Wow! Lucky you! I shelled out around about $430 each for my two sons and I and we had a much more thorough exam. 4 weeks later, it still hasn't been sent to the Consulate. Between the flights from Invercargill to Auckland, the hotel and the medical, it was one expensive trip!

/sigh

Hi GnomeGrrrl sorry to hear that your medical was so expensive!

Wondering if you and emma can let us know which doctors you went to etc. That way I can make sure to go to the cheaper one!

Sounds like you're nearly all done though, that must be a relief.

Sorry to hear about your cost/wait GnomeGrrl. Are their different things needed for the CR-1 or when you have children that will be immigrating as well or is it really dependant on the doctor you choose?

I would also appreciate it if you could share. I'm not as worried about the cost as I am the wait!

had my interview with the sponsorship agency today, all went well - apparently i gave all the right answers and i have 'realistic expectations' about my stay in the US... of course, i left out all the stuff about going there to be with the love of my life

next thing i have to do is pick the exact date i'm arriving in the states. apparently, they need to know this before i can really start filling out the paperwork for the visa. it has to be the EXACT date or i'm in trouble. so over the next few days i'll be checking out flights and talking to my parents/jordan to figure it out. but at this stage, the date i'm going with is july 11.

yay! can't wait to book my ticket next week!

Wow Justine, that's great news!

Next week! I've been waiting on divorce paperwork...but I've got that now

Ooooh you're in the boat with me!

Mine is final on April 14th. We file on the 15!

Are you filing with Vermont?

We went to CityMed in Auckland. The medical itself was $180, $31 for bloods and $80 for the X-ray.

We had our interview the day after the medical, so we expected a delay - just not as long as it has been! The doctor was excessively thorough. As well as the usual heart lungs, blood pressure etc, we had our eyes checked and she pretty much looked at every crevice. I had a breast exam and all three of us had to drop our pants so she could look at our bits. With me, she even looked for scars so she could satisfy herself that I'd had the operations I'd said I had, as if I'd lie about that! We had to have quite a chunk of jabs despite the fact that I'd provided evidence that we were current with all but tetanus. I honestly think the doctor has you by the proverbial short and curlys. If they say you need to have the vaccinations, you can't exactly argue the point. You also can't really argue with the fact that the doctor gets the nurse to give them to you and you're charged an extra $20 (each) for the nurses injection fee.

The ultimate hold up was that my youngest (my sons are 16 and 17) had had mental health problems in the past, so they insisted on getting a letter from Invercargill, which was fine. Except for the fact that it took CityMed 2 weeks to send the request (which was actually for his entire medical file) and over a week to look at it once they had it. We talked to her last on Thursday and she said she was signing off on it that day. I'll be calling on Monday to make sure she has, but I'm not really liking the odds after the experience so far.

The good news is that my interview was a dream and I have nothing but good things to say about that experience - well, except for finding the fact that the actual interview was conducted in the main area at one of the little windows more than a little bizarre. LOL.

That part lasted a grand total of 10 minutes and most of that was the signing of papers and getting fingerprints that hadn't come out clearly at the first window. I was asked 2 questions (how long had hubby lived in NZ and did I intend to work in the US) and that was that. I offered and started pulling out the evidence I'd brought along and he didn't want to know. Apparently if you can put up with someone for 9 years, it's proof enough that you're not in it for the green card.

FYI: We filed last March and because I've put up with him so long, it's straight to IR-1.

Thanks so much for sharing that. It looks like you're in the home stretch now! Keep us posted.

We are! Once I box up this stack of paper and post it Monday, and it gets to him in about 8-10 days time...we could be filing on the same day!

Great to have company in the boat!

Wow. Looks like things are really happening for all the Kiwi's and families!

Justine - great news about your interview, July isn't far away at all. Congrats.

Not long now for you either Kim, hopefully yours and cdneh's applications will fly through processing.

