[WA to SI]

Hi all,
I've been lurking a bit here, soaking in as much info as possible and waiting for a job offer before taking the plunge, and now I have it!

I currently live on Bainbridge Island, Washington (a small island in Puget Sound west of Seattle), but have just accepted a position in Christchurch as a geotechnical engineer. I will be moving in August, assuming everything falls into place with my immigration paperwork. My new employer is NZIS accredited, and they have told me I will go on a Work to Residence visa and that they can assist with the process. From what I gather here, this process will be fairly quick, although I do still need to get my police certificate, which might be the one item that could hold me up? Nonetheless, I plan to move in August no matter the visa status, as I have a special someone in Christchurch waiting for me. ;)

Fortunately my NZ insider will be helping me procure housing, etc before I arrive, so I feel very lucky for that. I have recently returned from a holiday/recon to NZ, where I toured most of the South Island and was completely smitten by the natural beauty (and I take a bit of impressing, because Washington and other parts of the western US are quite beautiful too). I also stayed at a B&B in Sumner during my trip, and plan to rent in Sumner when I arrive, higher rents be damned. :D

Anyway, things have been going remarkably smoothly so far, but I'm sure I will have questions from time to time. Glad to be here and can't wait to be there!

[dharder]

Welcome to the forum :)

You seem to have it all pretty much sorted, and with a job offer, I understand things normally move rather quickly and smoothly.

Good luck with everything anyway,

Daniela

[speckythecky]

Welcome to the forum. Sounds like you have a lot of help from new employer and insider but if you have any questions feel free to ask, someone should be able to answer for you.

[mgbridges]

They really are a helpful bunch here so ask away, I've always had an answer to every question I've ever asked.

A word of cautioned regarding police checks... although your situation may be different given that you are in the US not the UK like us. You need background checks done in every country where you have lived for more than 12 months during the last 10 years. We're going to be delayed because of this as we have to get an Australian police check done which requires a set of certified fingerprints. We can only get those from New Scotland Yard and the first appointment available there is 31st May!!

Good luck and hope everything goes smoothly for you.
Anneliese

[dharder]

You need background checks done in every country where you have lived for more than 12 months during the last 10 years.

And every country you are a citizen of... Not that this seems to be relevant in this case, but I had to get mine done even though I haven't lived there for more than ten years :)

Daniela

[Caniwi]

Welcome WA to SI

Feel alittle of a kinship......I'm from the SI and live in Vancouver BC, returning to NZ in about 18 months. Lots of info here, just rifle thru it, and if you can't find, ask :)

Caniwi