Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	not too sure yet. all the rules/laws/regulations could change in 12 months!	rubyred	Male	New Zealand	2008-07-21 15:31:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	this is only the beginning i'm on a one year work visa, then i'll have to return home and go through the whole K-1 process.	rubyred	Male	New Zealand	2008-07-21 15:26:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	hey guys, good to hear everyone's immigration processes are moving along nicely. well, i've been here a week and a half now, and i'm loving it! jordan is everything i knew he would be, and more. no homesickness yet - not sure if i will get homesick. i didn't leave much behind: i was working two crappy jobs, in a shared living situation that was making me miserable, most of my friends had moved way, was spending all my time at home or at work, and had no life outside of that. i'm super stressed about job-hunting here, but if i'd stayed in nz i would have stayed at the same crappy jobs anyway. and i really, really love this area - the bay area is so gorgeous, and so full of character. and the weather is great - i was totally petrified about the heat, but it's been really temperate. at night, while jordan is throwing off the blankets and blasting a fan in his face, i'm wrapped up in two layers of blankets, with my feet curled under his legs to keep warm! now for the technical stuff: the whole customs thing was very, very strange! first of all, leaving nz, the customs dude was completely confused by my DS-2019 form (it accompanies my J-1 visa, and MUST remain stapled into my passport), i tried explaining that it is proof i'm allowed to work, but he still didnt' know what i was talking about, and actually PULLED it out of my passport :/ so i arrived at SF airport (after spending the last hour of my flight in a near-panic attack state of anxiety, when it finally hit me what i was actually doing), stood in a huge line for what felt like years, panicked, dehydrated and incredibly overheated. i felt really ill, and the more ill i felt the more panicky i got. so i get the customs dude, show him my passport/visa... and there's a problem! the n-number on my DS form isn't on my visa, and it's supposed to be. so he keeps me standing there for ages while he gets on the phone. then he tells me i need to go to the secondary clearance office... so i go sit in a little office with a huge scary dude, and i'm sweating, and can't catch my breath properly, because i'm doing everything i can to not have a full-fledged panic attack. he gives me a 'look' and asks me if i'm 'feeling a little warm', i guess i must look totally dodgy! so he keeps me there awhile and gets my visa sorted out. so then i go claim my luggage and head to federal inspection. i was expecting to take awhile there, since i had declared food on my customs form (3kg of nz lollies!!! jordan is addicted to snifters, jaffas, and whittaker's chocolate). but i got waved right through!! my bags didn't even go through the x-ray thing!! i walked straight through to jordan waiting for me! so i didn't have to show proof of funds (even though i was told i had to have a minimum of US$2000 and proof of it to show customs) and i didn't have to show proof of ties to nz. it did take an incredibly long time to get through, but that was due to problem-people ahead of me, and the missing number on my visa. it's been a strange experience... even though this is my first time meeting jordan in person, it didn't take long to feel like we've been living together forever... but at the same time it's totally weird, if that makes sense! i guess we're so used to each other, so used to spending tons of time together online, that it does feel normal. enough of my rambling!	rubyred	Male	New Zealand	2008-07-21 11:48:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (kiwiana @ Aug 12 2008, 04:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Kelvan: It sounds like your friend is looking at quite an expense to get the police reports done. so if for instance, someone has lived in different towns in NZ, do they have to pay for each police report for each town? I spent a little time in Australia many moons ago. Does anyone know how one goes about getting a police report from there? Can the US embassy here help you with that or is it up to ones devices to find out? Just curious. I honestly think you need one for every single place you've lived in for over a year! Boy do they know how to be thorough! My friend and I are going to go over her forms hopefully this weekend. So I can do a practice run for mine, and also help her out with hers. Will keep you all posted!	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-12 02:19:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	cdneh I have the flu as well >_< A close friend of mine has just received a letter in the mail for hers. She filed in Feburary this year and is finally up to the interview stage. She has about 6 forms to fill out. She needs to get police reports for all the houses she's lived in for over a year O_o And the entire process from her side is going to cost around $1000! That's a lot more than I thought. Edited by Kelvan, 11 August 2008 - 02:49 AM.	