[April]

Hello

Does anyone have experience of emigrating under the family category eg via a New Zealand partner? What is the process for applying and is it better to do it here in England or in New Zealand? Any advice you can offer would be very kind.

[Carol]

Hi April


Diny might know....she should be along soon.....
C

[Diny]

Heven't been on the forum all morning ........ I've been packing !!!!!!!!!

:nice1 :nice1 :nice1

Hi April - how's it going?

I got PR under the partnership/family category. I wouldn't have a clue whether it's easier applying from this end or the other. To be honest, it couldn't have been any easier, but maybe it would be cheaper to apply in NZ. You'll need to do abit of research into that one.

This is what we did:

I'm Brit and hubby is Kiwi. We have 2 sons (who we effectionately refer to as our half breeds). We are in the process of getting dual nationality for them, but (without going into boring details) I stuffed up the application and will now need to wait until we arrive in NZ to get it sorted. Certainly no big deal though.

So ...... our 2 boys and I were 'sponsored' by hubby. We downloaded the necessary forms from the NZIS website. There's a form that needs to be completed for us, and Mark had to complete a sponsorship form. he then had to get this 'certified' by our solicitor (I think a JP or any other person of standing will do).

The boys and I had to have our medicals and I had to have a police report. We also had to submit some kind of documented proof that we are in a genuine and stable relationship :laugh . This is abit of a grey area 'cos it's like asking how long is a piece of string. Might be interesting to add at this satge that 'partner' doesn't mean you have to be married. We sent our marriage certificate, joint bank account statements, a copy of our mortgage deeds which are in both names. A couple of utility bills ... just general stuff like that. I've known people to send alot less than this and I've know people to send alot more ....... hence calling it a grey area.

To be honest I can't remember what the actual fee was, but I seem to remember it being in the region of 360 - 400 pounds.

We sent everything off to NZIS in London by recorded delivery on 24th September 2004. About 4 days later we got a letter confirming receipt of our application. They told us that everything seemed to be in order and we could expect a decision in 3 - 6 months.

Everything then went very quiet. About the 2nd week in December I e-mailed our case officer to see if they had any news. They e-mailed me back within minutes telling me that I should hear within the next 6 - 8 weeks.

On Christmas Eve I got a big envelope back from NZIS. They had returned all certificates etc and had enclosed a letter telling us that we had been granted PR.

I don't know whether the phone call a week earlier had prompted any action or whether it was just coincidence :? So the whole process had taken exactly 3 months from start to finish. To be honest, I think this is quite a long time, I have a few friends who have gone to live in NZ with their Kiwi spouses and their applications took alot less time.

All that remained was to pay the migrant levy. We were advised to allow 6 - 8 weeks for the return of our passports once the levy had been paid. I contacted my case officer again by e-mail. Gave her my credit card details and asked her to charge 345.00 to it (3 x 115). I did this on a Tuesday lunchtime. My passports arrived back on the Thursday morning. Less than 48 hours after paying the levy. I have no idea whether this is the norm or just a lucky flook.

So - as you can see. It was a very easy, stress free process for us. A friend of ours was told that unless your Police report or your medical exposes something particularly nasty, and your partner can sponsor you and all the other little 'requirements' are met, it's almost a 'done deal' that you'll get PR. I don't know whether that's the right thing to report (and it wasn't said to me), but it certainly seemed that way.

I've rambled on as usual. I hope this has helped you in some way. Please feel free to PM me at any time to ask for more info, I'm only too happy to help.

Good luck, I hope it all runs smoothly for you.

Diny

[April]

Thank you Diny. It all seems very straightforward. Phew. You are a very helpful lot here.

Does anybody know if it is cheaper to do from New Zealand or if there are any cons of doing it that way? I shall most probably do it from England now that I have this information but any other advice could be useful.

Thank you very much again.

[jocalla]

Hi April

When we first arrived here we applied under the 'family' cat. I having an oz passport, was going to sponsor Jon (husband) for pr.

We paid $700 when we put the application in, but this was as far as we got, as I received a letter from the nzis saying that the time frame for a decision was 12-18 months, I think, :uhoh Moorf can confirm the time frame as she was round my place when I got the letter, but pretty sure it was that. :nice1

Anyway if we had gone ahead a further payment was around $500, can't be definate on that one though sorry, just seem to have the figure $1200 in my head in total.

Luckily the nzis gave us a full refund when we withdrew our application :eek :clap , and we have now taken the route of skilled pr, eoi etc

Joanne

[April]

Thank you Joanne. Has anybody else done the whole thing in New Zealand?

[Moorf]

Yep, was 12-18mths - I remember being shocked at the lengthy timescale.

[Diny]

Yep, was 12-18mths - I remember being shocked at the lengthy timescale.


Moorf I'm confused. Have you gained PR through family category? Am I having a blonde moment :uhoh

Diny

[Moorf]

I received a letter from the nzis saying that the time frame for a decision was 12-18 months, I think, Moorf can confirm the time frame as she was round my place when I got the letter, but pretty sure it was that.

I was confirming from Jo's post above....

[Diny]

Derrrrrrr .... as I suspected - a blonde moment :uhoh :uhoh

That reminds me ..... my roots need doing.

[DrPhred]

Derrrrrrr .... as I suspected - a blonde moment :uhoh :uhoh

That reminds me ..... my roots need doing.

So, would that make it a FAKE blond moment? :mrgreen:

[Diny]

Oh yeah ...... there's a very intelligent 'mousey' bursting to get out really.

Diny