Sunday, January 20, 2008

We are now surrogate Kiwis!

We got a letter today from immigration and they accepted us as residents in NZ. This has been an interesting process that wasn't too difficult at any one point. It was just a lot of small hoops.

Here is what we had to do to get residency here:

  • Fill out the online Expression of Interest form to get scored to be able to apply for residency.
  • Wait
  • Get accepted to apply for residency. They then send you a big packet with information and more forms to fill in. There is also a big list of documents they need to process the application.
  • List of documents:
    • Comprehensive medial check with X-ray(for TB) and blood work
    • Background checks in all countries lived in for more than one year
      • This included getting fingerprints here and sending off the application to the FBI
    • Proof of qualifications which included certified copies of our diplomas.
    • Detailed work history
    • Current contract for work in NZ
    • Our current passports
    • And more.
Now we are returning residents which means that we can come and go as we please but we are not permanent residents yet. If we are in the country for 6 months out of each of the next two years then we will get permanent residency. Once we get that then we can come and go as we please without restriction.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yo YO Yo!
This is jennifer in Klamath Falls.
All is well sounds like you're livin the dream...
Angi is opening her own bead store in town it will be called Indigo Beads.
How can I send you pix of our baby girl?
Been working at Murder West since 2002 they re-named it Sky Lakes Medical Center. Natalie got a DUI!!!Whooops she's working on her masters degree-lives in town commutes to Ashland...
~jen

King Nerd said...

Hey Jen!

Long time no chat, sounds like all is well in KF. We are actually planning on spending a night in KF around the 4th of July on the way down to High Sierra Music Fest. We will be back in the states for a few weeks.

You can email me pictures of your kid to adam dot dershewitz ampersand gmail dot com

Good on Angi for opening a bead shop. That will be a fun shop to run.

Sorry to hear about the whoopsy of Natalie's but its great that she is getting her Masters.

If you email me your phone number I will call you to catch up. Always lots of stuff happening around here.

Anonymous said...

how long did the immigration process take?

King Nerd said...

The process of gathering all of the documentation can take a while. If you are an American then you have to get your FBI Background Check which can take a bit of time unless you request it expedited. We submitted our documents on the 14th of November and should have the stamp in our passports this week. It probably took us 5 months in all.