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-11 02:48:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hopefully you'll be next Michelle	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-08 21:35:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Our check was cashed today!!! I'm so happy and relieved	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-08 18:39:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Aug 8 2008, 12:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Kelly, i'm pretty sure I told you this already BUT because you have proof that your original petition was received by VSC you have a valid reason to expedite your case. It is one of the criteria listed on the uscis website. I'm sure they'd never tell you..but I sure will. Here's the link and phone # to call. They will (should) honor the first sent date. good luck with that! btw.. CSC is going faster now than I have seen them go in the last year. It's VSC that has slowed way down. Hey Kim! Yeah thanks for the advice! We wrote on our cover letter explaining the situation and requested that they honour our original filing date. We still haven't heard anything from them, no check cashed or anything. I can't help but worry that this package might also get lost I really hope it makes it through this time *crosses fingers*	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-08 02:28:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hey amaciar, well we filed on June 11. After 30 days we hadn't heard anything, no check cashed either. We got worried and called USCIS and they had no record of our package on their system even though we had a delivery receipt from the postage company saying it had arrived there in June. So we are now refiling. I know CSC is going really slow right now but hopefully this one will be okay >_<	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-02 00:34:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Yay I'm glad you got your NOA1! I'm so worried about ours, since our first package got lost	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-01 21:50:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hey guys, we sent our I-129F off tonight. Overnight express. Although the post woman said it might not arrive tomorrow cos we sent it late in the day. So I'll wait 2 days. I hope this package arrives safely. *waits*	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-31 03:17:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (Michelle.S @ Jul 22 2008, 07:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> and i've managed to print rob's G-325A but i've had to write out mine, can i just fill out the first page and photocopy it 3 times, i know i have to sign the four pages seperately, but i'm so nervous i keep making mistakes writing it out so i'm really hoping the photocopies will be ok michelle Don't do that! At the bottom of each copy in the PDF it has a name for who it is for. Page 1 has IDENT. Page 2 has REC.BR. Page 3 has C and page 4 has CONSULATE. So you need to fill out each individual form so that they know who to give each copy to I guess	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-23 03:14:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (cdneh @ Jul 22 2008, 07:03 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Kelvan @ Jul 21 2008, 08:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi cdneh! What part of Auckland are you from? I reside in Bucklands Beach Hey guys, we changed our username on here to more accurately represent ourselves, so I'm no longer Lux. I just paid for my tickets to go and see Evan in September! Hope the immigration officer lets me in! I'm in Blockhouse Bay, and I work in Mt Wellington. Bucklands Beach is lovely! I had leave booked for July, and was thinking about going over to VA then....but as we were meant to be filing in April, we decided to be sensible and wait it out. However, we struck a paperwork glitch and didn't get filed until a couple of months later....I so wish I had just gone ahead with our plans and visited. It's looking like next year now. Heeey you're quite close! I work in Freemans Bay so it takes forever to get to work everyday :X Yeah it takes a while to save up days for time off doesn't it! BUT when we live in the US, it's going to take even LONGER! Evan only gets like 2 weeks off a year! We get about 4 weeks + 10 public holidays. We really have it great working in NZ. That is one thing I will miss Michelle.S I don't think you need to do that as long as you check the box. I downloaded the example form on the VJ website and I think it was the same, just check the box Can anyone else clarify this? Edited by Kelvan, 22 July 2008 - 03:03 AM.	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-22 03:01:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi cdneh! What part of Auckland are you from? I reside in Bucklands Beach Hey guys, we changed our username on here to more accurately represent ourselves, so I'm no longer Lux. I just paid for my tickets to go and see Evan in September! Hope the immigration officer lets me in!	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-21 03:32:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Nic and I are on our way to Auckland tomorrow. His interview is on Weds and I am ready to have the interview done with so we know when we can go home. The process sounds like it is a little less overwhelming in NZ and that the ladies are looking to help you. So we are just hoping we have all the info we need as they are processing our I-864 at the same time. Will let you know how it goes. There are a few people with interviews next week aren't there?	