Forum	Title	Content	Member	Sex	Country	Date/Time
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Michelle - by all means dress nicely if you wish As I said I dressed tidily, like I do for work, but I wouldn't worry about going all out with suits and the like. I don't think that they're judging the calibre of your clothing, it's more important to have all your paperwork ready to go. Honestly, I know that it's very nervewracking waiting for the interview but the people at Auckland are lovely. They actually seem to want to help and I don't think they're there to trip anyone up. As long as you're sincere about this visajourney (and I know we all are) then I don't think anyone has anything to worry about.	kelzm	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-27 14:56:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi guys, I absolutely would not worry about what to wear to the interview. I made sure I was tidy and that was about it. The reality is that you stand and talk to them through a high counter with a glass window with a speaker and microphone set up. They likely can't even tell if you have jeans on or not There are also a lot of people going through there from students to workers to holiday makers all in different forms of garb. I don't think you'll be judged at all on what you wear (just you know... wear something!).	kelzm	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-26 21:14:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Welcome to Lisa and Tim Dlopez, great news on your interview, I'm sure you'll be back here in time for Christmas. Good news for me, my SSN arrived in the mail on Monday. Only 1 week after I arrived in the country, it was issued on the 17th (I cam in on the 15th) so that was great. I'd read stories of people waiting weeks so here's hoping that the system continues to be so prompt for the rest of you.	kelzm	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-24 10:57:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	I've flown Air Tahiti Nui a couple of times as they can be a few hundred cheaper on special, they're not bad, you just need to watch how long your stopover will be. They fly from Auckland to Tahiti, then on to LAX. The first time I flew with them I arrived around midnight, Tahiti time, and had a 7 hour wait, not quite long enough for me to go to the expense of getting a hotel. Sadly though I was unaware that they close the airport in the small hours of the morning and so I had to sit on my luggage on the pavement for the better part of five hours. The second time my stopover was only two hours and everything was fine, I also did not have to collect my luggage, so hopefully they no longer make you do that. It's just something to be aware of, especially if you're carting over lots of precious belongings. I usually use the House of Travel website (www.hot.co.nz) when looking at flights, it will compare all the airlines, then I book direct through airline sites as you save administration fees etc that way.	kelzm	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-23 18:42:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi all, glad to see you made it safely to this part of the world ShawnandLu. I still feel like I'm on a 'holiday' after my first week, probably not helped by the fact my son arrived yesterday. He was an extremely grumpy 14 year old who kept asking what we were going to do last night and was disappointed to hear read a book, play a game, watch tv - exactly like at home. I'm sure he thought it's be one non-stop adventure when he got here! I only just realised that I never posted my POE review so I will do that. I came direct to San Francisco. If you have the option do consider SFO for you POE. It's much smaller than LAX, much friendlier and AirNZ does direct flights to there as well as other airlines starting to pick up more routes from there. You can also book onward travel pretty simply as well. It's a 12 hour flight so same distance as LAX without the drama of that huge airport. My POE was fine, I flew business class (yay for airpoints upgrade) so I was off the plane pretty speedily and right to the front of the immigration line. Unfortunately some bright spark then decided that line should do wheelchairs as well and I had to wait for 45 minutes while 10 or so wheelchair escorts got put in front of me. After that it was pretty simple, they were very efficient. The border woman came and took my passport while I was queuing to make sure I was in the system, later another guy came along and had us all manually do our fingerprints and sign a form with him, and then the border woman put it all through. I didn't get many questions at all but that may be because I was on CR1. Just told when to file for my 10 year card since I have only a 2 year one and to head along to the social security office to get my number when I was ready. Russ, best of luck with your flight. I'm betting that sleep is something that's escaping you right now!	kelzm	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-22 10:04:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (gshennen @ Oct 5 2008, 07:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Kim & Chris @ Oct 5 2008, 03:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I received my package 3 from the consulate on Friday just gone , just wanted to know about the photos you need to have taken. I see they ask for 50x50mm pics. Are our standard passport