[icemaiden]

It's been a long - and incredibly tough - ride. There is good news and bad news: the good news really is that we're about to get our telephone interview and then hopefully have PR approved: the not so good news is that I had to take my son off the application (he's now almost 24) - problems over dependency, etc. He will try again in a couple of years independently.

To all of you still struggling along, keep on smiling. It is almost a year since we submitted our ITA!! The wheels of NZIS grind very, very slowly indeed sometimes and the hoops we have had to jump through have been bigger than I ever imagined they would be.

If all goes well, we'll arrive somewhere in NZ just after Christmas, and hopefully in time to celebrate New Year and a new beginning there. I say somewhere because I'm still applying for teaching jobs but there's a few things now in the pipeline.

Fingers crossed ...

[doreysc]

the not so good news is that I had to take my son off the application (he's now almost 24) - problems over dependency, etc.


Was there anything specific they said about dependency? We have a 19 year old who wants to come as a dependent so it would be interesting to hear their reasons - if you are prepared to share that is

Thanks

Simon

[Suniel]

I too want to know more info if possible, as I have got step-daugher (just crossed 17yrs), would she have her residency status changed (as and when our PR is updated...IRRV etc) or she will need to start a fresh application of PR once she crosses 24?

Cheers,

[Carey]

Congrats. Icemaiden, it sounds as though it's all coming together! Will be interested to know how you get on applying for jobs.......very best of luck with that.

[Mamee & Co]

Well done Ice Maiden, almost there. It's been a long haul for you. Good luck with the interview.

[JandM]

Suniel, if your step-daughter is accepted as a dependent on your application, that wouldn't be changed afterwards. Whatever happens to the main applicant's status also happens to the family members' status, if they're all in NZ together - so, when you get PR, so will she.

[three to go]

Hi doreysc, if this helps, we just got PR and our 20 year old son was on our application as a dependent child - he is at uni at the moment. We sent a certified copy of his birth certificate, an original UCAS letter confirming his uni place, an original letter from our local authority about his student loan award and several original bank statements showing his weekly allowance being transferred from our bank account to his. Seemed to do the trick!

[Sam B]

The rollercoaster never ends Ice Maiden.

[pamg9]

Icemaiden, Sorry to hear that you were not successful in including your son. I am sure you are also thinking - all that money for medicals, police clearance etc etc. I can relate to this as we have just had a very close call with including our 23 year old son. My schoolboy error was in thinking that "single" meant not married, and blissfully included him despite the fact that he has been living with his girlfriend for a while. Ironically though - she broke up with him a few months back because she did not want to move to NZ. So - as luck would have it - he has been accepted on our application. Just waiting for the interview too. Also hoping to be there in time for finding work before the employment agencies shut down for the Xmas break.

There are other categories that you could bring him in on. Study? Sponsorship - but that takes sooooo long and ironically they need a job offer.... for a job that they can only take up in about two years time! If he gets in through his own Work route? Once you are settled and have a base for him to work from, then - being Brits - he could stay with you for 9 months while you work through the system.

Good luck for the interview, and for a positive outcome.

[tea drinker]

Glad to hear the good news.

[icemaiden]

Thank you all for good wishes. My CO has gone unusually quiet - she's normally incredibly efficient at replying to e-mails, etc. but her phone at NZ house is constantly on divert and there's no reply to my enquiries. I think she may have gone off sick.:wah

Told my boss today I'm 99% certain that I'll be on my way at Christmas, so I hope CO has got minor sniffles only:wah:wah

More waiting .... I'm becoming a very patient person indeed ...

On the other side, still INCREDIBLY ANNOYED at situation over my son. Maybe a follow up with an immigration lawyer in NZ will put my mind at rest but I'll wait until we get there now. There have been times recently where I've been tempted to withdraw from the whole situation but I'm hoping NZ is going to be worth it all in the end and all will eventually come right.

[JandM]

Is there anything you can share of what put your son's case outside the guidelines, which might help other people? Understand it may be too personal, in which case of course ignore the question.

[Kayaker]

Having noticed the return of the roller-coaster metaphor here recently, I thought I'd re-post something I posted a year ago in hopes of encouraging new arrivals to this forum to keep their chins up...