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-10 23:46:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Congrats Michelle How is the job hunting going Gshennen? My hisband and I are starting to feel the stress a bit now. Our interview is next week and there is no reason we shouldn't sail through but the little things are starting to stress us out. The doctor we went to is not helping the situation. At the moment I can't remember his name as my husband has been dealing with him mostly but we found out today he only works one day a week! We thought it was a bit strange when we went in that he said the medical may take 6 weeks. And then today we called up to have my husbands vaccination requirements faxed to his family doctor and we learn he won't be in the office til the day before the interview We should have known when he said that it was no big deal if the paperwork made it after the interview and "whats a few extra weeks really"!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I am sure you all know what a few extra weeks is in this whole stressful experience. But we are being positive and hoping the medical makes it in time. So I guess what I am trying to say is don't go to the doctor in Wellington that is listed on the Imigrations list! Vent over	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-06 01:39:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	kelvan- I think if my first packet had gotten lost i would have ended up in tears! How did you find out? Good luck with this package. I hope you sail through the process Edited by amaciar, 02 August 2008 - 12:04 AM.	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-08-02 00:02:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	We don't know when we will be flying home yet. We are going to wait and see how the interview goes and then change our plane tickets. We have some that are booked for December. We want to be home early September though so once we get the green light we will change our tickets and buy our american flights. Kimand Russ- I hope you receive some good news soon.	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-30 17:36:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	We went for my hisbands medcial today. We are located two hours from Wellington so we went there for the appointment. It was $500 which sounds expensive having read some of the other posts. I suppose if we had had to fly to Auckland it would have been way over $500 so we are okay with that. The doctor did think it was strange that we received an interview date so soon but we aren't going to question it. Yankiwi- It is frustrating traveling with heaps of bags especially when you don't know where you will be making your home. Let us know if you find a airline that will ship your bags for you. Would be great to know as my husband and I will be living out of suitcases for the forseable future and at the moment I am pretty over it. Nothing worse than sitting in LAX for twelve hours with all your worldly possesions! Kelzm- It is great to see that someone is done and on their way to the big MOVE. Good luck with the garage sale.	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-29 05:09:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Just received our letter from the Auckland Consulate saying that my Hubby's interview is on the August 13th. Crossing our fingers this all goes well. I am ready to be back home. The interview is a week before our 1 year wedding anniversary and I am hoping we will be celebrating both the anniversary and Nics residency As for moving belongings back to the States it seems like a bit of a nightmare. We had been looking to send home two bikes which are pretty small and only about 50KGs all up and it was going to cost 1200 each bike! So we have flagged that idea and are again selling off three quarters of our belongings to meet the 2 bags limit. Thank god for Trade Me We have become good at this as we have been doing it for the past 6 years. My family thinks I am nuts when I pack my bags to fly back to NZed. The scale comes out and my bags get packed and repacked till the weight in each bag is perfect If the books are worth the money i would say try and put as many in your bags as possible and pay for the excess baggage. I am starting to think the excess baggage fee is less than the shipping cost. Also have a look on amazon and try to determine whether he will be able to buy some of the books second hand and if it will be cheaper in the end to rebuy the books. Probably not but it is worth a try!	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-26 19:41:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi Everyone I have been away from the computer for a wee while and man did I have some catching up to do! It is good to see that everything is going smoothly for some. As for New Zealand Residency it is pretty easy in comparison. My husband and I had been together for just over two years when we applied. I sent in a huge packet with pictures and e-mails that we had written while apart. Plus we had documents saying we shared a bank account and all. The hugest issue was timing to police report with the medical but once we sent in the one package it was a waiting game. I think it took 5 months and I sent in my passport and could work and continue on with life. At the time of filing for my NZed residency I had been working here for a year