Slow and Steady ... ITA submitted today!!

[Pulsarblu]

Hi there, I have taken another step in my quest for the chosen land..

I have submitted my ITA package today Nov 25. I want to share with everyone how I package my docs, the submission process and etc...

I received my ITA on Oct 05, from that date onwards till today, I was very busy gathering all the evidences. I must say the most difficult portion was the Medical and X-ray certificate, I am using the latest form dated Aug 05 which is more stringent and asked more questions. I brought the form to my doc and she almost fainted..! Good thing I learn some CPR and revive her... j/k! let me see.....I made a total of 4 trips to the doc and radiologist to get the form filled up, the last trip was to seal up the envelope by the doc.

The next most difficult evidence is the police certificate, my application at the police station was a breeze unlike some members here who have to submit it to FBI in the US. I submitted mine to CID in S'pore and all it take was a simple form, some finger print scanning on a cool machine and two weeks later, the certificate is ready.

Other evidences like work experience and education, birth certs, passports and etc are easy to produce...

I did not make any certified copies of my originals, what I did was I slip every piece of cert or doc into a transparent sleeve to protect it. I figured that getting certified copies are just too troublesome...u know..making trips to the University, S'pore immigration and etc...

Ok, anyway the final day has come, actually my intention was to submit the ITA package after Dec 05 but due to the fee increase, I decided to rush it and do it before Nov 28, just trying to save as much as I can as these savings meant a lot to me...

As mentioned, I pack every single piece of original certs or docs including passports in a transparent plastic sleeve. I signed the declaration form, included the cheque for payment. Initially me and my wife were debating whether to include a Fedex or UPS returned self-paid envelope for them to return the docs to us, however, we realized that we can collect the originals from NZIS when it is ready for collection. I know some locations, this is not possible because the NZIS is perhaps in another city. But if you stay close to the NZIS that will process your application, I suggest you can opt to collect the documents back on your own. I do not really trust the courier companies sometimes and especially with such important documents.

A tip to all, remember to write your name at the back of the photos, I notice many of the applicants forgot about that. I saw them writing names at the immigration office after the immigration officer asked for it. Another tip, when you try to staple the photos onto the application form, it is not possible to reach all the way in to staple the second photo. What I did was, I put a soft eraser at the back of the page where I want the photo, open up the stapler so it is flat, put the bullet thru the paper so that the posts sticks thru the soft eraser, pull out the eraser so the staple posts is exposed and then finally bend those in place. Wahla!!

Where was I?? Ahh, I made the trip to NZIS at 9:10am and man, it is crowded but majority of people are there to apply for visitor visa or student visa. I put every single items into a white envelope and inside the envelope I also included a empty return envelope for NZIS to return the originals to me. I also made a list of originals and print out that list and include that in my application. This way, the officer will know what originals to return to me. Ha! Ok...I waited for my turn to be call, mine was 10 ... so 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 (missing),.....then 10!!!!! The officer asked me what am I here for, I said it is for residency application and I was invited to apply, she then asked me who is my officer. Then she took my entire package and bring them those to my officer...So back to the couch for more waiting....waiting...waiting...and then my officer appeared...

She called me and return me all the originals documents in my empty envelope. She also gave me a receipt for the payment of the fee. She made her introduction and made known to me that there will be an interview some weeks later. I was told that will happen in Dec or early Jan. At first she mentioned mid Jan but I have to travel to US so I requested either Dec or early Jan...she agreed!!! Yippeeee!! She did not even keep the originals for processing, I guess she made copies. Therefore my verdict of not providing certified copies is true, it is not worth the effort to do those....BUT...it all depends on situation, by all means go ahead and do the certified copies if you think it is the best approach.

So back to more waiting...!! [smiley=icon_neutral.gif]

In summary, the submission process was smooth to me. I am a strong believer that if you provide the needed documents, follow the instructions, signed the forms when told to...everything should be fine... [smiley=icon_razz.gif] I hope my officer will call me soon for the interview..!

Cheers for now...and good luck to all and myself! [smiley=icon_lol.gif]

Pulsarblu..

[MotherBear]

Good bit of information there, Pulsarblu. Thanks. One point I would mention is that I've heard, in several places that it's not advised to put the documents into plastic folders because the NZIS don't like it. The plastic slides about when it's in a pile of papers and causes problems.

[Pulsarblu]

Good point Mother Bear. I would like to mention that just my original documents, not the application forms and medicals... [smiley=icon_wink.gif]

pulsarblu

[Pulsarblu]

Hi everyone, I must thank many many members in this forum, your advise and sharing of experience has help me a lot in my application process.

I just received a letter from NZIS, my case officer will interview me at the NZIS office on 09 Jan 2006! [smiley=icon_eek.gif]

I am getting more and more excited now but I know the NZIS may take 3-6 months to approve my application. That will give me ample time to get things settle here before packing and booking the air tics. I am planning to reach New Zealand probably during Dec 06-Feb06....that's my plan so hope things will proceed smoothly..

I will provide updates and if anyone who have questions or doubts, please go ahead and ask, we will help each other as much as we can.

Cheers! Till then....

Pulsarblu

[justNoZi]

thanks for all the info here, will help me in getting my ITA together.

p.s. good luck for the 9th, hope all goes very well for you.

[Pulsarblu]

Thanks justnozi. I will keep everyone update of my progress.

pulsarblu