And Gnomegrrl, thanks so much for the information. It's great to read other peoples experiences when you're going to be heading down that same track.

As for me, still waiting for NVC, hopefully I'm nearly at the halfway point there, praying for an August interview. But the good news is that at the end of the month I get to fly out to the US for three weeks. I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that they let me through the POE!

WOW sounds like you had it rough with the medical, Actually I was thinking of going to CityMed, but ended up going to Dr Marcus Stone in Remuera instead, he was really nice & so was the nurse. He didn't check my eyes, breasts or to see that I definately was a girl.... but i'm glad that you had a good experience at the interview, mine is on the 17th so i'm getting a little nervous!

And sure enough ... our medicals still haven't gone to the Consulate.

That's terrible. Very sorry to hear that. I don't understand what's taking them so long, surely it shouldn't take much to get your results across to the Consulate.

Emma, no need to be nervous! I'm sure you're well prepared!

Gnomegrrl... so sorry they're taking so long! I guess we know who not to see for medicals!

One week and counting over here! Guess I better get this packet together!

We were approved!!!

Now, to sell the house ... /sigh

Tried to edit to add that our medicals finally got through to the Consulate on Tuesday.

Gnomegirl... CONGRATULATIONS!!!! How exciting for you! Hope your house sells quick!

cdneh... are your papers here in the US yet?

Mark, are you home in NZ yet??

How are you other folks doing?

K, so I have a couple questions for you guys...

1.) what does the NZ consulate ask for in regards to the affidavit of support? I'm self employed (build, design, maintain websites, fix computers, tech support...etc). I'm always busy but I work for a lot of different people and my income varies greatly from week to week...and ummm I only claim what I have to...and therein lies my issue. I do have a couple company's I work for daily who pay me with company checks (no paystubs..but I can get copies of my cashed checks from that employers bank if I need to). This is only about 10-20,000 a year but it's money I have to claim, therefore it's on my tax returns the last three years. I know that is not enough for a family of 4 but I also receive child support that was ordered by the court last December. That, in itself, is about $10,000 more than what is needed for a family of 4 so I know i'm set as long as I include that. But i'm wondering if they have specific policies regarding the affidavit of support and what is needed.

I'm thinking i'll make copies of my checks each week or maybe wait till they're cashed and get them from the employers bank(?), include at least one employer letter proving about 15,000 of my annual income, my court papers ordering child support...bank statements showing the money is going into the account bi-weekly... tax returns from 2 or 3 years? Anything else?

2.) i'd like to know if your visa's are available for pick up two days after you are approved as has been the case with most (here anyway) that have gone through Auckland?

Still waiting on a call back from the registrar of deeds to confirm that I can pick up my divorce decree on Tuesday as he previously stated. I will not be happy if we are made to wait any longer due to even mnore bureaucracy!!!

Thanks Kim! I hope so too!

As for your questions, you'll have to file the Affidavit in the US, so the standard rules apply. The only thing I was asked for in regards to that was to take one of hubby's recent pay slip to the Consulate interview.

I'm not sure on the pick up thing. We weren't given the option, but perhaps that was because of the fact that our medicals weren't back and we lived so far away from Auckland.

hi everyone!

good to hear things are moving along for all here.

had my interview a little while back, for the work USA program - all went well. they needed an exact date of arrival in the US before they could proceed with the visa paperwork, so over about two days i figured out when i could go... so now the ticket is booked! paid for! i'm arriving in the states on july 10!

feels so great to have a concrete date to work towards; it's been hard not knowing when i'd be going over. so the paperwork is just beginning but i'm not anticipating any problems. the hardest part will be getting rid of all my stuff.

mum and dad came through with air points to pay for all my domestic flights, so the trip back to new plymouth, the interview at the consulate and the connecting flight to auckland before i fly out, are all taken care of (saving me quite a bit of money). finances are looking good, barring any disaster happening.

sadly, i'm arriving at the worst time of the year - it's jordan's busiest time at work, and just a few weeks after i get there he has to leave for week for work so he won't be able to take much time off work, probably only a couple of days, but i'm at the point where i don't care - i'll just be happy that i'll at least be waiting for him when he gets home each day (OMG IN HIS HOUSE, HIS ACTUAL HOUSE, NOT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF A COMPUTER SCREEN!).

