[Dave & Sandra]

Now that I'm planning to submit an EOI I suddenly had one of those :uhoh moments.

I'm wondering if you have lived in different countries during the last 10years if NZIS may ask for police certificates from every country. We were in Hong Kong from '93-'95 which just brings us into the 10 years. I wondered whether to miss out HK, but we actually got married there in '95 just before we left and have a mariage certificate in English and Chinese. Then we moved to Saudi from '95 to '99, that's why we got married. ;) So we've been out of the UK as much as in for the last 10 years.

I can't imagine the hassle of trying to get a police cert. from Saudi. Knowing Saudi bureacracy I would guess it would be virtually impossible. Anybody else any experience of this.

Please say they will only want certs. from UK :hopeso Sandra

[veronica]

Sorry, but my understanding is that they want police checks from where ever you've lived. We even got one from Australia and its 20 years since we lived there. The quicker you get on to it the quicker you will get your answers back. With the Saudi one it may pay you to contact the saudi embassy in the UK.

[Dave & Sandra]

:uhoh

Thanks Veronica

[Dave & Sandra]

Just checked out the NZIS website, which is what I should have done in the first place .....doh.

Apparently it's not possible to get the equivalent of police cert. from Saudi unless you are a citizen. We just have to sign a 'statutory declaration' stating that we didn't commit any criminal offences whilst there.

It's fairly obvious we didn't anyway - if we had we would still be in prison there, or else it would have been splashed all over the newspapers, and we haven't had any parts of our bodies chopped off. :no

[Annierobrigado]

hello dave and sandra

yes, if you committed any crime in saudi arabia, you wouldn't be able to join this forum as you would be languishing in jail. and you probably wont be able to afford going to nz because if you try to settle your case in saudi you would need to pay your prosecutor what they call "blood money". that's what i know from all the news about other filipino contract workers in saudi who get into scrapes there. so thank heavens you are safe in uk.

just a thought to share...

annie

[Dave & Sandra]

Hi Annie

Dave used to have a Filipino secretary in Saudi. His name was Flor, a really nice person and very religious - can't remember where he came from.

They used to hold secret prayer meetings and one day they were raided and arrested. It just wouldn't happen in any other country :no

[Annierobrigado]

hi sandra,

oh God, i hope he was alright. you know, we have this TV advertisement about 2 filipinos working in saudi during christmas time, and one of them was a newcomer there and he wore red on christmas eve, which was taboo there, and had to whisper while singing christmas carols. actually i forgot already what the tv ad was all about, but it did show the stark contrast between saudi and other christian countries, especially ours where christmas is celebrated for 3 months! (well, once september 1 rolls in, the radio stations will start to play some christmas tunes, hows that?). so hopefully flor was able to go home, and got some other contract instead.

thanks for sharing that. i'm sure new zealand won't have that problem.

annie

[Diny]

Couldn't imagine the hassle you would be faced with if you tried to get a cert from Saudi. I agree with everybody here, had you committed a crime I think you would be missing body parts and be in a stinking cell for the next 50 years.

As far as I understand, you only have to have police certs from places you lived for the last 10 years (I'm sure that's what my application form said) - however I am no expert so don't quote me on this one.

Hope all goes well for you.

Diny

[nisse]

Hi

we apparently read the NZIS page differently. My clear understanding is that they only want police certs from the countries where you've lived in the past 10 years. I've lived in China, amongst other places, just over 10 yrs ago, and I'm def not going to try to get cerfiticates from there. Not that I've anything to hide, it's just that the way I read their page it is not necessary.

Nisse

[Dave & Sandra]

Now I'm confused :eek

This is what the EOI website says

Please list all countries, including all countries of citizenship, you have lived in for a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years. Include all countries where your stay has been broken by any departures.

I take that to mean anywhere you have lived during the last 10 years which includes both HK and Saudi :?

[Diny]

I understand it to mean the last 10 years only. We lived in Australia but returned to the UK in 1991 - I haven't included a police report from Oz.

Diny

[Dave & Sandra]

Hi Diny

That's why we have to include it - we were in Saudi from 1995-1999. We've only been back in the UK for 5 years :(

We'll meet up at the beach barbie when all this is all over and laugh about all the hurdles we had to jump to do it. :hopeso

Sandra

[Diny]

You're on !!!!

Will keep you up to date with what we're doing - hell - we'll be neighbours !!!!!

[Annierobrigado]

hello diny,

i just noticed you mentioned manawatu in late 2004 in your profile. how did you come to be there? how is living in manawatu compared to christchurch or the other places?

a website would be nice... ;)

thanks
annie

[Diny]

Hi Annie

We're still in the UK, can't go until the house has sold, hopefully we'll be there before Christmas but we have to just sit back and accept what the housing market throws at us.

The Manawatu? Well that's where my husband is from, all of his family are there still. Can't tell you what it's like to live there at the moment, but can tell you I've spent many holidays there and it's a real nice place. Out of Palmerston North the housing is very cheap (compared to UK prices), it's very agricultural and green - which suits me as I'm a farmers daughter. There's not much happening there as it's off the tourist route - but that is a bonus as far as I'm concerned.

Sandra is heading there on Tuesday - I'll read her posts with much interest because I'm sure I will know the places she is talking about.

All the best.

Diny

[Annierobrigado]

hi diny

i think i can imagine already the place. green? that sounds like the province of albay where my mother- and father-inlaw grew up. that's the province of our Mayon volcano. it's mostly agricultural there.

and i always tell my kids, you'll feel at home in nz because of the many cows around. we live outside of manila, in the laguna province, and while it's no longer agricultural, it's still rural compared to our capital city. so we have to live with cows as neighbors. no sheep though, more goats only.

heehee ;)

annie

[richsadams]

Hi All :cool

Interesting thread...you can learn so much from other people's experiences. Thanks! :clap

One word of caution about immigration applications...don't leave anything out! The NZIS is very good about sorting things out and very understanding when it comes to your explanation of various circumstances. :yes

However, they are not at all understanding if they find that you've left out information. It can stop the entire process and they can deny your application out of hand based on missing info. :booby

If you have an unusual circumstance, include it with an explanation and as much information as you can give them. They've seen it all and will work with you.

Thanks for the interesting back-and-forth here...you learn something new every day! :D

[Diny]

Very good info Rich. Best to pile up the info right from the start. Too much info is better than not enough.

Anyway .... why use 5 words when 20 will do ???????

good luck to all.

Diny