though and had a company willing to keep me on. As for our progress with USCIS we have hit a wall it feels like. We called the consulate in Auckland to see what we could do about speeding up the porcess. Now we are all sorts of confused. They sent us the medical packet along with the police check release. Now we have no idea if we need to conitnue with NVC. They said we didn't but the lady seemed cranky and distracted. So the question of the moment is do we need to continue with NVC or do we bring the I-864 and the rest of the info to the interview. We also spoke to a lawyer and that confused us as well. To add to the fun I had an accountant sorting out my tax returns for while I have been working overseas and after three weeks of us stressing he sent back the incorrect info and kept saying that if I haven't worked in the US then I have nothing to worry about. WRONG ANSWER!!! So there was lots of crying and it was a bad day yesterday. So now I am freaking out that we will get an interview date and not have the correct tax information. Wow that was a giant vent! Anyone have any advice? We are going to call the American Consulate in Auckland on Monday to try and get some answers so we don't mess these next few steps up! Amy	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-07-25 18:38:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (kiwiana @ Aug 12 2008, 06:40 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Grant: Thank you for telling us about the medical. It sure seems that there are quite a few costs involved. I wonder how much it all comes to at the end of the process? On second thoughts.. Maybe it pays not to know When you went to the medical, did you have to take immunisation records with you? I'm still not sure if you are suppose to get vaccines done before the medical or after or what? It sounds like the medical went very smoothly, which is good to hear!! Hi I had no immunisation records, although had had all of the correct immunisations when a kid. I did have my Plunket book from when I was born till I was 5, and even though this had records of when I had the immunisations, it was not enough to satisfy the requirements, so had the blood tests done. The process they ran through with me was that if the blood tests showed I was lacking any of the required antibodies, then I would then have the vaccinations (so after the medical). You get quite a long list of vaccinations with the medical, but depending on your age it seems that only some apply (which is why from the list, I only had to have blood tests for 6 of them). Oh yeah, timing wise I'd allow a couple of hours for the entire medical process (the doctors, blood lab and x-ray places were a short distance apart, so it took about two hours to complete everything). Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-08-12 04:41:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (yankiwi @ Aug 11 2008, 07:15 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Grant- Chris is in the same mode at the moment re: putting out feelers and figuring out which companies to apply to. Once the visa is in hand, then the real applications start! The best looking job offer (as far as which one will suit Chris best) in a place we can see ourselves living for a few years is the biggest factor in where we will go! Scary and exciting at the same time... What does Chris do? Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-08-11 04:28:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (kiwiana @ Aug 11 2008, 08:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Grant, Yankiwi and Amaciar: What happened when you had your medicals. Was it very long? Did the doctor examine you etc? And what vaccines did you have? Good luck and best wishes to you all for your interviews!! Hope you will let us know how the interview goes and how long it took etc... Hi The medical seemed all too easy. I handed in the forms to the receptionist, and she filled them all in while I went and grabbed a coffee. I then went to see the nurse who talked through the whole process with me. She took my height, weight, lung capacity (using a peak flow metre), blood pressure, gave me a Tetanus booster (for good measure - I couldn't remember having one since I was about 12...so some time ago). She also filled in the blood test forms (for the relevant tests to check for antibodies for my age). I then went to see the doctor. He ran through the items on the checklist (basically a list of possible illnesses/hospital visits/mental state/drug and alcohol abuse questions). All I had to tick yes to was asthma (when I was a kid). He then drilled me about any "mental" or drug/alcohol issues (of which I have none) - apparently this is a big deal for US immigration, so they have to really pay attention to it. He then checked my eyesight, and hearing and then checked me for hernias. I then went off for blood tests (for me this was mumps, chicken pox, measles, rubella, syphillis and HIV) - got the results a couple of days later, and all were as expected. I then went for a chest x-ray. Got the results and xray back straight away (I then handed them to the doctor). Again all clear with this. I got a copy of the report in the mail about a week later (the same report sent to the consulate). All up the costs were as follows (I am now aware that I din't go the the cheapest Dr.): - Dr. (including tetanus shot, and courier to Consulate) $225 - Blood tests (6 in total) $103 - Chest x-ray $80 Hope this is useful, Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-08-11 04:16:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Yup - my interview is next Tuesday. Wishing you guys all the best on Tuesday!! Cheers Grant Edited by gshennen, 11 August 2008 - 01:38 AM.	