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Following on from the last post, today we received our UK Passports back from NZ Immigration with the blue NZ Residence Permit and Visas inside. This means we are now officially New Zealand Residents! I can’t tell you how nice it is to read the bit that says “Date of Expiry: Indefinite” 
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We submitted our NZ Residency applications back in July and didn’t hear much from them until just recently. I was asked to submit my Birth Certificate again and then today we got a very exciting letter. Read the rest of this entry »
Sophie turned 2 years old at the end of June, but we didn’t have a party for her until this weekend, so that we could have it while Norman and Shirley are staying with us. Everyone who was anyone from the coffee group came round to our house and all the kids had a great time playing, we had helium balloons which turned out to be a great success with all the kids.
Sophie wore her special ‘Minnie Mouse’ party dress and had a wonderful time. Read the rest of this entry »
Norman and Shirley arrived last week – it’s been great seeing them again and they’re enjoying being back in NZ. The weather has even been kind to them, it’s been cold but we’ve also had some glorious sunshine – most un-winterlike. Yesterday we had clear skies, sunshine and no wind. In fact, it was such a nice day that I grabbed the camera and drove down to the inlet to take some pictures.
Yesterday was an important day for us, we submitted our NZ Skilled Migrant visa application. The application process is pretty thorough – we had to submit so much supporting paperwork that I had to buy a super-sized envelope to fit it all in – and it took us a few hours to gather everything together and check and re-check it all again. Luckily the NZ Immigration Service office is literally over the road from my office, so I was able to drop it off by hand at lunchtime.
So it’s just a waiting game now. We have been told to allow up to nine months for it to be processed, but I’ve heard that a friend of a friend just got their application turned around in a few weeks.
Needless to say, we’ll keep you all updated on our progress – getting Residency is pretty important as it entitles us to stay in NZ indefinitely (but we won’t be citizens, so can’t get NZ passports yet).
More soon (hopefully!)
Yesterday I took the day off work and we made a lot of progress on our NZ Residency application. Well, when I say that, what I actually mean was we got our medical examinations, chest X-Rays and blood tests done.
Sophie was really well behaved, she got quite bored but was still quite happy by the end of it all. We have all had the same cold recently – it’s gone from Sophie to Candi to Me – so it was quite funny turning up for health assessments, all coughing and sneezing. I felt like we had to justify ourselves, “we aren’t normally this ill, honestly!“
It shouldn’t take long before we have all the results back, then we just need our completed application forms, ACPO Police Check certificate (waiting on this from the UK) and all supporting evidence – ie exam certificates etc, then we’ll be one step closer to our NZ Residency.
The NZ Immigration Service says we should allow up to 9 months for our applications to be processed, but a friend of a friend just went through the same thing and theirs was approved in six weeks. I guess they don’t have much of a backlog at present.
We’ll keep you updated on our progress. Watch this space!
Wow, things have been so busy we’ve really been neglecting this blog. I’ll try and bring things up to date, then we’ll hopefully find it easier to stay on top of things
- Carl, Cindi and Kei came to stay. They had a great time, we hired a bach up at Waitarere Beach and stayed a few days. Carl, Cindi and Candi took part in a run and got certificates and photos to prove it! As with all family visits, time went by too quickly and in no time at all they had to fly back. Hopefully we’ll see them again soon.
- Sophie is nearly 2! It’s amazing how quickly time has gone and when we look at photos taken when we arrived in NZ (just over a year ago) we’re struck by how young she looks. She’s not a baby anymore! All her friends in coffee group are having their second Birthday parties at the moment, our weekends are fully booked!
- Work is still good and busy for me. Our friend Graham (a Canterburian from Pru days) was looking for work in Christchurch but ended up looking further afield – I managed to get him an interview at Trade Me and he accepted – he’s now living and working in Wellington. Sophie likes playing with “Jim”, as she calls him
- DIY around the house continues. We’ve sanded and varnished the front door, painted the lounge, utility room and en-suite bathroom. An incident with an overflowing basin resulted in an insurance claim for the vanity in the upstairs bathroom. Luckily the carpet + floor aren’t badly damaged, we managed to catch it before too much damage was done. Honestly, who makes a basin without an overflow outlet?
- The weather is getting colder… We still get nice days – Friday and yesterday were fantastic for instance – but when it gets cold, it feels freezing. Looks like we’ve got more bad weather ahead.
- My parents have booked their flights for a visit in Feb next year. Hopefully they’ll get good weather!
- Norman and Shirley arrive soon – I think it’s less than six weeks now. Hard to believe it’s twelve months since they were here last. Looking forward to seeing them again and I know Candi can’t wait.
- Our residency plans are continuing. I re-visited the immigration process and it seems that 12 months’ NZ work experience gives us a big boost in points. We’re now comfortably in the ‘automatic selection’ zone and to be honest it looks like acceptance is just a formality at this point. Police and medical checks notwithstanding of course.
I think that covers most of it…. you’re now up to date and we’ll try and keep this blog updated more frequently! Cheers
Yes, just for a change (lol) I’m posting some more Sophie pics for you to enjoy. Read the rest of this entry »
OK, so I know we didn’t post anything while we were over in the UK, so here is a quick summary of the rest of our time over there…
We left Wellington on Thursday evening and flew to Heathrow via Auckland and then L.A. It’s never what you could call a pleasant experience, I can think of much better ways to spend 30 hours than jammed into an uncomfortable Economy class seat in a 747, but I have to say that this time it wasn’t as bad as we anticipated. Sophie is now 18 months old, which means she is mobile and gets pretty bored if she is forced to stay in one place for too long. However, the timing of the flight meant she was really tired by the time we took off from Auckland and had a good sleep, much to our relief. In fact, she only really started to give us problems about 2 1/2 hours from landing at Heathrow, but by then we had all had enough.
We’re currently staying with Norman and Shirley in Epping and getting used to being in the UK again. I managed to sneak off with Norman for a quick pint yesterday, we went to a traditional English pub in Epping High Street (open fire, oak beamed ceiling and everything) and I had a great pint of the guest ale, Sussex Gold. It’s surprising how busy everywhere is, even Epping High Street is a bustling metropolis compared to Whitby! The roads are so much busier here, driving isn’t much fun at all and we’re not used to how unfriendly everyone seems. I suppose it’s what you are used to, but even in Wellington CBD you normally have a bit of smalltalk when ordering coffee, going into a shop or whatever. Here it’s very much “all business”, nobody really makes eye contact or says hello unless they have to. That’s probably a bit harsh, but that’s how it seems sometimes.
Still, it’s nice to be among family again and Cindi has made a surprise appearance not once but twice so far! Today we allwent to a local place called Kids Korner, where local parents take their kids to shout at them. Just kidding, but you would be forgiven for thinking that was the case. Sophie and Kei had a nice time and Sophie surprised us all by staying awake and alert for 11 hours straight (3am to 2pm – yes you read that right!) We aren’t too badly affected by the jet lag this time, Sophie’s still a bit topsy-turvy but hopefully she’ll come right soon enough.
Lots more UK adventures to come, stay tuned!
