The story of how I got RESIDENCY! (I'm like a YanK

[jamesthecarman]

WHAT A RELIEF!!!!

It's been a long journey, and worth it. It seems wierd that after all this time (been here 14 months) that I can now call myself a "Kiwi". Thanks to everyone here for your support.....and laughing at my jokes. Speaking of which, here's my story in NZ (arrival, work visa, residency), with a few jokes, and jabs at employment agencies/telecom bureaucracy, and immigration....

Here's a quick timeline:

• Arrival
  17 July 2004 - Arrived
  17 July 2004 - Almost deported, given a week to get a return ticket (oops!!)
  17 July 2004 - WHAT!? YOU DON'T HAVE CENTRAL HEATING OR AIR CONDITIONING OR INSULATION!?!? James goes into fetal position for sleeping (I had a nightmare about this 2 weeks before coming, but I was in the Alps, not in a house)
  20 July - Passport (and other meaningless stuff like cash, address book, etc) stolen (tip: don't leave your bookbag in full view in a locked car in a tourist location)
  21 July - Hello, my passport was stolen, please don't kick me out, here's the police report
  28 July - have replacement passport, access to cash, and have an 'itinerary' (aka didn't actually pay for the return ticket)....and get a visitor's visa[/list:u]
  Disaster averted. Important notes for anyone coming to NZ:
  A. Have a return ticket.
  B. Don't leave valuables in full view in your.
  C. Older houses (like pre 1994ish) don't have insulation. 1% of them (if your lucky) have central heating/air conditioning
  D. Business do have insulation and central heating
  E. Kiwis don't live in grass huts (for the Americans reading this). Though the temperature inside a home sometimes feels likes it....ever seen breath in front of your face INDOORS?
  F. You just have to have a ticket reserved, not necessarily a paid return ticket

Work Visa Timeline
August 04 - Volunteering in Auckland to get some experience while I'm job searching. I'd highly recommend it - http://volunteeringnz.org.nz/
September 04 - Interview # 1 with recruitment agency for Yellow Pages (Telecom)
September 04 - 2 week holiday in Christchurch, loved it down there.
October 04 - Interview #2, this one with Yellow Pages
October 04 - Interview #2 + 2 days 'I don't think they will be able to hire you, you don't have a work permit'
October 04 - Interview #2 + 2 days and 2 hours 'They may be able to hire you, we'll know by the end of the day'
October 04 - Interview #2 + 3 days 'Sorry we didn't get back to you yesterday, I don't think they will be able to hire you, you don't have a work visa, but maybe they can'......me - Ok, call me if anything changes. I'll be in Christchurch
October 04 - Moved to Christchurch

11 November 04 - They should have a job offer to you tomorrow!!
15 November - Job Offer (hooooray!!)
16 November - Work Visa/Permit application - I should be able to start work by 13 December

05 December - Approved Work Visa!! Hoooray again!!
06 December - Hey, I can start next Monday, 13 December
07 December - We're checking on that for you
10 December - Sorry, you can't start until 17 January
23 December - Xmas loan from my sister for my last month unemployed (hooray!!)

16 January - Fly back up to Yuckland...I mean Auckland
17 January - Start work
19 January - See the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers filming on way to work (sorry, that was random, but so was seeing them in Aotea Square for crying out loud

Important notes for applying for a work visa:
A. Always call immigration twice to double check what you've been told
B. Be on top of employment agencies
C. Telecom is a big company. A former monopoly. They still move/act like it ;-)
D. There are different offices for immigration in different cities. I lived in Chch, but my job offer was in Auckland. An immigration officer in Chch handled it.
E. Volunteer during your free time. They like it, hopefully you like it, and get to meet/help some Kiwis. http://volunteeringnz.org.nz
F. If you get a work permit for under 2 years you don't have to get the medical exam done
G. Along with Xena, Hercules, LOTR, Chronicles of Narnia, etc....the Power Rangers are also filmed in NZ
[list]Residency Timeline
15 Feb 05 - EOI
16 Feb 05 - EOI selected, invited to apply for residency
March 05 - Hello NZ police, I need my fingerprints taken for residency. Your next available appointment is late APRIL!!??
Late April - Fingerprints taken, sent to FBI
June 05 - Residency application (after waiting for medical stuff to come in, parents to send stuff from home, and.....oh wait, still waiting for FBI certificate/fingerprints)
June 05 - Application + 2 weeks - THEY DON'T KNOW WHERE MY APPLICATION/PASSPORT ARE!!!
July 05 - Oh, they turned up in our document centre 3 weeks after they were sent. Turns out I sent the wrong application. I submitted some form saying 'application for residency' rather than the photocopy/printout of my EOI, which was the application!
July 05 - Still waiting for FBI certificate (which was sent off in April!!)
August 05 - FBI Certificate arrives. Submitted them.
August 05 - Interview (man this was good, see below)
15 Sept ? (post curtailed due to lack of space)

[jamesthecarman]

Interview:
General shooting the breeze, getting to know me, where I've been in NZ, where I've applied, where I want to go, what I want to do, learn about my support system, etc.