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-08-11 01:37:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Aug 8 2008, 02:07 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Grant, what is it that you do?? Do you think a headhunter would serve you well??? And no.. not the tribal kind! Hi Kim This is what I do: www.greatriver.co.nz (I am Great River Consulting...) Basically project consulting, based it seems towards Building Assets in the public sector i.e. schools, hospitals, higher education facilities etc. However I was an IT Project Manager for 3 years, so hve a good understanding of IT as well. Once I have had my interview on the 19th, I will apply for actual jobs, but in the meantime have been sewing the seeds with a few companies I have identified as potential employers (with some possibly positive results so far). Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-08-08 00:22:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (Michelle.S @ Aug 6 2008, 10:16 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> It's finally been sent The I-129F, the money order, the lot Awesome - here's hoping for speedy progress for you from here on in. Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-08-05 18:25:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	I have started applying for jobs in the US, I approached 4 potential employers today, with more tomorrow...wish me luck. Once we have had my interview, I will then apply for actual jobs, rather than just "cold calling (emailing)" potential employers. Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-08-04 02:23:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Michelle - when we filed our documents at the Consulate they only took one copy of the G325a (even though we had all 4 of them all filled in). We asked if they wanted all 4, and the lady said, that 1 was enough. However, in saying that I like to be prepared for everything, and would still fill in all 4 (and in my case will take the remaining 3 copies to the interview anyway). Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-07-22 17:27:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Grant- Chris is a Software Developer. So, another computer geek in the Kiwi thread! LOL Kim- Oh, Chris has been trying to talk me into Boston, since there are nice jobs up there. But I have a few issues with that. 1. Cost of living. 2. I have arthritis which reacts to the cold/rainy Auckland weather, so I imagine it might not like Boston much! 3. Since living in NZ each winter seems worse than the last, this year is by far the worst. When it's cloudy for more than 1-2 days my brain forgets there is such thing as night and day and I can't sleep. I'm lucky if I sleep from 6 am to noon on those days. I think it has everything to do with the angle of the sun in the winter because I don't have this problem in the summer. So, I'm concerned that if I go live in Boston or Seattle (another city on our list) I'll end up being formally diagnosed with SAD. BUT, I know some people are responsive to sun lamps, so that's an option. And Boston is on the East Coast and I'm an East Coast girl for sure! Plus, they have kick ### doctors in the area, and I can't remember the last time I lived somewhere with 4 distinct seasons, so that would be fun to see again, and probably interesting for Chris to experience! And...I've always wanted to live in the New England area for a bit. As you can see, trying to figure out where to look for jobs has been challenging! But I'm trying to be relaxed about it. I figure if at the worst we move somewhere that makes me sick or Chris hates, we can just move again. We have no kids, not much to move, and just my dog to drag with us, and she's pretty happy as long as there's food, water, treats, and no loud noises (she's a scaredy dog!).	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-08-11 17:52:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Grant- Chris is in the same mode at the moment re: putting out feelers and figuring out which companies to apply to. Once the visa is in hand, then the real applications start! The best looking job offer (as far as which one will suit Chris best) in a place we can see ourselves living for a few years is the biggest factor in where we will go! Scary and exciting at the same time... Amaciar- Good luck to you and your partner at the Consulate on Wednesday!! Hopefully the medical certificate will get through quickly so you won't be held up much! Let us know how it goes! We interview next week on the 19th (same day as Grant) and I'm entirely too nervous for my own good. I keep reminding myself we have one of the best Consulates here and things usually go swell, but somehow the cynical side of my brain is not listening! Kim- Oh yes, we will be selling everything possible! Too bad no one here is settling in NZ and looking for things... Thankfully, most of our furniture is borrowed from family and such so they'll be getting it all back! Anything else will be sold, lists will be made, books will be packed and stored in Chris' parents house, and anything that doesn't fit in the suitcases will be mailed, because that's cheaper than using a "shipping" company, even if I have to use a ton of tiny packages! And as for VSC, well, with all the "hurry up" brainwaves we're sending their way, you're bound to see something soon! Michelle- Yay for getting it all sent out!! Here's wishing you a fast, problem free processing time! Kiwiana- So sorry you had to leave your SO, but I hope things process quickly for you so you'll be back in the US in no time! And yes, the doctor in Remuera, very helpful! Cdneh- Eh, vaccinations. If Canada is anything like the US I'd assume that they had requirements for certain ones to start school, so you'd have had to have the basic ones automatically. I think for people from places like New Zealand, Canada, UK, etc... should really only have to have the "time limited" ones (like tetanus) given and no antibody tests required because those countries have had rigorous vaccination programs for quite a long time. Sure would make the medical check a little less costly!	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-08-11 02:15:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Cdneh- Yay for finally getting a NOA1! Hopefully things will process quickly for you. You may not have a problem waiting until say mid October to book a flight to the US for around Christmas. I say that because when we flew my brother here for our wedding (which was in December) we only knew about 5 weeks before we needed him to fly out, and we were still able to get him a ticket arriving here at the beginning of December and back to the US on the 27th of December I think. As long as your dates are a bit flexible it may be doable. Like, traveling on the 24th is insanity, but on the 27th-29th seats are actually cheaper. Plus, you're flying one way, so that should help I'd think. We don't have tickets yet and still foresee leaving NZ by the end of the year. It may cost a bit more, but at least once you have a day you won't have to change it and pay penalty fees! Kelvan- Oh no! I hope your second packet gets through without someone losing it! Michelle- Yay for getting that paperwork sorted! Hopefully your partner will file soon so your case will start processing! Amaciar- I've been hunting around but I still can't find anywhere that will ship things for a decent price. It's to the point where I think mailing it would cost about as much as shipping it with an excess baggage place! I mean, I checked rates for 2 book boxes and it was like $1,000 USD with one place! I could send them book by book via NZ mail for cheaper than that! *snort* There has GOT to be a better way...I'm not giving up yet! I let you know if I find anything useful. Right now we have no idea where we are moving to, just that at some point we will be grabbing all my stuff from Alabama (where my dad decided to retire), so in theory I can ship things to them (even if they will whine about things taking up room). But other than that, we have no firm plans, since where we go depends on where Chris finds work. Ah well, we have no kids so why not have a little adventure? Kim- Sending good juju to you and Russell. I check here everyday to see if there's been news, I imagine you both must be in pacing mode. (((hugs)))	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-08-02 07:01:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Amy- I'm glad the Consulate seemed to be able to straighten it all out. But I wonder why you've even had to deal with the NVC? If you're a resident here working you can do Direct Consular Filing (which is a much better deal than the long, USCIS-NVC-Consulate route we've been dealing with!). Congrats on the early interview date! Ours is on the 19th (as is another member here) so you get to go first and then tell us how it went! Michelle- How goes the paperwork? I always try and set a "reward" for after a set of paperwork gets sorted out. Usually it's something as simple as a coffee at my favorite cafe, but picturing sitting there relaxed, stirring and sipping reminds me that I'll have it over in no time, and makes it a bit easier to tackle. Oh, and I agree with Kim, a glass of wine while filling things out won't hurt... Kim- I know there's been no news yet since if there was you'd be shouting so loud we'd be able to hear you clear on the other end of the world...but I often think of you two and send a bit of "hurry up" energy towards the NVC! If Amy and her partner could get a date for August 13th at this short of notice, I've decided that it's perfectly viable for Russell to be cooling his heels with the rest of us come August 19th! Oh, and aren't there 1-2 people getting ready to fly off to the US? Hope all your last minute details and travel plans are going well!	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-07-27 20:45:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hey all! Chris had the medical check done with Dr. Marcus Stone in Remuera this past Friday. I ended up staying home since I'm trying to NOT catch a cold (but I have the sniffles thanks to the recent weather in Auckland!). I'm SO glad I read through this whole thread and took note of what doctors people saw and how the visits went. Chris says the appointment was a breeze! Got an updated tetanus shot, went around the corner for the x-rays and blood work...in total even with waiting at the other places it was all sorted out within 2 hours! All of that totaled $280, better than some other places I've read about! This weekend I spent some time sorting out copies of all our paperwork to take with us just in case something didn't make it from the NVC to the Consulate. Since they've started doing the police checks from the NVC, they have all of Chris' original documentation (boy you'd better believe we paced the floor until the package tracking said it was delivered in the US!) so we don't have to take any of that, but I'm taking copies of all those as well (yes, I'm obsessive ) Thanks for all your input on the shipping stuff to the US thing. I still don't know what we're going to do, but I am checking to see if we can get a lot of those computer books used from Amazon and then just packing the essentials. I've been sorting through clothes to see what all we can donate. If the rate for an extra suitcase is about $175 I'm going to see what sort of box I can ship to the US for that price, just so I can compare. I have a friend who used to work for an airline company and she mentioned that some places used to allow you to ship luggage with them even if you aren't flying with it, but someone has to go pick it up at the closest airport. I'm going to see what I can find out about that. The truth of it is that I LOATHE dragging tons of suitcases, and where as most of you are coming home to someone in a set place, we won't be. So we'll be living out of those suitcases and lugging them everywhere we go until we get all my stuff and transport it to wherever we end up. My goal is to stick with our laptop bags, a giant suitcase, and a smaller one if need be. That's it. We'll see if we can pull it off or if I have to eat my words...	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-07-27 20:30:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Kim- Hahaha! Yes, those that go into psych often need to see one too. I wouldn't be an exception to that either! I think some people are natural counselors. I've always been the peacemaker in my house growing up and the counselor to all my friends. When they have a terrible day they all hunt me down on IM to talk them off the ledge (since they can't call me for cheap anymore!). Doing all the schooling to be a licensed psychologist though is daunting, so I've thought about doing the 4 year degree and then a certification program to be a Life Coach, and working on the rest of the schooling gradually. Working for yourself is the greatest thing IMO. It's a lot of responsibility, but if you're good at following through with your plans and paying attention to detail it sure beats having a boss outside of yourself to answer to every day! I don't have much patience with computers at the moment, but Chris is hoping I'll learn programming by osmosis one day. That's so neat how you and Russell met! Chris and I met on a mailing list for our Myers Briggs type and struck up an conversation about something off list at one point and the rest is history. I had no clue when I joined that list I'd meet my match, it wasn't a dating list at all! I think Russell's Geology degree will have a better market in the US for sure! NZ is so small when it comes to some things. I was reading yesterday how if you want to be a Meteorologist just about the only place to work is MetService and all I could think of was "What if you don't work well there, you're screwed!". Our general understanding of how NZ immigration works is that once you've passed the 12 month mark of being here on a visitors visa, once you leave the country, you have to remain gone for at least one year before coming back. The rules in their manual are a little difficult to interpret though, so it could be I have to stay out for the same amount of time that I spent here. I've been here almost 26 months. So either way, once I leave I'll have to stay gone for a while!	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-07-23 05:55:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Michelle- Titirangi is beautiful! We drive through it every time we head to Piha (which is not nearly enough). It's my favorite beach here, probably because it's the first place Chris took me to after my plane landed in NZ. I have a thing about walking barefoot on the ground when I'm stressed, it helps me feel grounded, so I requested to be taken to a good walking beach so I could put my feet in the water, in June. It was cold! I guess it's no surprise I got married on a beach, barefoot. Rubyred- When my partner and I met in person for the first time it was just like that. It took a few minutes to associate the person in front of me with the voice on the phone and in the emails, but within a hour or two I felt like we had always been together. It's so odd... Meeting online means that you get to know the person from the inside out, instead of from the outside in. I think that's why when you meet in person everything is so...right. Oh, and about the K-1 thing. I also think that if you were to get married say 10 months from now you'd be able to adjust status. From what I read in the past messages in this thread, you didn't go over intending to marry and a lot can happen in 12 months. I came here and got engaged, figured we'd do the K-1 thing and enter the US to get married, but then we thought why bother? We knew what we wanted, we already felt married, and there was just no real reason to wait. So 6 months after arriving here we got married! I planned a wedding in less than 2 months. Anyone else headed to the states to live- Are you shipping any of your belongings over to the states besides the 2 suitcases you're taking on the plane? We don't have enough to ship a whole crate, but Chris has a lot of books that I think we should take (I'm a book person myself and have missed mine immensely these 2 years). I priced just parcel shipping and it's wicked expensive. So I'm curious as to whether anyone has found some good solutions to that dilemma.	