We're almost a year in now, living and working happily in Dargaville, but back in the States last year our roller coaster went:

UP when we took a month-long, extensive tour of both islands in '06 and resolved to try to emigrate...
DOWN when we realized how complicated and expensive the application process would be...
UP when our INZ worksheet showed we had just enough points for the pool...
DOWN when our families had negative reactions to the idea...
UP when we completed the EOI and were selected with 105 points and no job offer...
DOWN when we looked at each other and said, "What the hell are we doing?"
UP when we got our ITA and sent our "expedited" forms off to the NZQA...
DOWN when we had heard nothing from NZQA after three months...
UP when our medicals seemed free of any alarming or disqualifying results...
DOWN when our police reports were late...
UP when INZ granted a four-month extension of our ITA...
DOWN when we still hadn't heard ("expedited?") from NZQA after five months...
UP when NZQA finally sent a carrier-pigeon with a note requesting clarifications of our qualifications...
DOWN when one of our medicals was nearing expiration...
UP when our diplomas finally received high scores from NZQA...
DOWN when we looked at each other and said, "What the hell are we doing?"
UP when OH received her "Provisional Registration" from the NZ Teachers Council...
DOWN when one of our elderly parents had a health crisis and emigration suddenly seemed a bad idea...
UP when we got our extended ITA "lodged" in the nick of time...
DOWN when INZ asked for follow-up reports on my osteoarthritis and OH's skin cancers...
UP when our doctors' positive progress reports were accepted...
DOWN as we waited and waited and waited...
UP when I was offered a clinical-assessment pathway to x-ray-tech registration and a practising licence by the NZ Radiation Technologists Board...
DOWN when we read of and identified with others' frustrations on the Forum...
UP when we were "Accepted in Principle"...
DOWN when we looked at each other and said, "What the hell are we doing?"
UP when our BLUE STICKERS finally arrived...
DOWN when we realised the scope and scale of what we had to do to get our house ready to rent...
UP when we were able to book cheap off-season tickets to Auckland...
DOWN when families and friends seemed hurt, envious, or ambivalent...
UP when we looked at each other and said, "What the hell."
DOWN when it came time to start the first round of goodbyes...
UP UP UP when we looked at each other last night and said, "We're going to do this!"

The roller-coaster is a tired metaphor....but no more tired than we!

Courage, fellow travelers. Someday soon we'll enjoy a rueful laugh about all this on a beach beneath the Southern Cross...

Cheers. :cool:

P.S.--By the way, I was 59 when our EOI went in and my OH (the primary applicant) was 53, so you're not too old, even if you think you are.

[Leo]

Still riding / hanging onto the oft mentioned roller coaster myself :wah ... I draw strength and comfort from the tongue-in-cheek sharing here on our lovely forum :yes

Ah well... when Life hands us lemons, we'll just make Lemonade! :cheers

[Scorpio]

NO mate, in NZ, you make Lemon & Paeroa! Cheers! Hang in there... :cheers

Still riding / hanging onto the oft mentioned roller coaster myself :wah ... I draw strength and comfort from the tongue-in-cheek sharing here on our lovely forum :yes

Ah well... when Life hands us lemons, we'll just make Lemonade! :cheers

[icemaiden]

Turns out my CO was off for a few days with some kind of bug. She came back this morning and I spoke to her about 11am. During our conversation then we sorted out our PR interview for lunchtime TODAY. I can't believe that part has happened so fast. All seemed to be fine and I was told I would now just get the decision as to whether it would be PR or WTR!!! Yeah, good news for a change.

J&M - I can't give further info on the public forum at present but if anyone needs info please don't hesitate to PM me and I will help where I can.

[three to go]

I was told I would now just get the decision as to whether it would be PR or WTR!!! Yeah, good news for a change.



Good news at last!! Fingers (and everything else) crossed for you icemaiden.

And hope all goes well for your son's independent application - our 25 year old son will be doing the same. It is a worry.

[Mamee & Co]

Hope that you get the news fast...and that the website is up and working if you get a status change email!