photo's acceptable or do i need to get someone else to take them? Any info would be helpful.. Cheers Kim Kim - You are right, NZ Standard size passports photos are not the right size, however when we had ours done, the photo place knew the US Visa sized photos and provided the photos in that size. Cheers Grant Thanks for your help Grant	Kim & Chris	Female	New Zealand	2008-10-05 01:49:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi everyone, I've lurked but not posted here before, have read every page of this thread though and got some good info off it. I received my package 3 from the consulate on Friday just gone , just wanted to know about the photos you need to have taken. I see they ask for 50x50mm pics. Are our standard passport photo's acceptable or do i need to get someone else to take them? QUOTE Also, we have started to send some boxes of staff (important documents, clothes, kids books etc) to the US. To give you an idea, we are using Allied Movers packing boxes, these are 45cm long, x 35cm high, x 30cm wide. They weigh between about 8kg and 12 kg when full, and is costing between $60 and $100 to post over using international economy (which takes 2 - 3 weeks). Also Grant - I emailed Allied Movers about these boxes but so far have received no reply, I'll persue it further but just wondered if you checked out a few places and found Allied to be the best. Any info would be helpful.. Cheers Kim	Kim & Chris	Female	New Zealand	2008-10-04 21:25:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	tick tock tick tock omg i hate waiting, nothing, not even a touch and i've never wanted to be touched so much in my life i am so like this i'm sure half the time Rob must feel like a possum caught in headlights aarrgghh so how's everyone doing?	Michelle Kauffman	Female	New Zealand	2008-10-01 22:29:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (kelzm @ Sep 27 2008, 02:14 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi guys, I absolutely would not worry about what to wear to the interview. I made sure I was tidy and that was about it. The reality is that you stand and talk to them through a high counter with a glass window with a speaker and microphone set up. They likely can't even tell if you have jeans on or not There are also a lot of people going through there from students to workers to holiday makers all in different forms of garb. I don't think you'll be judged at all on what you wear (just you know... wear something!). I don't wanna be the stick in the mud here but i was thinking if they want to see my cv and see that i'll be able to find a job and not be a burden on the government, i thought dressing nicely, like for work, would be the best idea. Now after reading all these posts I just don't know.	Michelle Kauffman	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-26 22:13:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	well i guess i'll just have to join you stalking lol, something to do on a slow night shift, thank goodness they haven't blocked this website yet	Michelle Kauffman	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-26 00:01:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	wow the forums have been busy and i've missed it all, stupid email alert hasn't been coming thru, i did think we were all being rather quiet and i've been trying not to keep lurking like a stalker hoping for some news	Michelle Kauffman	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-25 16:17:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Sep 25 2008, 07:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Russell just called me from LAX! His next flight leaves in 40 minutes... I sure hope he makes it! woohoo, omg you must be so excited	Michelle Kauffman	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-25 16:13:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	congratulations kim and russ!!!!!!	rubyred	Male	New Zealand	2008-09-30 11:16:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Kim and Russ, I was wondering how you guys were getting on! Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you both! I have no idea how you are feeling right now, I can only imagine	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-10-01 03:24:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Oh Kim that sucks! Just keep focusing on the fact that you'll be with him soon	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-24 03:05:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (Lisaandtim @ Sep 24 2008, 07:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello everyone! =) I'm new to the board and wanted to say hi and introduce myself. My name is Lisa and I'm a US citizen and my love is Tim and he's from New Zealand (soo creative on the name here, right? =p lol). Our ages are 24 and 19. We are just filling out our I-129F and G-325A after getting a run around from people on how to go about this. I've cried so much over these forms let me tell you. It's been a huge stress with everything going on. But he's worth it =). This board makes it seem like I'm not alone in this. Hiya Lisa and Tim! Welcome to the thread Let us know if you have any questions about your forms as the people here share a wealth of knowledge. Good luck!	