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-07-23 05:50:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Evening/afternoon folks. The NZ Embassy does seem pretty lax in regards to the I-134. I actually like their thinking. Most consulates follow the standards set by the I864, which we will file for at adjustment. I have a feeling the US government will follow protocol so you might just want to have a back up plan for adjustment time in the States if you will not meet the minimum.	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-08-25 20:11:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi folks... Michelle, i'll pm you. Grant...paypal really is a great option and just fyi, it does link right to your bank account. Mine is linked to my bank account as well as my debit card. It's possible you can do a transfer directly from your bank in NZ, should check with them. Sorry I couldn't help more. Hi Kel Ana, it is well known that most Consulates look for 125% income. Rather than try to explain it all, I'll copy and paste Yu & Dan's post (as I often do ) in another forum. He really does explain it best.... QUOTE QUOTE (YuAndDan @ Feb 2 2008, 11:33 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Not an absolute requirement but the consulates tend to treat I-134, like I-864 and recomend same financial evidence. Example: http://guangzhou.use...w/3._OF-167.pdf (Read affidavit of support section) http://london.usemba...faffidavit.html (Read Affidavit of support section, (notarized copies of his or her latest federal income tax return, a statement from his or her employer showing salary and the length and permanency of employment) http://manila.usemba...ov/wwwfivk1.pdf (k. EVIDENCE OF SUPPORT) http://tokyo.usembas...kaffidavit.html (Copies of his or her latest federal income tax return, Statement from his/her employer showing salary and the length and permanency of employment) The list can go on and on. One thing about I-134, the directions included with I-134 are very old, USCIS has no reason to update them since USCIS has no application for that form. The consulates tend to treat the I-134 like a mini-I-864 as so prefer the same financial evidence as the I-864. In our case this what the I-134 included. I-134 signed and notarized. SIMPLE Tax transcripts from the IRS for past 3 years, (Redundant for the (1040,W2,1099) but are free from the IRS http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq1-6.html Photo copy of IRS form 1040, and W2s for past 3 years (Not necessary if you provide the transcripts) Letter from my employer stating annual salary, job responsibility, and that is full time, on company letterhead. Photo copies of past month or so of pay stubs up to a few weeks before the interview. My income was well above the povertyline so I did not include any asset data (LIKE BANK STATEMENTS or property values). If your income exceeds 125% of the povertyline when counting yourself, prospective immigrant and any dependents, then don't bother with assets (401K, Bank balance, Stocks etc..), it is just extra un-needed data to provide, the consular officer is most concerned with INCOME. I'm so busy with work my butt hurts from sitting in this chair! grrrrrrrrrrrrr I'm so tired of computers!	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-08-23 17:59:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Good morning my kiwi friends. Welcome to the NZ thread Luciana, Here is a list of vaccinations The vaccinations were updated 7/1/08. The new form I-693 will be filled out at adjustment time. Russell got a signed document (vaccination documentation worksheet) stating he's had his vaccinations so it wont need to be signed off on by a civil surgeon when the time comes. Many things are not even needed until AOS but a lot of people choose to have them in their home Country. Your visa receipt should be placed on the outside of your passport and taken to interview. At least that's what Russell told me. No photo's of the US fiance needed. They have the one sent with the initial package. If the US has always been his home (ie; residency) I would assume you would put since birth. I don't think I would put that you are partially dependent on him as that is what the form is for anyway. Somebody else may have some different thoughts regarding that but that is what I would do. hope I helped.	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-08-23 08:55:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi and welcome. Yes, you can either do as Kel suggested and write it in freehand, OR you can follow the I-129f instructions ... If extra space is needed to complete any item, attach a continuation sheet, indicate the item number, and date and sign each sheet. The example forms (link above) will help you a lot too. as an added note... be sure you tick the box part C, Q2. Many people miss this, and are RFE'd, as they believe it's related to the military question above.	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-08-22 18:06:00