I was thinking we'd have anything up to 12 months to play with once we'd put our application in, but I read somewhere a while ago that it took one couple only 3 months, so that was a bit of a shock.
With hubby still working, I was reckoning on say 10-11 months for the application process, dragging it out another 4 months by delaying payment of the migrant levy, then we'd have up to another 12 months to get to NZ to activate our PR (if the INZ graciously decides to grant us one). If the application was to go through too quickly, we might be caught in a situation where we aren't quite ready to make the move. Obviously, the longer we can have a salary coming in, the more money we'll have to retire on. Once you're in NZ with PR you have to stay there for a minimum of 6 months per year for the first 2 years to qualify for an Indefinite Returning Residents' Visa, so we don't want to screw that up. It's a way off yet, so we'll just have to see how things go. Fate has a funny way of sticking her oar in, so we'll just play along and hope for the best.
With you having 2 children already in NZ, your application could go through quite smoothly, as long as there aren't any health issues with your medical that could hold things up. The medicals are another worry with us and we just hope we'll scrape though without any unexpected problems.
As with all visas, INZ take their own sweet time in processing them, but I'd hope you'd be sorted within a year, but quite possibly a lot sooner than that. I thought, being retirees, we'd be put to the bottom of the pile, but it doesn't seem that this is necessarily so. Timing depends on several things, like how busy the branch is that is sorting your application, but it should be more straightforward than if you were trying to get in on the strength of your qualifications, work experience or a job offer.
I hope it all goes well for you and then you can move forward with your plans.
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Mother Bear 
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