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-24 02:53:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (amaciar @ Sep 23 2008, 12:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> LAX has been a thorn in my side for a few years now. There is no easy way to get to the east coast from LAX when flying from Auckland. I just wait the 11+ hours though. I have missed two or three flights and the airlines are nowhere near as accomodating in the US as they are in NZ and the united terminal is at the opposite end of the airport! And I am going to rant a bit here but I just don't understand how it can take over an hour for them to unload one flights luggage. I understand when there are multiple flights but well Auckland needs to give LAX some lessons on unloading. I had four hours between flights on one occasion and still would have missed my flight. Lucky me though Denver was under 3 feet of snow so barely any flights were getting in or out of LAX and my flight was cancelled. It was no fun trying to find a flight but since I wasn't screaming or being rude the lady i was dealing with tried for about half hour to find me a flight and it was first class! Okay rant over Hey amaciar! I fly from Auckland - Kansas a lot and I've discovered that Qantas + American Airlines is much better and easier than using Air NZ + United when you have connecting flights. When you fly with Qantas to LAX, you pretty much go out the door and up the stairs to the American Airlines terminal. This is much easier than going from one side of the airport to the other as with Air NZ and United. PLUS when returning to Auckland, you arrive at the American Airlines terminal in LAX and then just go out the door and into the next building to the Qantas terminal. I found it's so much easier! Another reason why I find Qantas and American Airlines better, is that they pass through Dallas instead of Denver (which is usually banked up with snow in the Winter so there's alway a chance of a delay/cancellation). Where abouts do you fly to in the US anyway? It's nice to know someone else has been on the exact same route as me lol.	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-23 02:34:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (cdneh @ Sep 22 2008, 06:53 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Kelvan @ Sep 22 2008, 08:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Kim and Russ, it's awesome that things are moving fast for you two! I'm back in Auckland now. Boy did those three weeks in the US go by fast. They do don't they! I'm convinced time goes by faster somehow when you are together...some strange kind of time warp or something. I think it's a great pity time apart doesn't seem to move at that speed Tell me about it! I totally agree with you on the time warp thing. It's frustrating! Nice to know I'm not alone though	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-22 04:22:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Kim and Russ, it's awesome that things are moving fast for you two! I'm back in Auckland now. Boy did those three weeks in the US go by fast.	Kelvan	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-22 03:27:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Oct 6 2008, 09:44 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello my kiwi friends. Welcome Kim & Chris, good to have you with us. We're still flying high and really feel as though we were never apart. Our big day (part 1 anyway) is just over a week away now so we're busy trying to get the house ready for a small(ish) party with our family and friends. Can't wait! Nice to see some of you still moving along. Wont be long now, eh Grant? Hello again. Was just wondering if there's anything we can do between the time of the NOA1 and NOA2? I was reading some of you got fingerprinted and up to date on shots. Can/should we do that while we wait?	Lisaandtim	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-10-07 13:42:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (gshennen @ Oct 2 2008, 12:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hi All I'm sorry to hear that some of you are stuck in limbo at the moment, and that progress is pretty slow. You have my sympathy. Also great that Kim and Russ have finally reached a very happy conclusion! We are just counting down now, I am trying to wrap up a couple of bits of work. We have shipped all of the stuff we wanted to ship. We have ordered a lot of stuff on line in the US, and it is starting to show up at Brook's parents. It is hard to believe that in less than 3 weeks we will be living the other side of the world! We have got short term health insurance for all of us (wow that is expensive!!). I am still job hunting, but am starting to make appointments with recruitment agencies for after we arrive. We are also the kings of selling stuff on Trade Me. Poor Ash is having his toys sold out from under him. We currently have 17 auctions running, with more to start next week. Anyway - here's hoping lots of progress starts to get made for those waiting. Cheers Grant Got noa1 today yay	Lisaandtim	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-10-03 18:01:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (cdneh @ Sep 26 2008, 12:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (Michelle.S @ Sep 26 2008, 05:01 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> well i guess i'll just have to join you stalking lol, something to do on a slow night shift, thank goodness they haven't blocked this website yet Our place either I was on nights last night, and it did get quiet in the wee small hours...so I did a little reading.... Hope it stays Q for you Well I'm about to send in the I-129F today =) Last night I had to take Tim to the airport ='( i cried all the way home. (2hrs away) >.