[overscan]

Hi! First post.

My wife and I are moving to New Zealand in October this year. My wife is a New Zealander, she came to England to work here for a year or two and see a bit of the world, met me, and ended up staying here for seven years.

She wants to go back now, so I'm going through the visa application system now. Fingers crossed!

I work in IT, wife is a Nursery/Kindergarten teacher. We'd like to live in Auckland, Tauranga or possible Hamilton - her family are in Auckland and Te Puke.

All advice gratefully received.

[wiki]

Hi and welcome,

I'm a Kiwi who brought my English OH to NZ in Oct last year.

Best advice is to gather your partnership evidence together now as that's what NZIS is most interested in.

They're really keen to get Kiwis home, so as long as your relationship is legit and you're moderately healthy and not criminally minded you should have no problem.

Our process took four months from application to approval, but OH needed a medical waiver, hence the delay.

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask

[overscan]

We've already submitted the application, with lots of evidence of our relationship (which seemed crazy since we've been married 2 and a half years).

I'm pretty healthy, (never been in hospital, rarely have a day off work, regularly swim and cycle) but overweight, NZ Immigration have already kicked back one high value from the medical (not cholesterol level which was extremely good) so I'm having to do some followup tests to prove I'm in no danger of being ill any time soon.

Out of interest, what is the process for the waiver?

[wiki]

Out of interest, what is the process for the waiver?

They send you a letter saying that based on the medical evidence in front of the panel doctor, they'll decline the application on these points (lists points, some of which were medically inaccurate)

Then you get your doctor or specialist - in our case OH's dad's specialist since they're concerned about a heriditary neuro condition he has being passed on - to write a letter saying the panel doc is talking out his bum.

They write back and say ... hmmm, we don't believe this guy who is qualified and experienced in this medical speciality.

Your doc writes back and calls them fools and you put in an accompanying letter saying your wife refuses to go back home until you can come too and this is a massive lost to NZ.

A couple of weeks later out of the blue you get a letter confirming PR and no mention of medical issues resolved or otherwise.

Then the really stressful part starts - finding shipping quotes, packing up, selling or dumping the rest, booking flights, saying goodbye to friends and family..... trust me, when we looked back on the process the medical waiver was actually the eay part!

[dilanium]

Hello, welcome and good luck!

[JandM]

Hello, Overscan.:) Hang in there. You'll get your documents eventually. My son got residency because he'd married his Kiwi wife in England.

[overscan]

We flew to New Zealand to get married (at Mills Reef Winery, Tauranga). Was cheaper than doing it in the UK, not least as she has loads of relatives and I have few,and it was the best decision ever. All the people involved - photographer, videographer, venue/catering, celebrant- were absolutely professional and helped make it an unforgettable experience.

[willsken]

Hi overscan. The wedding sounded great! Welcome to the forum!:cheers :cheers

[dusk]

hello :)

sounds like you're not going to need a lot of advice! good luck with te application

[napiers]

We're heading to NZ either at the end of this year or early next. My husband's the Kiwi so I've been through all the paperwork. Submitted my application for residency at the end of July 2007 and had 'approval in principal' by end of August. Then given 6 months to send passport to get the visa. I sent that at the end of January this year and it took 2 weeks to come back. We are taking our time mainly because I'm a teacher and want to see this academic year out with my current class. Good luck with all the paperwork - what I really wanted to say is that I've found it all pretty painless so I hope you'll find it the same.

[Kiwi-In-Texas]

Hello and welcome...I am another Kiwi returning home with my husband who is an American.

[overscan]

Thanks for the welcome. I don't doubt I'll be posting a lot of questions in the next few months...

:cheers

[dilanium]

That's fine, question away!