21
US Immigrant looking for advice
(self.newzealand)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2025
21 points (100.0% liked)
Aotearoa / New Zealand
1950 readers
18 users here now
Kia ora and welcome to !newzealand, a place to share and discuss anything about Aotearoa in general
- For politics , please use !politics@lemmy.nz
- Shitposts, circlejerks, memes, and non-NZ topics belong in !offtopic@lemmy.nz
- If you need help using Lemmy.nz, go to !support@lemmy.nz
- NZ regional and special interest communities
Rules:
FAQ ~ NZ Community List ~ Join Matrix chatroom
Banner image by Bernard Spragg
Got an idea for next month's banner?
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
Thanks for clarifying. I'm seeing a lot of variance in housing costs and types so far. I may try a shared living arrangement the first year to have some other humans around and figure out if I can stay long term before bringing my cat.
Just as a warning, I have heard there are hideous costs to bringing a pet. NZ has very strict biosecurity requirements, our ecosystem is quite fragile due to being completely separated from another other land mass. So you'll be paying for weeks of quarantine, plus travel costs to fly them here. Thousands of dollars. So waiting to see if you'll stay long term seems like a good move!
Yeah it's definitely not cheap, although i think I can avoid a lengthy quarantine as long as he gets the required shots a few days before traveling. I'll still need to use a pet travel service so I'm sure they will be able to help with any requirements.
I've just had a browse through this PDF explaining the process.
I actually thought the quarantine was much longer than 10 days, but it seems there's a huge amount of work prior to this in getting vaccinations and tests at the right time and get a rabies antibody test at the right time, among other things but it seems rabies is the biggest concern. I'm assuming you're not coming from Hawaii, the only part of the US that's on the category 2 (rabies free) list.
It mentions that some airlines won't even let you fly your pet unless done through a pet travel service, so it seems like a no brainer to let them work it out if you have to pay them anyway 😅
And to add that if you're renting pets are often basically a complete no-go unfortunately.
Upcoming law change:
The current page also says it's pretty dubious as to whether a landlord is actually allowed to ban pets, but I guess the new law coming into effect makes it clearer that pets are allowed unless the landlord has reasonable ground to deny it.
Yeah true; I wonder if that means they can't even ask about it.
Landlords push the boundaries heavily though - especially property managed ones. Oh you left the place a little dirty - that counts as damage & im taking it out of your bond. They just rely on most tenants not having the stomach for the fight.
From what I understand if the new laws, you have to ask permission to have pets, your landlord can't say no without reasonable grounds, and they are allowed to hold a pet bond.
Landlords (as you say, especially property managers) definitely put in clauses they know are unenforceable. I believe there was a different law change that meant if you won at the tribunal you don't get your name published, because in the past landlords would refuse to rent to people seen as trouble makers even if they were in the right. With all the complaints about lack of action, Labour did manage some strides for the working class.