[Babette & Andy]

And so it's our turn -
Submitted our ITA on 9th March, received the 'standard acknowledgement letter' a week or so later, and today an e-mail inviting Andy to the next stage. We've agreed for them to call Andy on Wednesday at 10am for our NZIS interview which please please please will result in us being granted PR :nice1

Say a little prayer for us please Wednesday morning, we will obviously let you know the outcome as soon as we've heard something.

Also - HELP my husband is having 'kittens' and will drive me mad for the next 37hrs :exit

Babette

[Jules]

Good luck :nice1

Jules

[foolsgold99]

you poor guys, waiting for an interview would have driven me mad. The next couple of days will be difficult, you just need to try and put it out of your mind.

we were lucky, when they phoned to arrange our interview I happened to be in, I said "can we do it now ?", they said yes, and we were done in 45 minutes. We had PR in a couple of days.

There are plenty of good posts on here which will let you know what to expect, my main advice would be, be positive, sound knowledgeable, and above all, appear to have a fallback plan (retrain, take a job at a slightly lower level etc) for when they ask the "what will you do if things go wrong" question. I got the impression that this was the most important question in the whole interview.

I'm sure you'll do great, you seem to be pretty knowledgeable about the whole thing

[Simon & Emily]

Good luck to you all :clap

Emily

[andersonclan]

:nice1 Things will be just fine - a bit like waiting for Christmas when you're a kid!!

Margaret

[andersonclan]

Babette

A wee question? Did you have a case officer allocated when your ITA was sent out?

Margaret

[Babette & Andy]

Thanks for the good luck & encouragement wishes.

Margaret - no we didn't. The standard letter just stated that a case officer would be assigned within a certain amount of time (haven't got it to hand) think it was 1-3months ? Today's e-mail was from a 'Visa Officer' which I assume is the same as a Case Officer. But then again, she could just be sending the e-mails on behalf of our Case Officer. We'll see when they reconfirm the appointment time tomorrow (we only replied after close of business today with our preferred time).

Babette

[Marie P]

wowwwwweeeeeee

I,m sooooo excited for you two ,

we will have everything crossed on weds ...

:nice1

Marie x

[NW2NZ]

:clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

Babette, congratulations. I'm saving the BIG congrats until after Wednesday for you :clap
When I saw the title of your post my stomache did a huge lurch, cos we're about a week behind you. The waiting since sending the ITA has been almost painful but, hopefully, nearly there now.
Now, remember, you've passed the scrutineering, you just have to sound "sane" for one phone call :laugh

:nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 :nice1

[Diny]

Arrggghhhhhhhh !!!!!

There you were on Saturday saying that you just wish you knew when it was going to be. Now you know !!!!!!!!!!

I just can't tell you how much I'm hoping it all goes to plan for you. I was going to suggest a stiff gin for Andy before the phone rings but maybe not such a good idea.

I'll give you a call on Wednesday afternoon (I promise I won't ring at 10 a.m. :mrgreen: ).

Fingers crossed. Will be thinking of you.

Diny

[debnjohn]

Best of luck for Wednesday!
You'll both be fine!!
John.

[Jo and Andy]

Best of luck for you, let us know how you get on.

:clap

[kiwidebs]

Good luck. I'm sure you'll be absolutely fine. Can't wait to hear how it all went (less than 24 hours from now!!)

Debs

[Kim39]

Am not a religous type of guy, but prayers are on the agenda now for the next 24 hrs. Good luck with it Babette/Andy

Kim

[xanctus]

Good luck to both of you...and I am sure the outcome will be just fine.
:mrgreen:

[MB]

All the best, guys - you'll do terrifically.
:yes Matt.

[Babette & Andy]

Thanks for all the good luck notes everyone, really means a lot to us :nice1 Seeing it's 95% me who looks at the forum, it's been really nice for Andy to see how much support we all give each other.

Don't think he's going to get much sleep tonight, same as last night really :uhoh His mind is so busy with tomorrow that this morning he totally forgot to pick up our friends little girl to take her to nursery with Amy, and he's been picking her up every morning for the past 2 years!! :roll:

Anyway, just under 17hrs before 'the call'. Will post the outcome as soon as we know.

Babette

[Hayden1002]

Well have you had it yet? :oops:
I can't help it, it just sort of gets to you and you want to know as well!
Full disclosure after the call please
H :bobby

[Marie P]

I'm sat here waiting to find out how you have gone on too ....

:roll:

Marie x

[kiwidollie]

Haven't been on the forum for a couple of days so I've only just caught up with things.