That's awesome news rubyred!! Times going to fly by for you now.

Kim - todays the day isn't it?!!

Gnomegrrl good luck with selling your house. I've just put mine on the market amidst all the doom and gloom in the media about selling. I've got some people coming to look at it on the weekend so fingers crossed they'll like it and want to buy it.

As for me. Waiting for NVC. Honestly, it baffles me that it takes a whole month for them to send each form! Oh well. The good news is that in two and a half weeks I get to go visit my husband and have a vacation. Yippee.

Thank you Gnome girl! You needed your new husbands paystub? Or your ex husband for proof of child support? We're K1...so my info still goes to Auckland for Russell to take with him. I'll be sending along lots of copies of checks.

Justine! You have a date!!! That's wonderful news. How great of your parents to help you out with their points too. I know how expensive it is to fly domestic in NZ! Sorry Jordan will be so busy when you get there but I really dont think it's going to matter too much! btw..did you get my last email?

Kel...I see ya lurking! Did you get your house sold yet?

Well, if you can believe this, I have three calls into the registrar of deeds last week to confirm that I can go pick up my divorce decree from the courthouse tomorrow and still no call back! I am legally divorced as of today and a couple months ago he told me to call back to confirm I could get my certified copy as early as 'the next day'. If I don't get a call back today i'm not going to be happy. I've been patient enough! I printed out almost everything I need all day yesterday. 10 years worth of 'everything'! Had just a few things left....when I got an error, tried to reboot... and got a bios error on startup! It's just my luck! Good thing I fix computers!

So, today promises to be crazy. Tomorrow all I want is to watch my bank account drop!

hey kim,
i did get your email and meant to reply - i haven't looked into it but i think you might be right about the law changes applying to J-1 visas as well. it sucks, but i'm not surprised. guess we'll just have to do it the long way :/

Oh man...waiting on bits of paper..how I can identify with that!

I'm still waiting on a couple of things..long form birth certificate and Canadian police report..but nothing that I need right away.

Two days ago, after checking and rechecking and checking again (paranoia on my part) I sent a package off to my fiancee with all my bits and bobs. He should have it in a week...and then he can add his bits and bobs and file...already!

Jeremy will love being called 'new'. LOL. It was his paystub I had to take. I didn't have to provide any proof of what I earned at all whatsoever. My ex owns his own business and fiddles the books so he pays the minimum amount of child support possible. It's also not done through the court here. Our IRD (IRS) take care of it and work out what they have to pay by their taxable income from the previous year. My ex (I never married him, fortunately) hasn't even seen or spoken to the kids in 4 years despite the fact he lives in the same town, so I'm sure if it wasn't through the IRD, I'd have huge problems getting him to pay.

I hope you get everything sorted today and definitely hope you get your paperwork away tomorrow!!!

Kel, I'm hoping I'll be lucky in that respect. Invercargill seems to be bucking the national trend. Only one house in our street hasn't sold quickly and it's way overpriced. I'm still busy painting, but it should be ready for market next week, fingers crossed. Good luck with yours!!!

