How to sponsor your family into New Zealand Part 2
In theory – the Parent Sponsorship process is fairly straightforward.
Once you have satisfied all the requirements (see Part 1), it is simply a matter of sending in the application forms (Both the Sponsorship form 1024, and the residency application form 1000), along with the Medicals Certificates, police forms, forms of Identity, and money, and then you wait.
And wait.
And wait a bit more.
Parent sponsorship is probably the least important section of the immigration policy as far as New Zealand is concerned – so it is placed at the bottom of the priority pile.
The first thing that will happen once your application is accepted, is that you will get a letter advising you of this, and certainly at the moment, it will also tell you how long it will be before a Case Officer is appointed to you case. In early 2009 applicants are being given anything from 10 months to 2 years as a guide. We were told it would be 9-12 months at the start of 2008.
Now, I know that sounds awful but bear this in mind: no two applicants get through this process the same way. There is a huge amount of variance in the timescales that people actually have to go through and the ease with which they get through this process. It can be ridiculously unfair and stressful – but hang in there. This often has absolutely nothing to do with the applicants suitablilty – it is purely luck (or not).
To put this in context, even though we were told a Case Officer would not be assigned for 9-12 months – one was actually assigned straight away, one of the medicals was referred and we were asked to provide some further medical tests within 2 months. So what they tell you isn’t necessarily true. (Hmmm – that seems to happen a lot!)
It is quite possible that the Medicals could get flagged as needing some further checks if your parent’s health is not perfect. This means that the medical certificates will be sent to a Medical Assessor to be reviewed. If the medical assessor wants more information, you will hear about this from your Case Officer and then you have to get the extra reports that they ask for.
This is where things can get really tricky, as it can take many weeks for the Medical Assessors to review the file and get back to the case officer. The system is a shambles, and if you get unlucky as we did, with a lazy Medical Assessor and a “Can’t be arsed” case officer – you could be in for a bumpy ride. On the other hand – other people fly through this process and get accepted really easily. From what I have seen on the forum, if the medicals are referred it can take 2-3 referrals before they are happy.
It took us 6. Which is why we kicked up an almighty stink.
But, despite what immigration may have you think – this is not usual.
Once you are through that – it is simply a matter of getting a letter of “approval in principle” which will then be followed by a final letter inviting you to send more money to NZIS along with your passports so you can get the coveted blue Visa Stickers.
Coming next….. Medical Referrals explained.
Do you need to move to New Zealand to get a new life?
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Jobs & Work, Life in New Zealand
I was recently catching up on some podcasts I’ve had sitting on the iPod for months and not quite got round to listening to. One particularly interesting one from way back on the 2nd of May 2008 was from the BBC’s World Service Documentaries feed on iTunes. (anyone without iTunes can use the BBC World service website ), entitled Escape to New Zealand.
The interviewer was speaking with two couples from America & Germany both of whom sought a new life in New Zealand to escape from global warming and home country politics.
Once here, both couples felt closer to a more natural way of living, with a greater ability to live a happier way of life and change how they chose to live their lives. Personally, I’ve found that most Kiwi’s are more accepting of people living a different way of life, whatever that happens to be. When I’m working in Wellington, I leave the office at 4pm so I can catch the train home. Colleagues and customers are fine with this, no issues. If I’d done this while in the UK, I’d be on the receiving end of (not entirely joking) comments about being a part timer and only doing a half-day!
In terms of changing your life, the whole experience of upping sticks to the other side of the planet is quite daunting. The question is though:
Do we really have to move to another country to change our lives?
Often a big one off change is easier to achieve than a small change to daily habits, especially when others around us don’t want to see us change or improve.
So yeah, it’s interesting, what are we escaping from when we come to New Zealand? Are we just searching for a better way of life? Could we achieve the same thing (a more balanced way of life) by making changes to our lives where we are? Why are most of us afraid to work only the hours we are paid to back in our home country, and demand that we get to spend time with our families? Instead – we leave for a new life in a New Country.
