[Howie]

I just told my boss that I'm leaving to move to NZ. I'm sure he thinks I'm quite nuts. Now we just need to pick a date and plan the move. Actually, there's a few things to take care of first.

My husband has a job offer and has sent it in to London. Our application has been looked, but I'm not sure that's been done in detail yet. They have been waiting on our police check from Canada, which we were told would take 5 months to get after we sent it the request in October. NZIS agreed that we could drive to Canada to get a name check in person, rather than a fingerprint check by mail. After some groveling in Canada, we got the name check. As soon as we arrived back in the US, we got a call from the RCMP in Canada saying that the fingerprint check was ready!!!! I guess we didn't need to make the 10 hour (each way) drive to Canada. But it was nice to see some friends and family anyways.

So we sent in the police check yesterday, and now we're just waiting for the official word from NZIS. We don't want to book our tickets until our passports are stamped. Any idea how long this may take? Also, NZIS hasn't actually asked for our passports, just notarized copies. Will they notify us when our application has been approved, so we can go ahead and buy our tickets?

The other good news is that my husband has finished his thesis and will be defending on Jan 31st!!! So he can come too. Just kidding, I wouldn't leave him behind. My dog is also coming, but he has a tumour and is undergoing treatment. The vet is pretty optimistic, but we would like to see some improvement and know that he's going to be OK, before we fly and quarantine him.

Time to start packing.

[StevieD]

Good luck guys - can't help you on the NZIS question, suffice to say you have to apply a little bit of pressure if you in a hurry. But have you been allocated a work permit/pr? Not sure from your post. If you are at the application stage it could take a few months to complete. Whichever it is, fingers crossed for you.

Steve - hopefully leaving Liverpool in the not too distant future.

[Howie]

Sorry for not being clear. We submitted our ITA back in Nov (minus the police check that was sent yesterday). We submitted the job offer about two weeks ago. I understand they usually grant PR if you have a job offer, but I guess we'll wait and see.

Susan

[foolsgold99]

The vet is pretty optimistic, but we would like to see some improvement and know that he's going to be OK, before we fly and quarantine him.

Ship your dog to Hawaii for a week, and do the paperwork from there, no quarantine requirement then, you can pick him up straight from the airport. Dogs from Aussie / UK / Hawaii are exempt from quarantine rules

[Howie]

I thought that Hawaii itself had quarantine rules for dogs coming from continental USA.

Has anyone tried this?

[Howie]

I'm starting to worry about timing. Now that we have everything in to London, there didn't seem to be anything else to worry about, and I'm a bit of a worrier. Our case officer has performed an initial review and said that everything regarding our application seems to be in order with the exeption of the documents that he should receive from us on Monday. I understand that PR gets expedited with a job offer, but just how quickly can we have our Passports stamped? Should we go ahead and send our passports to London now, to speed things up? Or should we wait until our case officer tells us that our application has been approved?

I was hoping to book the flight and the movers in the next couple of weeks, but hate to do that without having our passports actually stamped. The big deadline is that we currently live in student housing, and now that my husband is graduating, we will get kicked out at the end of February with no where to live.

Any else gone through this on a tight deadline?

[gil]

Dogs from Aussie / UK / Hawaii are exempt from quarantine rules
Wow, I hadn't actually realised that. Thanks Foolsgold!
Gil

[Rob K]

We were in a similar situation a year ago: I had a job offer in NZ, and we needed our passports back in time with the visas to go, etc.

Difference was we sent it to the High Commission in Ottawa - within our country of Canada. Why London for you?

Anyways, we were given very expedient service: about a month or so turnaround, and the only reason it wasn't quicker was because we had about 2 months.

The main point is, if you stress to the embassy folks that your employer needs you in NZ asap, then you'll get express service. After all, their job in the embassy is to serve NZ's interests (ie: your new employer's interests).

My advice would be to wait until you are assured you'll get the passports back in time, before booking airfare - just in case. The embassy might not like you putting the wagon before their horse, so to speak. But if you throw yourselves at their mercy, they'll probably do your passports right away.

Surprising to read that you got the RCMP print-check so soon. I wonder if they have been reading some of my posts about this and felt a bit vexed. I hope they don't take it out on us when we return to Canada next month. Anyways, glad you had a good visit north of the border...

Cheers,

Rob

[tigerlily]

Yes, Hawaii has a quarantine period of a month, normally. But there is a new 5-day or less program, where you do some of the waiting on the mainland. http://www.hawaiiag.org/hdoa/ai_aqs_faq.htm#q3

My OH grew up in Hawaii, said they never caught a case of rabies from the old 3 month quarantine period, but LOTS of animals die in the holding facilities that are HOT.

Air NZ does a stopover in Honolulu too.

[katandbob]

good luck on the rest of the paperwork, hope you get it with the least amount of hassle

Kat

[Howie]

Our passports arrived, our dog's import permit arrived and the movers come on Tuesday. We leave the US March 9th, stop over in Canada (Victoria) to visit family on the way and arrive in Auckland March 18th. We are madly trying to sell our stuff. The only big thing that hasn't sold yet is our car. When we moved from Calgary to NJ, the big stress was selling our house. Selling a car is a little less stressful.

As excited as we are to be leaving NJ and moving to NZ, there are a few things we will miss. I played my last hockey game last night. I don't think I can possibly find a nice a group of women to play hockey with in Auckland. We're also having some last dinners with friends and a big party on Saturday night. Of course, we will have no furniture left by Saturday night, but it should be fun anyways.

We're really excited about NZ, but overall it's a bit of a stressful time sorting things out on this end. We haven't even had time to think about the fact that we don't know where we'll be staying in Auckland.

Only two more days of work. Yay!!! See you all in NZ.

Susan

[Nienke]

Good luck with all the goodbyes Susan! Have a safe flight and a great new start in New Zealand!

[Toronto_Kiwi]

I'm very envious since I just left Auckland on Sunday night and now I have to put up with Toronto weather for at least the next six months. Wish I could offer to start a women's hockey league with you in Auckland but I'm one of the few Canadians who doesn't like / play the game. Maybe you could start playing grass hockey? Or you'll have to learn netball. Good luck finding a place!