Pretty light hearted. Then this question (asked in a light hearted manner)

Interviewer: Some people are scared of the immigration process, what do you think?
James: pause
James: pause, laughs internally
James: pause, (thinks: hmm, how should I put this)
James: It's kind of like going to the dentist, but worse. You have a big organization in control of your future.
Interviewer: Wow, people really think of it like that?
James: Yes, but worse. I was being nice. (with a smile on my face)

Interviewer: You filled this out on your own, most people go through an agency
James: It costs more, another organization to get involved, and you probably don't know what's going on. It never occured to me to do it that way.
Interviewer: good on ya mate

Interviewer: Well, there's 3 options for you.
A. You get residency
B. You get work to residency (get an open work visa, work in a skilled position for 3 months, then you get residency)
C. You get declined

Interviewer: Pronounce fish and chips please
James: Fish and chips
Interviewer: You didn't pronounce it Feesh and Cheeps. You aren't getting declined

James: Fair Dinkum!!

Ok, that last fish n chips part was a joke. She did tell me that I wasn't getting declined. (Aussies pronounce it Feesh and Cheeps and insist Kiwis say Fush and Chups...which isn't true, but compared to Feesh and Cheeps maybe it sounds like a "u")

[Welshgirl]

Wow, that was worth a read!

Let me be the first to congratulate you on getting Residency - it seems like forever ago that you stayed in my house before I even arrived in NZ, so it's about bl**dy time you got permission to stay here permanently! :icon_mrgreen:

Congrats James and keep your eye on your passport from now on - that little blue sticker will get you a long way! :icon_wink:

[SteveyC]

Fantastic Post mate. Congratulation muchly

[jamesthecarman]

it seems like forever ago that you stayed in my house before I even arrived in NZ, so it's about bl**dy time you got permission to stay here permanently!

Congrats James and keep your eye on your passport from now on - that little blue sticker will get you a long way! ;)

Cheers mate! ;-) Thanks for having me over!! (another note: on weekends with a holiday make sure you book your room early at the backpacker's you want to go to....oh, and don't pass on SH 2, you could get into an accident)

I'm looking at my passport right now.

Ok, just looked at the residency sticker again :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SteveyC - Muchos Gracias!

(just looked at the residency sticker.....again)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I hope this post (and my experience) helps others out with something they may not know, and to give them hope. Shoot, I almost feel like I learned something from the post!!

It certainly was a learning experience. If I should ever try to get residency somewhere else I'll know what to do/not to do.....and if not, I could always use this in my next life 8-) (well, or next alias.....James bin Carman of Al Sheepa can't always maintain a public profile!!)

[selchie]

Congrats , and well done.

We just got a letter from NZIS saying it may be 3 months before they assign a case worker. Yeesh. I just hope they send our passports back soon; guess I'd better give them a shout.

[Daisyspop]

Congratulations on the tour de force but, not wishing to burst your bubble - or, as the locals say,' pee in yor pocket', don't you have to be here for three years before becoming a kiwi? Should be a breeze after your experiences.

[MotherBear]

Maybe James is trying to relay to us that he feels a kiwi in his heart, now that he's officially been allowed to stay permanently. If, by having to wait 3 years before becoming a kiwi you mean applying for citizenship, I believe it's now 5 years.

[jamesthecarman]

Maybe James is trying to relay to us that he feels a kiwi in his heart, now that he's officially been allowed to stay permanently. ?If, by having to wait 3 years before becoming a kiwi you mean applying for citizenship, I believe it's now 5 years.

Bah humbug!

I'm supposed to move back to the US sometime, probably about 3 years. I'm a Kiwi, in my heart anyway. Getting citizenship doesn't get you anything else other than another passport and the ability to work in Australia. I've got everything I want now (oh wait, a nice job in my field would be nice, but this sticker had to happen to start that process)

And why would I want to go to Aussie?

That's all I got to say about thaaat

Well James, life is like a box of chocolates, you never know quite what you're gonna get...

And no, that doesnt make me your momma :icon_confused: