative terms, African countries still only account for a minuscule amount of European immigration. Also I've noticed a few surprises in respect of Western Europe immigration to the Americas. Figures from a decade or two show an actual decline in those that immigrate to the Americas. Also a levelling out of migrants that immigrate to Oceania countries.

So, where are you thinking of immigrating to? Could it be that you're an Eastern European that's tired of inferior earnings and you want to try your luck over in Western Europe? Maybe your a European that will immigrate to Asia and take advantage of the Chinese market and quite possibly reap the rewards of totally fresh emerging countries like Burma. Perhaps you intend to migrate from Southern Europe and potentially escape the austerity measures countries like Spain and Portugal have to implement and therefore immigrate to Western Europe.

However, you could always do what I decided to do and try your luck in Oceania! Clearly anyone with a trade under their belt will always find decent work options open to them. I'm lucky in the respect that my own personal immigration to New Zealand was allowed under a Partner Visa. Whatever you decide to do, make sure you really think it through.

When Admiral Wellington decided if he should choose that particular time to strike his foes, he'd always write a list of pro's and con's. He'd then add up the list and go with the column that had the shorter list. You could start off making your own list. Get your family and friends to help you decide what should go on the list. After all, what could be important to them, could be immaterial to you, and vice-verca. Absorb as much information about the region you want to immigrate to. Think about your needs today, but also think about the future too.

Well it's a lovely summers day in Hamilton today. I'm still a practical virgin when it comes to immigration, but this adventure has surely begun on the right footing. With family around me that care, and will make the difference when all is said and done!

Wherever and with whoever you decide to immigrate to, I wish you the very best of luck with your very own adventure. The ex-pat community will help you settle in and in no time, you might wonder why you didn't make the big move sooner.

As ever, I thank you for reading and your precious comments are always welcome.


God bless.

Alan

New Zealand, A Place To Visit? Definitely!

Okay, so many of you might be wondering why exactly it's taken so long for me to write my latest blog update! Well, we arrived as expected on the 2nd December without the expected issues at London Heathrow with regards to the Public Sector strikes. Apart from some pretty minor jet lag, we've been catching up with my in-laws and other friends and family.

We're here for the long haul and although I personally feel I'm adjusting into the New Zealand way of life better than I'd expected, clearly it's far to early to even begin to say I've adjusted. But, on first impressions, I  won't say I like New Zealand. I love New Zealand.

Complete strangers talk! For a Londoner, that's a pretty big deal! We're so used to living in such a confined space, but seldom take the time to even get to know our immediate neighbours. Of course, during the London war years, this wasn't so much of an issue. As Londoners spent many an evening hunkered down avoiding the worst that Hitler could throw at them. However, with the pace of life in London set to one speed, pretty dam fast, it's harder to get into the mindset that basic communication banter won't break the time-bank!

At first glance, the pace of life is much much slower than you'll most likely be used to. Of course for some people this might not be what 'rocks your boat', however for a mid-thirties chap like myself, it's an out right God send!

But, getting back to the people here. They do seem very welcoming to the British. Clearly we share the same values and our cultures are very intertwined because of our Commonwealth connection. I'm also aware that you can't judge a book by the cover too much, but I've learnt over the years to trust ones own judgement with new people that enter my life. It's also been said that we, as human beings 'pigeon hole' someone new within 7 seconds. Therefore I gage my initial comments on my personal Anglo-Kiwi nano conversations.

A closing thought for this post is an observation I made earlier today. It involved a simple honey bee going about it's daily business of gathering all that plant goodness, that goes into producing arguably the best honey you can buy in the world. You see, the gardens here are breathtaking! I'm not exactly the green fingered type, but the quality of the gardens, public and private are awesome. Therefore, it's not exactly hard to see why the humble honey bee finds the process of producing great tasting New Zealand honey a breeze! I'll have to get the camera out and show you next time!

As ever, thank you for reading.

God bless.

AL