Hubby.
Why do you need an emergency fund?
Filed under: General Budgeting, Jobs & Work, Retirement, Pensions and Kiwisaver
You often hear people saying you should put aside at least 3 months expenses as an emergency fund. So – how many people do you know who have done that?
Not Many? A few? None?
Well, we have a “situation” looming where for the second time since moving to New Zealand – we may need our emergency fund.
The first was when Hubby was “made redundant” from Unisys, after the installation of a new manager who really didn’t like him. (The feeling was mutual). Hubby really disliked the job, and morale in the company was at rock bottom, with staff leaving in droves. (Over the 15 months that he worked there, the staff levels were reported to have gone from 600 to 400).
The redundancy notice came in on the 4th December (our wedding anniversary as it happens – a nice pressie!). Hubby managed to wangle some redundancy pay – so he was the only person to get a bonus that year – but it was only another month’s salary.
It took till April to get a replacement job. This is primarily because a/ He costs a lot to employ and b/ no one cares about looking for new staff in the run up to Christmas and c/ people care even less about looking for new staff during January because the beach is calling.
So for a few months – we had to manage with no income. We still had bills to pay, had to put steaks on the Barbie, and had to pay the mortgage. Without some funds behind us – we would have been stuffed.
As it was – we got through with a sense of freedom and managed to spend quite a bit of time at the beach and Hubby didn’t have to spend all day every day looking for work.
The new job came from IBM, who hubby had worked for for 10 years in the UK. So it was a good fit, and something he really was chuffed to get. Only problem was – IBM were not taking on Permanent staff - but only willing to sign a 2 year contract, to be converted to a permanent hire once you prove yourself (the 10 years in the UK busting a gut evidently did not constitute such proof).
Well, the 2 years are up next April. After 6 months of wrangling – there is still no sign of the promised permanent contract (apparently its stuck on someone’s desk in Asia Pacific waiting for a signature – it doesn’t do to rush these things). So hubby is once again having to look for a new job just in case.
Only this time – we are in a country that like everywhere else is in financial turmoil, so we have no idea at the moment how this will affect the search for a new job. We know we have income till April, but after that – well – your guess is as good as mine.
So once again, I’m immensely grateful to have set aside funds for this. It means we can last till August if the worst happens and the new contract doesn’t appear and it all goes to hell in a hand basket. I’m spending between now and then just adjusting our spending to allow me to add more to the slush fund, so that we don’t have to panic.
Its something we have found really odd about our lives in New Zealand – this lack of longevity in the jobs. I guess after 10 years with the same employer – you don’t really think that you are going to get through 3 in 4 years. We haven’t really got used to the fact that people change jobs so rapidly, and at least in the IT sector, the companies seem to be fine with this.
So yeah – 3 months slush fund. Be different – and be one of the few to get one set up. Then if this whole new-job-needed-every-18 months is not just us – you don’t have to panic – and can spend some of your redundancy time like this:
Being made redundant - Kiwi Style
Simpleology – helping me write blogs – among other things.
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, The Book and Website
I’m evaluating a multi-media course on blogging from the folks at Simpleology. For a while, they’re letting you snag it for free if you post about it on your blog.
It covers:
- The best blogging techniques.
- How to get traffic to your blog.
- How to turn your blog into money.
I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve had a chance to check it out. Meanwhile, go grab yours while it’s still free.
I have been using Simpleology for a while now – to really help me get things done and it has made quite a change in how I work. Getting this book published, and getting this website up and running is just one of the things that Simpleology has helped me accomplish.
Their Simpleology 101: The Simple Science of getting what you want is a very worthwhile course in its own right. If you are struggling with the mountain of things you need to organise in order to start your new life – I really think its worth a look. It helps you get all the idea you have out of your head, and sort them out so that you do the things you really need to do to get where you want to go.
Avalon’s Guide On Facebook
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