Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Australia and New Zealand	Time frame for CR-1 visa in New Zealand (once NOA2 is received)	Flying out on November 19th to San Francisco. So excited to finally see my husband again :-) Wonderful news! Not long at all. I'll have my POE at San Fran too - please (not that it will be on your mind at all to update us haha) let us know how you get on there!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-11-09 05:51:00
Australia and New Zealand	Time frame for CR-1 visa in New Zealand (once NOA2 is received)	When do you need to be in the US by? If I had stayed in Auckland after my interview, I would have got my passport (and visa) the next day (or so I was told). I flew out that afternoon back to Dunedin, and so had to wait for it to arrive to in the mail. Congrats! When are you flying out, and where is your POE?	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-11-08 05:22:00
Australia and New Zealand	Time frame for CR-1 visa in New Zealand (once NOA2 is received)	Looks like things are running very smoothly for you! Let us know how you get on with your interview	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-10-21 02:09:00
Australia and New Zealand	Time frame for CR-1 visa in New Zealand (once NOA2 is received)	I'll be watching your thread with interest, as although I'm in Australia, I am planning to do the same as you and go to NZ to spend the end of the process with family before moving to the USA. It looks like the Auckland embassy is pretty fast once NVC is over!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-10-05 05:34:00
Australia and New Zealand	New Zealand medical and interview review	Hi there, Yesterday I had my medical at Citymed in Auckland central. I had previously arranged with our immigration officer that I would have the interview and medical close together, which would cause some delays but I wanted a female doctor and there are none in Christchurch. My medical began at 1.45. I first saw the nurse who took my vitals - i.e. weight, height, blood pressure, pulse, sight. I had to take a urine sample and returned that back to the nurse. I then saw the doctor who did a physical examination (checked tummy, breasts and genital examination - be prepared for that! ). We went over my immunisation record. I required a tetanus booster, which I then received after with a nurse. After that, I had bloods taken and then my x-ray. I was given a copy of the x-ray. The total cost was $353. I stayed overnight at the Copthorne Viaduct. While close to both Citymed and the consulate, it was pretty dated and in my opinion, not worth the money! This morning I had my interview at the consulate. I was cleared through the security (who were actually really nice which was unexpected). I then met with the consulate officer I had been dealing with over email. She explained the process, made sure they had all the documents, and then told me to wait for my interview. The interview went as expected. I was asked what my husband's name was, where we met, when we met, where and when we were married, and why I was in Virginia (where we got married). We then discussed my husband's orders, the military lifestyle, he gave me a handout on domestic violence (I'm not sure if all females receive that!?) and told me some places to visit when I head to Germany. He then said he could not approve me (as expected) until they had my results, but that I will get a call next week confirming that my passport was sent out with my visa. So basically, conditionally approved. Really nothing to be worried about, more a chat than anything!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-12-03 19:07:00
Australia and New Zealand	Auckland Interview review	Congrats! Hoping they get my medical results today so hopefully I receive mine next week!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-12-06 20:19:00
Australia and New Zealand	New passport number - Any problems??	Well that is comforting to know. I am just hoping that the fact I no longer have my orginal passport will not be a problem for any reason. I do have a scanned copy of it however so hopefully that is enough? Thanks heaps for the response! I really don't think it will be an issue But seriously, just make sure you go to police and report it stolen! You can then take a copy of that report and explain what happened to the embassy if need be. Also, you'll want it reported lost to protect your identity anyway.	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-12-07 21:05:00
Australia and New Zealand	New passport number - Any problems??	I'm really not sure that this would be an issue.. Did you send a photocopy to NVC of your biographic page? If so, report it stolen/lost. Take that police report to the embassy when you take your new passport photocopy and passport to the interview. Of course, contact the embassy. But I had to get a new passport during the process as I realised it would expire within the required dates so I got a new one and they just required seeing the old and new copies.	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-12-07 03:49:00
Australia and New Zealand	Approved!	Congrats! You'll have your visa in a couple days!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-12-13 00:09:00
Australia and New Zealand	Sending excess baggage to the US from NZ	Any idea who you are flying with? Air NZ prepaid excess baggage seems to be the way to go. Can't beat $95 for an extra 23kg, and I think the second extra is $145 (used to be much much more than this, $145 for the first and $275 for the second!). Alternatively some airlines offer better baggage deals - i.e. Hawaiian does 2 x 30kg.	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-12-16 01:56:00