Don't know if you've had the call yet or not but I'm crossing everything for you just in case!

I'm sure you've nothing to worry about - your family are just the sort of lovely people that New Zealand would want :clap :clap :clap :clap :yes

[Jo and Andy]

Good luck. They want you and you know it. :nice1

[Diny]

Wellllll ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????/

Will phone you later ..... dying to know how it went.

Diny

[Rammer]

OMG got mine in one hour......... - the time stamp in the post is 1 hour behind !

Good luck Andy.

[kiwidollie]

Good luck Rammer - You'll be fine I'm sure x

[Suzy Rimbo]

OMG,

I have just read your thread, if you have not already had the call I wish you loads and loads of luck, if the call as already taken place I hope it went really well.

I will keep lookin to see your update, I'm so pleased for you both, especially you babette I don't think you could have taken much more of the nerves. take care and I will speak to you soon.

Suzy
x

[Rammer]

Just had interview, went ok - Andy your call was a big help - Thanks.........

I mentioned I needed my passport back as I was going to find work in mid May, and she said, It will be easier for me to stick hold of it as it will be easier to find work with a visa.

'The question is not if your gona get visa, the question is what'

PR or work to residence? - how is this desision made?

Oh a do hope its a PR I dont want to be the only dude to end up with a WTR

She is looking to finalise the application this friday....

:clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

Thanks everyone

OMG breath....

[Simon & Emily]

Congratulations Rammer :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

Only now you've got to wait for the official letter - as they say, patience, patience, patience .....

Let us all know when you get it,

Emily

[Marie P]

Bet you feel great to have jumped the last hurdle ...

best wishes

Marie x

[Marie P]

by the way ....how long was it .....what did they ask ??????

[Diny]

Well done Rammer !!!!

Babette .... I'm going to call you - can't stand the suspense !!!!!!!

Diny

[debnjohn]

Congratulations!

John

[Rammer]

Hang on... not had a final descision yet, but it is pretty much in the bag I think...I hope.. roll on friday :-)

I always come away from an interview thinking I could have done better, I should have said XYZ and ZYX but I think I did ok.

was asked about:

How am I going to find work.
What I would do I could'nt find work in my chosen field of work.
Schooling.
How are we going to find friends.
Have I ever worked away from family before
homesickness how would we overcome it.
Salary expectations.
Cost of living.
Health care.
Cost of housing and renting

I told her I wanted to go to NZ in mid May for factfind and jobhunt on my own for 2 weeks. She was working out what would be best, send my passport back now - 'as-is' or wait untill the decision has been made then send it back (hopefully with a PR) to make securing a job easier for me!

How long does it take from desision to passport returned with visa??

She did talk about WTR and do a lengthy explanation of timings particulay the length you must be in NZ per year, return visa etc. I got abit confused but in a attempt not to appear thick I just agreed.. :eek

She also mentioned Direct to residence, I assume this is a PR? :laugh

Does everyone get the 'I will let you know then' ?

:clap So what u think guys? PR or WTR ?? :clap

Ian

[Babette & Andy]

Hey everyone...it was not like the Spanish Inquisition after all !!!!

The Case Officer who called was really nice and was just friendly throughout the 30 minutes the whole thing took. After I came off the phone Babette told me that I never let the poor woman get a word in. I'd like to say that this was my cunning plan but it was more down to nerves than anything else. I do tend to witter on when I'm nervous !

No surprises on the questions front...stuff about what I'd done to look for employment so far, support when we get to NZ, what I'd do if I came across any obstacles, what I thought about the impact of migrants on the socio-economic balance of New Zealand and the wider South West Pacific basin :eek (I just made the last one up...sorry).

She says I should hear by Friday but the way she was talking at the end of our chat was very positive. So, just a bit more of a waiting game but at least the interview is over.

Good to hear that things went OK for you Rammer and that my call helped a little. Can you believe that we used to work at the same place a few years back. Incredible. :cheers

Really appreciated all the messages of good luck over the past day or so. This forum and the people it's brought us together with over the last few months has made this whole process a real pleasure. Cheers all. :nice1

Will post decision; what am I talking about !, my beautiful assistant will post the decison within minutes of us getting it no doubt.

Take it easy,

Andy
looking forward to a good night's kip tonight :exit .

[Rammer]

Andy,

They do say its small world...I find it amazing we used to work under the same roof 4 years ago..

good luck on your desicion, - thanks for the chat !

Ian

[MB]

Well done, all. All the best with your decisions.
:nice1
Matt, Vera and Winston.

[Diny]

Just had a nice chat to Babette on the phone. She sounds very excited - and so she should be.

