ers99w
5th March 2009, 09:39 PM
Hey y'all!
You all helped me so much through this process, I thought I'd list my experience today at the Auckland-Henderson branch of Immigration (excerpt from my blog):
I got to Immigration a half an hour early for my appointment today. I checked in, ate my lunch, randomly ran into someone I knew from work there, and prepped myself as appt-time came...and went. And then ten minutes AFTER my appt time came and went. I got back in line, waited ten more minutes, and asked the receptionist if my case officer (CO) knew I was around. She didn't--they hadn't called her to let her know that I was there! So much for getting there EARLY, I was now 20 minutes LATE.
Anyway, I needn't have worried, my CO was really super nice about my appt being so late. She took me to get my visitor's pass to pin on my shirt and sign in their log book near the reception desk, and then we went in an elevator upstairs (3rd floor? 4th? can't remember).
I don't remember what we talked about in the elevator, probably the weather (wet and windy) or something, and where I was from in the US. Small talk. She led me into a room with a large, empty desk with a computer and some styrofoam cups of water on it, sat down on one side, and I took the other. She started talking about how I shouldn't be nervous, we'd just chat and she'd ask me questions from her list. She would take notes on my answers, so she'd be typing as I talked. I was to talk slowly and clearly to help her take notes. She said it would take about an hour.
After that kind-of rough start, I was pretty calm about the whole thing. There are a list of questions on the New Zealand Immigration forums [SHOUT OUT, thank you my homies!] from people who've been through this sort of thing, and I had gone through them a million times to prepare myself. Plus, the CO was really nice, about my age [30], actually, and said 'cool!' to a lot of the things I said. Very encouraging.
List of questions:
What do you like about NZ, as opposed to Australia, say, that makes you want to move here?
Why are you moving to NZ right now?
Do you have friends or family in NZ?
What sort of support would your friends give if you were without a job?
If your current job were to end, could you find skilled employment?
What have you done to look for skilled employment?
What companies would you apply at to find such employment?
What would you do if you could not find a job in your desired field?
What sort of difficulties do you expect to face in NZ?
What would you do if you faced one of those obstacles?
Where do you want to live long-term?
What is your long-term plan?
What support do you have in NZ?
Do you have any further comments or questions for me?
...among others that I do not remember, but none were a surprise. There was a LOT of questions about what I'd do if my current job ended.
After the questions were done, I showed her some pictures to show what I've been up to the past few months, me with friends, me traveling, me with BF, etc. She didn't want to see my bank account statements proving that I had an emergency fund and could sustain myself without employment for a while.
After that, she printed out the list of questions with her notes on them, had me look it over to correct any mistakes, and had me initial and sign the document. She said that she would make a decision in 1-2 days, but it would then go to her manager, who would review my file and get back to me in about 3 weeks (there is a backlog). She led me back downstairs in the elevator, I gave back the visitor's tag, and signed out.
So...for now, I've done what I can! It's all out of my hands and in fate's (or rather my CO's).
You all helped me so much through this process, I thought I'd list my experience today at the Auckland-Henderson branch of Immigration (excerpt from my blog):
I got to Immigration a half an hour early for my appointment today. I checked in, ate my lunch, randomly ran into someone I knew from work there, and prepped myself as appt-time came...and went. And then ten minutes AFTER my appt time came and went. I got back in line, waited ten more minutes, and asked the receptionist if my case officer (CO) knew I was around. She didn't--they hadn't called her to let her know that I was there! So much for getting there EARLY, I was now 20 minutes LATE.
Anyway, I needn't have worried, my CO was really super nice about my appt being so late. She took me to get my visitor's pass to pin on my shirt and sign in their log book near the reception desk, and then we went in an elevator upstairs (3rd floor? 4th? can't remember).
I don't remember what we talked about in the elevator, probably the weather (wet and windy) or something, and where I was from in the US. Small talk. She led me into a room with a large, empty desk with a computer and some styrofoam cups of water on it, sat down on one side, and I took the other. She started talking about how I shouldn't be nervous, we'd just chat and she'd ask me questions from her list. She would take notes on my answers, so she'd be typing as I talked. I was to talk slowly and clearly to help her take notes. She said it would take about an hour.
After that kind-of rough start, I was pretty calm about the whole thing. There are a list of questions on the New Zealand Immigration forums [SHOUT OUT, thank you my homies!] from people who've been through this sort of thing, and I had gone through them a million times to prepare myself. Plus, the CO was really nice, about my age [30], actually, and said 'cool!' to a lot of the things I said. Very encouraging.
List of questions:
What do you like about NZ, as opposed to Australia, say, that makes you want to move here?
Why are you moving to NZ right now?
Do you have friends or family in NZ?
What sort of support would your friends give if you were without a job?
If your current job were to end, could you find skilled employment?
What have you done to look for skilled employment?
What companies would you apply at to find such employment?
What would you do if you could not find a job in your desired field?
What sort of difficulties do you expect to face in NZ?
What would you do if you faced one of those obstacles?
Where do you want to live long-term?
What is your long-term plan?
What support do you have in NZ?
Do you have any further comments or questions for me?
...among others that I do not remember, but none were a surprise. There was a LOT of questions about what I'd do if my current job ended.
After the questions were done, I showed her some pictures to show what I've been up to the past few months, me with friends, me traveling, me with BF, etc. She didn't want to see my bank account statements proving that I had an emergency fund and could sustain myself without employment for a while.
After that, she printed out the list of questions with her notes on them, had me look it over to correct any mistakes, and had me initial and sign the document. She said that she would make a decision in 1-2 days, but it would then go to her manager, who would review my file and get back to me in about 3 weeks (there is a backlog). She led me back downstairs in the elevator, I gave back the visitor's tag, and signed out.
So...for now, I've done what I can! It's all out of my hands and in fate's (or rather my CO's).