Personal touch pays off with top award for NZ relocation service

Woburn provides full immigration services for visitor, work, residence visas and those required for accompanying family members. Photo / NZ Herald

New Zealand migration and corporate relocation specialist Woburn International, of Wellington, has beaten rivals from 165 countries to be named the Cartus Global Destination Service Provider of 2013.

Woburn's managing director, June Ranson (picture), accepted the award at a convention attended by more than 2,500 delegates in Dallas, Texas.

Ranson said her company was surprised to win the award as Cartus' excellence awards had previously been given to high volume receivers.

But "we knew we always delivered an excellent result, as the service appraisals by Cartus clients are revealed to us each month and they always showed us in the excellence category for service delivery".

Woburn handles hundreds of corporate relocations a year, offering a package of services from immigration processes and resettlement to cultural integration and guidance on the cost of living for businesspeople transferring to New Zealand.

The company provides full immigration services for visitor, work, residence visas and those required for accompanying family members.

The programmes aid individuals in identification of their own cultural understanding and comparison to the norms of New Zealand for day-to-day living and business, followed by interactive training for adaptation.

In an illustration of how the process works, Ranson describes the settlement of "William", who came to New Zealand for a job interview.

"We met William after his job interview and discussed the immigration process. Our consultant provided the familiarisation which included orientation to the city and suburbs, school search and areas for living. He accepted the job offer, we entered into dialogue regarding the immigration requirements, and William returned to his home country."

Ranson says the company then provided immigration assistance for William and his family and successfully lodged applications.

Woburn made arrangements for household removals, then met the family on arrival and took them to the accommodation it had organised.

"Once rested, the family started the settlement programme," said Ranson.

"This was followed by the integration cultural programme and language tutoring. We also arranged driving lessons so they could adapt.

"The family is now settled here in long-term rental accommodation until they buy a home."