Fingers crossed that you guys don't have to wait much longer than the end of the week before you hear.

Diny

[jesselyn]

oopps. im late :oops:
will just say well done! :clap :nice1

all the best,
jes

[KD17]

Excellent news all round :clap :clap

Look forward to reading your acceptance soon. :nice1 :nice1

Hopefully we're not far behind you.

A toast to you both :cheers :cheers

Keith & Debby

[Suzy Rimbo]

Great to hear it went well for all of you :nice1 and Hello Andy, great to see youpostin, I think you and me both prefere just to lurk in the background when it comes to info on the forum :oops: .

I Hope they don't keep you waiting to long and then maybe you can celebrate at the weekend ;).

Rammer are we goin to see you and your family at the next meet, it would be quite interestin to see if any of us know each other, you livin just up the road like.

Good Luck All

Suzy

[kiwidollie]

Well done Andy and Babette and Rammer!

Friday's not too far away so you won't be kept long in suspense.

I'm sure it will be good news for you all.

Cheers

[lindajax]

Babette and Andy ,
I've got everything possible crossed for you guys !!!!!!!

Love
Linda
xxxx

[Jo and Andy]

Well done, glad it went well for you.

So the idea is just keep them chatting.

:clap :clap :clap
:cheers

[Babette & Andy]

No news yet :wah and with Andy's patience being tested to its limit, it's going to be a long weekend :mrgreen:

Sure we'll hear some (positive ???) news sometime next week, they did say at the latest by next Friday. Seeing that the applications during March were far higher than usual (due to pending changes to Medicals) it was only to be expected that their decisions are taking a bit longer than what they used to.

Babette

[shagen]

Babette & Andy

I am sure it will all fall in place. Hang in there guys!

What is worth having is worth waiting for!

[bbq]

Hi Andy and Babette and Rammer

very late, but all the best to you

cheers

alex

[StevieD]

Sorry late guys, not been on too much what with the Grand National and all that work to do!!

Good luck to you - sure everything will go o.k. Prayers in the bag......

Stevie, Jan and the kids...

[RoadRunner]

Just had my interview and I wanted to say a big THANK YOU! to everyone on this forum who shared their interview experiences. :clap :clap

As everyone has said, the CO was very friendly and it felt much more like a nice chat than a formal interview.

I was asked basically the exact same questions as others have already posted - how will you get a job, what will you do if you can't immediatly find one, how will you support yourself, do you intend to rent/buy, where do you want to live, etc.

Now the wait begins again for this stage! Boy, I'm almost getting good at this patience thing! (Nah!) :laugh

Again, thanks to all of you above for sharing the questions asked - it definitely helped me to prepare. THANKS! :nice1

RoadRunner

[Babette & Andy]

Big sigh of relief that it's over Roadrunner :nice1 And yes, now you're back in the waiting game . . .

For the first time in the whole process I'm starting to find it hard to be patient :wah wish 'the call' would just come. It's been a week since our interview. Almost feel in limbo, which is strange cause whether we get PR or not we're going!

Anyway, tomorrow is another day I MUST BE PATIENT :mrgreen: If we don't hear by Friday 4pm, Andy is calling our CO :eek

Babette

[NW2NZ]

I had my interview today too and it went very well. So now onto the final waiting area!!!! The whole process makes me think of being carted off to casualty. Wait on the blue seats, move to the red seats, then on to the green seats...see Doc...back to wait outside the pharmacy :mrgreen:





Tick, bloody tock :smile <can chance a smile now tho'

[Marie P]

congrats Road Runner and NW2NZ

:clap

toasting you with my yummy wine tonight :cheers

Marie x

[Bubbles]

Well Done All.
:clap :clap :clap

See, It wasn't that bad was it ?
:cheers

John

[NW2NZ]

Not bad.....just a bit like being the Phone-a-friend when your bestest buddy is on the £1,000,000 question! DO NOT FLUFF IT! :laugh

[Rammer]

Flamin ell....

No news on my desision yet. The suspense is killing me. My CO is back on Monday. I hope she had a good jolliday leaving me here to stew....

Roll on....

Andy, are u Emailing your CO tomorrow? have u cracked and just rung up?

Ian

[Yogi]

Is it me or are NZIS particularly bad with emails of late?

When I call our CO I she's at her desk 80-90% of the time but rarely responds to my emails unless I call her.

Cheers,

Yogi.

[Babette & Andy]

To complete this thread - take a look at our outcome:

http://www.emigratenz.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2580

Thanks all for all good wishes - they obviously worked!!

Babette