< maybe I'm a softy.	Lisaandtim	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-26 13:00:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hello everyone! =) I'm new to the board and wanted to say hi and introduce myself. My name is Lisa and I'm a US citizen and my love is Tim and he's from New Zealand (soo creative on the name here, right? =p lol). Our ages are 24 and 19. We are just filling out our I-129F and G-325A after getting a run around from people on how to go about this. I've cried so much over these forms let me tell you. It's been a huge stress with everything going on. But he's worth it =). This board makes it seem like I'm not alone in this.	Lisaandtim	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-23 16:24:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (kiwiana @ Sep 27 2008, 10:05 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> My heart goes out to you Lisa. I know how you feel. It is extremely hard and heart breaking. This year, i was in two minds about going to see my SO, as like cdneh said, it is just so hard, the leaving part. But I told myself that this would be the last time that we would have to do this, as we filed the 1-129f while i was there. And it's GREAT news that you have sent off your forms today!! Just keep telling yourself that soon you will be together for good!! And i have a quick question here about the interview at Auckland consulate. I know this sounds kinda lame but was just wondering to those that have been there. Is there a set dress code one has to wear for the interview? Do you think it is ok for women to wear jeans to it? or is that too dressed down? Ana I made Nic wear a nice pair of nice pants and a button up shirt...but after th interview we realized it wasn't necessary. Not sure what everyone elses take on this is? Lisa it is the hardest part about being in love with someone from the other side of the world! You are a step closer to not having to live apart. I used to joke with my husband and say that people divorce over less stressing things than this process......so if you can make it through uscis and nvc you can make it through anything.	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-26 18:21:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (Lisaandtim @ Sep 24 2008, 09:24 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Hello everyone! =) I'm new to the board and wanted to say hi and introduce myself. My name is Lisa and I'm a US citizen and my love is Tim and he's from New Zealand (soo creative on the name here, right? =p lol). Our ages are 24 and 19. We are just filling out our I-129F and G-325A after getting a run around from people on how to go about this. I've cried so much over these forms let me tell you. It's been a huge stress with everything going on. But he's worth it =). This board makes it seem like I'm not alone in this. Welcome. It sounds like you have found this site early on in the process. It is great having others who know how you feel and have been there. The paperwork is intimidating but you will get through it.	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-23 19:37:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (KimandRuss @ Sep 24 2008, 12:39 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (cdneh @ Sep 23 2008, 03:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Kim...where I am...heh..it's tomorrow! You must be absolutely thrilled ! I think i'm in shock. In 5 hours we 'chat' for the last time long distance then he'll be on his way back home. Because of our circumstances, our visa journey has been several years in the making. It's surreal to think we can finally be on with it. QUOTE After years and years of flying between NZ and Canada I will never go through LAX again going last year through SFO. So much friendlier and less stressful. One bright spot of news..I've been worried about my Canadian police clearance expiring before I even get to the interview process, now that things out of VSC are going at a snail's pace. I emailed them and they got back to me straightaway. As long as I stay out of Canada, it will be good ! Doesn't air tahiti nui fly NZ-US as well? Russell found cheaper rates for them on expedia.co.nz earlier on. you guys know there is a bus shuttle that runs constantly between the LAX domestic/international terminals, yes? With only two hours between connecting flights we're hoping Russell doesn't run into any problems. We haven't yet (knock, knock, knock) . Woo Hoo you have gone from counting the days to counting the hours! Awesome Yep know there is a shuttle but I find it a bit quicker to just go it on my feet. I hate sitting in the shuttle and having a group of ten take 20 minutes! I am a bit of a stress case with things like that. Plus my legs can use the stretch by then. Air Tahiti Nui lets you stop overnight or for a few days as well for not much money. Great if you are traveling with your Kiwi Edited by amaciar, 23 September 2008 - 09:12 AM.	