Hi Guys,

first off this isn't kim, its her ....i'd like to say significant other,

shes out celebrating and having a well deserved drink right now so i figured i would be the one to fill you guys in because really i am just so 'chuffed'

we filed today, well she did as she did most of the work, she sent it by courier and should be there at VSC at 3 pm tomorrow to be added to the top of the pile of a box where it will be the first to be reviewed and accepted (asking too much? after 10 years of waiting i dont think so )

everything going well i could be there in as little as two months, at this stage we really aren't waiting around for anything, any form that needs to be filled out is being filled as we get it and sent the same day, some people would say impatient, i would have to agree with them but the time apart is really dragging out and i miss her damnit

i am sure kim will fill you in on the specifics if you have any questions you need to ask i will be lurking around as normal

i hope everything is going well for you all, believe me when i say i know how stressful all this can be, just remember the light at the end of the tunnel

luv

Russ

Hey Russ and Kim, big congrats to you both. Seems to me like you've made it through the hard part, hopefully the rest will be smooth (and rapid!) sailing from now on.

Gnomegrrl - question for you about your kids and your ex. Do you have legal custody of your children? If not, did you have to get a notarised letter from your ex to get permission to move the children? I havent' applied for my son yet but that's going to be happening soon, I'm thinking that I'll need to go to the family court and get a custody order so I can prove to the US govt that I have permission to move my son.

BIG BIG CONGRATS for being able to file already.. we have been waiting with Kim for this... and we will wait and hope and pray with you guys that you will get approved the soonest!

God speed

First of all, grats Russ and Kim!!! Fingers crossed for a speedy reunion!!!!

Kel, I'm afraid I can't help you there. One of mine just turned 18 and the other is about to turn 17, so they're too old for custody orders or for their father to be able to stop them leaving the country. Having legal custody will definitely help, but your ex can throw a spanner in to the works any time he likes until the kids are 16 unfortunately

gnomegirl... lol maybe I should have said 'recent' husband. my bad! thanks for the congrats.

Thank you Gay (dbears) I really appreciate your support.

Thanks kel... hope everything else is going smoothly for you too.

Well, like my sweets stated... we've finaly got the paperwork sent yesterday and i'm stoked about that! It was no easy task though! Some of you know that i've already waited years for my ex to sign the divorce agreement. Russell being booted from the country...etc. Well if that wasn't enough... I had everything scanned in, forms filled out...etc all stored on my hard drive for months now. Just waiting to be printed up and organized into the packet. Well, after printing off all our pictures and a few other things on Sunday I went to reboot and windows wouldn't load. It was late and because I work with computers I thought 'no big deal' I will finish up tomorrow... yes well, turns out my hard drive failed and I couldn't get to any of it. After diagnosing the problem, I didn't have time to see if I could copy the drive over and had to get on another computer at home and scan and print everything again. Needless to say, I was up pretty late getting that all done. On top of that, I had 4 calls into registrar of deeds office to make sure I could pick up my decree yesterday....with no call back. I decided I'd take the 1/2 hour drive into the city and drop in to see if I could get it anyway. When I got there I was sent to an entirely different building...where I was sent back to the same place I started!! At this point all I could do is shake my head. Anyway, I got it! From that moment on nothing else seemed to matter and I was all smiles! I spent about 40 minutes in line at the post office and sent the package overnight. As soon as I got into my office I had a call from the registrar's office.... my decree was ready to be picked up! I just had to laugh!

So the package was very well organized and very throrough, with tabbed off sections and I went over everything twice but I still worry because of the loss of all my previous information and the mad rush in which I put it together again. It still feels really good to have it done and to be in the waiting game. I know for many this is the part they stress about most and maybe after a few weeks of waiting we'll get there too ...but for now, we're just so happy to be on to the next chapter.

Thanks for all your support. Knowing we're not alone in this has helped make the process to get to this stage more bearable.

Ouch, sorry to hear about the hard drive drama Kim. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't meet any hitches with the package you sent in.

I'm on the home stretch with NVC now, waiting for one more coversheet to be generated then I can send in my last lot of forms. Yay. Then it'll be off to consulate for my medical and interview. It's great to see the end in sight.

Thanks Kel. I don't know what i'd do without drama ..im so used to it!

That's great that you're getting so close!!!

Hi Guys!

