[Carl and Liz]

Hi,

I was hoping to hear from my fellow Americans regarding their timing experiences with NZIS.

We applied under the skilled migrant category with 140 points and no job offer. NZIS has had our application since late June 2005. We received a letter dated June 28, 2005 stating that we would have a visa officer in a month and a decision within two to four months after that.

On July 20, 2005, NZIS sent another letter saying we would not have a visa officer for another one to two months and a final decision two to four months after that. So far we have not been assigned a visa officer or otherwise heard any further from NZIS.

On the NZIS website it says that the process can be delayed due to the timing of interview trips. Are they actually coming here to interview us? It seems like many people in the UK had their interviews by phone (and also had their applications processed faster).

I would appreciate hearing about other Americans experiences and if anyone has information on what's going on. I'm tired of waiting and just want to get down there and get settled!!!

Thanks for any input.

Liz

[jen]

Hi Liz,

The timing for us was that we sent NZIS our ITA April 27th & got an email from our NZIS officer about 10 days later asking to set up a phone interview.

My husband is the primary applicant and he had the interview two weeks later . Our officer was in London and we're in California so he did it at 8 am local time; at least we didn't have all day to get nervous!

I don't know why you're having the delay in getting an officer; hopefully somebody will have some information for you, but hang in there & good luck-

Jen

[Carl and Liz]

Hi Jen,

Thanks for the info. Did you guys have a job offer? We don't and I'm wondering if that is why it's taking so long.

Have you moved or do you have plans to? I'm just putting the house on the market and I'm hoping we can be out of here and in Wellington soon.

Regards,
Liz

[K&CS]

Hi Liz

Sorry - I'm not American, so can't answer about the present timings, but I do know that in April and May, they were being turned around a lot quicker than they are at the moment, so don't be discouraged by that. The average time for UK submissions without job offers at the moment seems to be 6-8 weeks - it possibly takes a couple of weeks longer for Americans if they go via London. Have you tried emailing the queue manager? They must realise that you're pretty desperate for news.

Good luck and keep us posted about your progress.

Kate

[Carl and Liz]

Hi Kate,


"Desperate for news" is a very accurate description for us at the moment!

Thanks for your input. I spoke with the Marketing Director in the NZIS Los Angeles office today. He said that he may be doing the interview or it may be done over the phone from London. At any rate, he's going to look into it to so what the hold up is.

I have what is probably an irrational fear of contacting London - like they may deem me a pain in the behind and drop me to the bottom of the queue! Technically, we are still within the time frame they provided (from about August 20 to September 20) to receive our visa officer, it just seems like a long time.

Regards,
Liz

[Debbie]

Hi Liz,
We are applying from the UK and via an agent here but when we submitted our ITA this week we were told that there were delays in London, (presumably due to summer hols) and it would be 2-3 months to get allocated an officer and an interview apx 2 weeks after that and a decision within 2 weeks from interview. We are also jobless.
Hold on in there, the waiting is almost unbearable. Its the great photos and feed back on the forum that are keeping me going, (and the odd glass of something special!)
Good luck. Debbie

[Carl and Liz]

Hi Debbie,

Thanks for sharing your info - a tall glass of something sounds pretty good right about now! I guess it's just more hurry up and wait.

Liz

[xanctus]

I am not originally american, but I live here, and I can say that it's about a year even when we started we submit our EOI all the way until we got PR.
Good luck everyone...

[selchie]

We'll be finding out soon enough (or perhaps not so soon?). As soon as the OH gets her new passport, we'll send in our application.

[Carl and Liz]

Selchie -- good luck. I'll make sure to keep you posted - hopefully it won't take us a year like Xanctus.