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-23 09:07:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (Kelvan @ Sep 23 2008, 07:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> QUOTE (amaciar @ Sep 23 2008, 12:00 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> LAX has been a thorn in my side for a few years now. There is no easy way to get to the east coast from LAX when flying from Auckland. I just wait the 11+ hours though. I have missed two or three flights and the airlines are nowhere near as accomodating in the US as they are in NZ and the united terminal is at the opposite end of the airport! And I am going to rant a bit here but I just don't understand how it can take over an hour for them to unload one flights luggage. I understand when there are multiple flights but well Auckland needs to give LAX some lessons on unloading. I had four hours between flights on one occasion and still would have missed my flight. Lucky me though Denver was under 3 feet of snow so barely any flights were getting in or out of LAX and my flight was cancelled. It was no fun trying to find a flight but since I wasn't screaming or being rude the lady i was dealing with tried for about half hour to find me a flight and it was first class! Okay rant over Hey amaciar! I fly from Auckland - Kansas a lot and I've discovered that Qantas + American Airlines is much better and easier than using Air NZ + United when you have connecting flights. When you fly with Qantas to LAX, you pretty much go out the door and up the stairs to the American Airlines terminal. This is much easier than going from one side of the airport to the other as with Air NZ and United. PLUS when returning to Auckland, you arrive at the American Airlines terminal in LAX and then just go out the door and into the next building to the Qantas terminal. I found it's so much easier! Another reason why I find Qantas and American Airlines better, is that they pass through Dallas instead of Denver (which is usually banked up with snow in the Winter so there's alway a chance of a delay/cancellation). Where abouts do you fly to in the US anyway? It's nice to know someone else has been on the exact same route as me lol. I fly to upstate New York. The airport is pretty small so we have very little choice with airlines. Usually I catch the red eye to either Chicago or Washington Dulles. Unfortunately United has a major hub in Denver.....so even if you don't touch it a storm there messes everything up Thankfully we are done with the NZed flights for a while. We are hoping it will be two years baring any weddings or deaths! @ years is heaps better than the every six months I was doing for the past 4 years We will have to check out Qantas next time at least fro the LA to Auckland portion.	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-23 09:02:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	LAX has been a thorn in my side for a few years now. There is no easy way to get to the east coast from LAX when flying from Auckland. I just wait the 11+ hours though. I have missed two or three flights and the airlines are nowhere near as accomodating in the US as they are in NZ and the united terminal is at the opposite end of the airport! And I am going to rant a bit here but I just don't understand how it can take over an hour for them to unload one flights luggage. I understand when there are multiple flights but well Auckland needs to give LAX some lessons on unloading. I had four hours between flights on one occasion and still would have missed my flight. Lucky me though Denver was under 3 feet of snow so barely any flights were getting in or out of LAX and my flight was cancelled. It was no fun trying to find a flight but since I wasn't screaming or being rude the lady i was dealing with tried for about half hour to find me a flight and it was first class! Okay rant over Kim I am sure your friedns and family are just as excited as you. Good idea to go on a little trip just the two of you .	amaciar	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-22 09:00:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (Kim & Chris @ Oct 5 2008, 03:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I received my package 3 from the consulate on Friday just gone , just wanted to know about the photos you need to have taken. I see they ask for 50x50mm pics. Are our standard passport photo's acceptable or do i need to get someone else to take them? Any info would be helpful.. Cheers Kim Kim - You are right, NZ Standard size passports photos are not the right size, however when we had ours done, the photo place knew the US Visa sized photos and provided the photos in that size. Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-10-05 01:29:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE Also Grant - I emailed Allied Movers about these boxes but so far have received no reply, I'll persue it further but just wondered if you checked out a few places and found Allied to be the best. Any info would be helpful.. Cheers Kim Hi Kim Sorry, my post may have been a mid-misleading. I am only using the Allied Movers boxes (not actually them to do the shipping). I am shipping through NZ Post, at the Post Office. I put a lot of work Allied Movers way, so got a heap of boxes, packing tape, packing paper etc from them. Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-10-05 01:25:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi All I'm sorry to hear that some of you are stuck in limbo at the moment, and that progress is pretty slow. You have my sympathy. Also great that Kim and Russ have finally reached a very happy conclusion! We are just counting down now, I am trying to wrap up a couple of bits of work. We have shipped all of the stuff we wanted to ship. We have ordered a lot of stuff on line in the US, and it is starting to show up at Brook's parents. It is hard to believe that in less than 3 weeks we will be living the other side of the world! We have got short term health insurance for all of us (wow that is expensive!!). I am still job hunting, but am starting to make appointments with recruitment agencies for after we arrive. We are also the kings of selling stuff on Trade Me. Poor Ash is having his toys sold out from under him. We currently have 17 auctions running, with more to start next week. Anyway - here's hoping lots of progress starts to get made for those waiting. Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-10-02 14:37:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	I didn't even think about dress code at the consulate. I think I wore jeans and a T shirt. I think Brook would have worn about the same. I don't think it is an issue, or that they look or care what you wear. Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-09-26 21:12:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	QUOTE (kiwiana @ Sep 24 2008, 08:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Grant: Hows everything going? We are going well thanks, just slowly packing up stuff, sending boxes like mad to the US, selling stuff etc. We were thrown into a mild panic, as we own a townhouse rental in Newton, and our tenants gave notice the other day, so we now have to find new tenants. However we have had lots of interest, so hopefuly can get this sorted in the next few days, but it is one hassle we could do without. But besides that, all is going well, I am winding up my last couple of projects, and are getting more ready every day. Only less than a month for us now. No luck on the job front yet, but one that I am perfect for got advertised last night, so hopefully something will come of that. Glad to see that others are making great progress, and excellent to here that Kim and Russ' very long journey is now at an end. A big welcome also to Lisa and Tim Cheers Grant	gshennen	Male	New Zealand	2008-09-25 02:01:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Hi all, Just thought I would drop back in to let you know that my Green Card turned up in the post yesterday - stoked to have it in-hand. We were lucky in that the process has been relatively smooth sailing for us and hope that you all have easy journeys too. The web system kept us updated and I received email alerts as each stage of the process. Good luck to all. Cheers, Mark	markjo	Not Telling	New Zealand	2008-09-28 00:34:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	OMG Kim you must be so excited right now, just hours and you guys will be finished with this part of your journey!! I hope you have a fabulous few days away soaking in each other's presence. Welcome Lisa! Government forms are a thorn in all our sides I think. I know I've yelled, cried, and generally thrown a fit over a few through all this. LOL	yankiwi	Female	New Zealand	2008-09-23 17:44:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Yay we got our Interview date November 13th. . We live in Hastings so we will be filing the I-130 and doing the Visa Application on the same day. We were hoping to get to US before Christmas since I haven't spent Christmas with my Brother and Sis in 6 years, and now it looks like it will happen	dlopez86	Male	New Zealand	2008-09-23 20:25:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Congratulations Kim & Chris!	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-11-03 11:21:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Thank everyone. Hmmm pics... well the ones my friend took with our camera all came out poorly because silly us got married at the top of the deck with the sun shinging brightly behind us. We did have a few people who videotaped as well so i'm waiting on some of that to see if I can't still a few shots without the sun. I'd love to make a collage with a pic of us saying our vows to each other with a copy of those vows on each side. We'll see. Honestly, the day is a blur! The new avatar pic and personal pics were from a couple of days later on the same deck but I just took it with my cell phone for Russell's folks. We've gone to two parties as vampire and vampire bride... perhaps I should just put those up. I'm hoping to see some NOA2's for our kiwi friends very soon!!!	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-11-01 08:29:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Welcome to America, Grant! Best of luck on the job hunt. Still procrastinating with regards to the AOS papers... I am so over the immigration process! Thinking of those of you still waiting... time is flying and you'll be there before you know it! Stay strong!	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-10-29 10:01:00
Australia and New Zealand	NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!	Awww so nice to see so many of you getting closer. Such a good feeling! Both of us had a very easy time with the social security office. Just a matter of filling out a quick form really. They are pretty used to seeing visa's of all kinds so they knew just what to do. We should be getting our new cards this week. We'll be sending out our AOS this week as well. It will be so good to be done with US immigration at least for a couple of years!!!	KimandRuss	Female	New Zealand	2008-10-27 11:11:00