Australia and New Zealand	NSW police check before NOA2	No worries, I have lived in Arizona for the past three years. Does that mean I will need to get a police clearance from them or do I get one from NSW as that is where I am now living?? You will need a police certificate from NSW. You do not need one from the USA. (They I guess have access to American records).	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-12-16 04:07:00
Australia and New Zealand	Honeymoon in New Zealand!	With all due respect, it really depends on what you want to see and do! Unlike the above poster, I would go for the South Island if you were to pick one or the other, but as a native kiwi I would say you could do both islands in one trip if you chose what you wanted to see and use your time wisely! (NZ is beautiful to do by road, but you could see everything you would want to see in one trip if you do some air travel) Mountains and natural beauty landscapes? South Island. Cities? hot springs? North Island. Cities, hot springs, mountains, beaches? Both! (And you can fly from Auckland to Christchurch in 1 hour 20 minutes - NZ is not a difficult place to get around and a flight on the best carrier is usually around $69 from AU > CHC). March would be a better choice than October in my opinion, October can still be very winterish whereas March is the tail end of summer and generally more reliable weather. Some ideas: Day 1 - Fly into Auckland, get on the road and head to the Coromandel, stay for a day around there for the beautiful beaches and scenery. You could kayak here! Day 3 - Back to Auckland, fly to Wellington (~$49 each) Spend a day exploring the eclectic city, have a yummy soy chai at a cafe, check out Te Papa for the national museum! Day 5- Take the ferry from Wellington to Picton. Hire a car. Drive to Nelson. Spend a day exploring the beaches and town around the top of the South Island. Day 7- Drive down to Christchurch stopping through the alps towns or the vineyards. Day 8 - Explore Christchurch, either hop in car or on a plane and head south to Queenstown. Spend a few days exploring Southland (Queenstown, Franz Josef, Wanaka). This area is where you would want to be for hiking, kayaking etc. - all that you mentioned. So if you only want to go to one area then head straight to Southland. Day 10 - fly back to Auckland for your flight home (~$79) This is just an idea and are the highlights that I would say NZ has and what I love about NZ and what I would want my husband to see when we visit again next year!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2013-01-26 22:35:00
Australia and New Zealand	Sydney Medical	I started my visa process in Australia and the doctor suggested getting blood tests to prove my immunity. The bloods were free through medicare and showed I was positive for varicella. I rathered that than having to pay for a vaccine I didn't need! That same blood test also proved that I didn't need MMR etc. because I'd already had them. All I ended up needing was the Tdap booster.	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2013-03-15 10:16:00
Australia and New Zealand	NZ: cr1 petition	Thank you for the encouragement! I hope the US is treating you well. I am really glad to hear the Auckland embassy is good, I generally find embassies quite scary. I will get in touch with them once we get to the NVC stage I think. Also, what is the deal with the police check in the process? I realise that that needs to be done by the embassy, but when do they do that? After they get the stuff from NVC? Also also, medical? Do I have to wait to be advised by the embassy to do that? That has to be in Auck or Chch right? I really hope you are right about October, trying to be as on top of the application as I an be! Many thanks Yup - it's definitely scary and on the day of my interview I was terrified, but all in all it's not as bad as people make out and you have nothing to hide (and I hate to say it - it's pretty clear around some areas of this forum you will find that some people DO and that's why they're worried!). NZ is of course probably one of the lowest countries at risk for fraud so the process is the same for everyone else because it has to be, but everything is pretty chill. I did my medical once I had a date, but I'm pretty sure you can do it as soon as you have your ACK number as that's all they need at the medical stage. I chose to fly up and do mine in Auckland because the Christchurch and Wellington doctors were male and they do a physical, but if you're not ridiculously shy about your body like me then it's pretty harmless (no smears or anything like that). You'll get the forms that you need filled out at the doctor with packet 3, with a list of the doctors. You will get this form with packet 3 - http://travel.state....L-0001-1203.pdf You will fill that out and send it back to them. It's all done out of your sight once you've completed that form.	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2013-01-21 15:53:00
