[Wiggy]

Been a while since I last posted anything but great fantastic news finally. The de facto route for myself and Kiwi partner didn't work out for various reasons, so I've bitten the bullet and have been going down the hard route of getting a job offer. And it's finally paid off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe it. Wrote to every environmental consultancy company in NZ I think and landed a telphone interview last week. And what makes it even better is it's for the biggest and best company around!! 2 hours of interview over the phone with 3 others seemed like it would never end, but Friday night got the e-mail offering me a job!!!!!!!!! Great salary, relocation package, cheap flights shipping etc and being put up in a hotel in Auckland. We can't beleive our luck!

Even though my partner will still be living and working in Tauranga its got to be so much better than me in London. We'll make it work and start looking at the possibilities.

So all bloody great and champagne all round! Now I have 2 months to move my life here to NZ, and I can't wait!! Couldn't be happier...........

[Mildred]

Great news Wiggy :clap

[Anita & Marco]

:clap Cheering for you!!!
That's really a nice story to read.
All the best with the preparation and move. :exit
Regards,
Anita

[Kim39]

Congratulations Wiggy :clap an excellent package :nice1

Kim

[Moorf]

Fantastic... :clap :clap

[Diny]

Wiggy .... well done. All that hard work paid off in the end.

Not expecting personal answers but what 'general' problems did you encounter with the de-facto application?

We're told that de-facto has the same status as 'spouse' but I've often wondered how true this is.

Anyway .... take it from me, the next 2 months will be manic. You'll think you have it all covered and then 'whallah' something else will appear on the 'to do' list. It makes the time fly very fast though. We land in Auckland on July 17th ....... when do you get there?

Good luck, keep us posted.

Diny

[Timbo]

Congrats Wiggy , well done.
It must be a bit sickening for you knowing that Mr Barrymore got in using de-facto.
:cheers

[Hannah-NL]

Congrats Wiggy, this must be like a dream come true, well to me it would be :yes :cheers

[jo b]

Wiggy

well done

I remember your de-facto issues.

Good on ya for perservering.

Jo

[jonSE]

Wiggy

congrats

would be curious as to why the de facto spouse route didn't work - It had the same status as "real" spouse even before "civil unions" actually got any kind of legal status here (last week) .

I came here via the "de fact or real" spouse route but it only got the hurrry up when i notified NZIS that I had a job offer with a NZIS accredited talent visa employer.

I wonder if you maybe working for the same employer on Vincent Street?

Jon

[Wiggy]

JonSe - sounds indeed like it may be the same employer! How did you guess???? Very geared up for overseas recruits by the sound of it. Any info would be much appreciated!

With regards to the de facto side of things. My boyfriend (Kiwi) and I (UK) have been in a serious relationship for over 5 years, but obviously living on the other side of the world from one another (due to work, university committments etc) has meant we have only been able to live togther during extended holidays, sabaticals and the year after I graduated. Total time however is well over 3 years if added together, with a period of 12 months after uni. The de facto category requires a couple to have lived together for 12 months and to prove a genuine relationship - correspondance, letters from family and friends, photos, joint bank accounts etc. We had all this in abundance but what let us down was the fact that we would not be living togther at the time of application. The reason we aren't again is the work thing.

So I travelled into London to NZ House to see someone in person to explain what we believed to be extenuating circumstances. To no avail. I was informed that if I moved to NZ and moved in with my boyfriend, setting up joint bank accounts etc, after 4 months I might be issued with a work visa on the basis of our de facto relationship. Unfortunately I would not have been able to work during this period which I know from experience would not have been an option.

I think I'm rambling - basically the options available to us were not ideal and it was for this reason that I set about applying for jobs and getting a work visa to be followed by PR. And here I am, ready to embark!

Any feedback on what to do, not to do, lessons learnt etc with regards to the big move would be much appreciated! At least I'm only curently renting and don't have a house to sell!!

Em

[Diny]

Any feedback on what to do, not to do, lessons learnt etc with regards to the big move would be much appreciated!

Drink plenty of gin .... it's a tremendous help :cheers

Good luck - keep us posted.

Diny

[Hannah-NL]

*Hic* I cwan vwouch ffor thatt! :P