Australia and New Zealand	NZ: cr1 petition	Hey hun, I've been in the USA for a month now. The Auckland embassy are wonderful to deal with and things go quickly - especially if you have everything prepared to go and get in touch with their immigrant visa section when you get close to the end and hassle them for an earlier appointment Good luck! Nothing is certain, but you will easily be in the USA by October unless something crazy happens!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2013-01-21 14:40:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Yes! That would be so nice, thank you I haven't met another Kiwi here in the time that I've lived here, and obviously the ones back home have no idea what it's like. I love my American friends and they try so hard to help me fit in, but they too don't really understand. All the immigrants I've met are either a lot older than I am, and/or they've been here 20+ years. I really enjoy living here from a superficial and materialistic standpoint - unlimited broadband & smartphone data, cheap food, cheaper alcohol, affordable clothes, makeup and shoes. I would never be able to afford a brand new car in NZ. But when it comes to feeling like you really belong, and having people "get" your sense of humor, NZ wins hands down. I don't feel so judged and pressured over there. Whereabouts in WA will you be? Are you looking forward to moving to Germany? I understand. I found that a lot of them really don't understand our peacefulness - like I'm strongly against guns, and the whole violence thing in the USA scares the hell out of me. I guess a lot of people who are emigrating from their home countries don't have the same stance as the USA is more of a safe haven for them. Have you tried finding just expats in general? I've found here in Perth that I clung to expats for a long time, until I got into a good group of Australian friends, but the expat network has been excellent. What are you doing for a living there? Or are you staying at home? My husband works at Lewis-McChord but has been away for the past few months with the USAF. He's getting an apartment for us in Puyallup for the time that we are there, he should be moving in within the next couple of weeks. I'd love to meet up with you when I get there- I'll PM you my facebook or email address if you like? Excited about having a kiwi over there! I'm a little nervous about moving to Germany. It will be even more isolated and further from home. The odds of finding a kiwi are slim to none, too. I know another kiwi in Seattle so maybe I should get you guys in touch too. It seems kiwis like spreading their wings to the USA - just a matter of finding them! And Aussies and South Africans understand us equally as well when they're overseas!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-11-09 22:07:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi all, just wondering if any of you have had a hard time fitting in like I have? It'll be 3 years in March since I've lived here and I absolutely hate it. I went back home in September for a few weeks and even though it's incredibly expensive, I miss the laid back attitude and the culture. Americans are too brash and rude for me and take everything so seriously. I want to move back as soon as I can but we're having money problems and there are legal issues that might take a while to get through. It's literally one thing after another and I've just about had enough, I miss my family and friends in NZ. This was a very eye-opening experience but I wish I would have moved back home sooner. I see you're living in WA - which is where I am going to be but only for 6 weeks. When I visited my (then boyfriend) in May I felt out of place there. Conversely, when I visited him when he was sent to the East Coast, I felt much more 'at home'. This is despite WA and Christchurch having pretty similar climates and landscapes! We're a year apart in age. I don't know if it's weird or not, but when I'm there for 6 weeks (we'll be moving on to San Fran and then to Germany for 4 years) would you like to catch up maybe for a coffee or something? Sometimes all it takes is to hear our accent to feel a little happier again. I even get that here in Aussie!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-11-09 10:38:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi everyone, I'm just about to start this process, although I've been living in Australia for a year (oh, the shame! Kidding.) Does anyone know what would happen if I ended up moving back to NZ from Perth for a couple of months hopefully just in advance of receiving the I-130? I want to head home and visit my parents before moving permanently to the USA (fingers crossed) but guess it may just complicate the process. To make matters more difficult, my partner is in the military so we'll be heading to Europe!	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-09-06 07:50:00
Australia and New Zealand	Aus "Change of Name" Certificate could be hard to get	Just a question - how did you get your husband's name on your SSN and green card? I have been wondering this, as we have our marriage certificate from Virginia, but all of my proof of identity (i.e. passport, bank cards, drivers licence etc.) are in my maiden name and obviously are foreign. I don't want to end up with two identities - i.e. being known in the USA as my married name but in NZ as my maiden name! Also ETA - can your green card have a different name from your passport then? Edited by ecg19, 03 November 2012 - 06:03 AM.	ecg19	Female	New Zealand	2012-11-03 06:03:00
India	New Delhi Embassy Process	My case is completed on dec 2. Can anyone please give me an any idea(any guess) how long i hve to wait for my interview in india( new delhi)	Pipla	Not Telling	India	2013-12-18 21:30:00
Caribbean	proof of interview date needed	I'd request an additional copy sent to your home. Make sure in both systems (online what you can see and the back system -something the Sacramento office stated when I updated my address 2 months ago) are up to date with no errors. Unfortunately most employers now days are completely unprofessional and douches and see employees just as a number. In my opinion dear, immigration (family always comes first). And if that door closes, another two doors always opens. Best of luck dear!	jacqueline6001	Female	Egypt	2014-01-15 12:42:00