Well I finally had my interview on Thursday - it was easy as, I was there for about an hour and a half, mostly waiting. The first lady gathered all my papers together for the interview, & told me a few things about what would happen next. And the Lady who interviewed me was really nice, only asked a few questions like
where we met
when we met
what our wedding plans were
& about all the visits i'd had
all in all went pretty smoothly, I had a bunch of evidence of our relationship, but she didn't really look into it too much, she could see I was well prepared anyway. So i'm picking up my passport on Monday, & flying out on Tues evening ! Finally!

Best of luck to you all!

Emma... CONGRATULATIONS!!! So happy for you!

Congrats Emma!

That's awesome! Congratulations Emma!!

Sorry, I know this is:

I have been thinking of alternative plans in the event our visa is denied.

One idea in my mind is moving to New Zealand. There are some very good universities there and I am a professor.

Does anyone know if there is a problem with either American or Chinese people getting permanent residency in NZ? Are there any other potential problems I might not think of?

Any thoughts or opinions would be interesting. Thanks for any responses.

Off topic is fine

New Zealand operates a points system for people looking to immigrate. I think that it's an easier process than immigrating to the USA. You can find out more info here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

As far as any problems getting residency, I don't believe so, if you fit within the points criteria. We have a large Chinese community here in Auckland, at least.

Thanks!

I'll look into it further.

I've actually thought about looking for a position in NZ even if our visa is approved. From what I've read, it just seems like a nice place.

Don't worry Richard. Y'alls case will be approved. You got the kitchen sink, remember? Your case will go 很好。Haha. Good luck, my friends!

I came here from Canada 15 years ago. It is a nice place

*hugs* Kim...we're watching said clock right along with you .

Thanks

We're still flying high from getting the petition sent off but now just wanting the check to cash so we can sit back and relax a bit. Russell seems to think they're just going to give us a freebie and pass us right away because we've already been through enough. So cute!

Richard, NZ is the most beautiful of all the places i've been. I'm sure you'll be fine with your plans as they stand but NZ is a great alternative! Hopefully we'll be there as much as we can be. Just such a shame it's so far away!

cdneh, I noticed you put 4/30 as your send date? I know your fiance has all the paperwork now... so you're filing next week???? What a weight that was lifted off our shoulders that day! Hope it's the same for you!

How is everyone else? Justine, getting excited? I hope you know we want a full report of that 'first moment'. Any houses sold yet? Where russell lives (bay of plenty on the coast) the housing market is on fire! Hope it's the same for you all!

Mark, any news for you?

wow emma! so happy to hear your good news!

and kim... i really, really hope this all goes super fast - 10 years is a long enough wait, as far as i'm concerned!

yes, i'm counting down the days - 77 left, to be precise i'm about to book my consulate interview for mid june.

hey, i have a question: i was warned by a travel agent customer of mine to make sure i don't have anything with jordan's name on it in my luggage (love letters, that kind of thing), because he knew of several ppl who had been denied entry due to being in this situation. i was intending to take all the stuff jordan has given me - inscribed books, letters, some poetry chapbooks and things - with me, but now i'm paranoid about this. but i don't want to post this stuff over, because if it got lost i'd be so incredibly upset. anyone have any idea about this? should i be okay, since i call always explain it away as being from a boyfriend back home in nz?

Thanks again all.

I'm even more convinced that a position in NZ may be a good move for me.

Yes, Melrose Plant: I've got the Kitchen Sink. Your support is much appreciated!

Justine, that's a tough one! Of course there is always the possibility of being denied entry but as you are not coming with the intention of 'marrying' per se' ..you are just taking important things with you as you will be out of your country for so long.. I don't think it will be a problem to put it in your luggage. Probably wouldn't carry it with my hand luggage tho. Might be safer sending it. I know it's no consolation but we've not lost anything through the mail ..*knockin on wood!*

omg 77 days!! how exciting for you!!

We are! I cannot wait to find out!

My house isn't moving it all, in the last month I've had only one person come through and take a look, hope you're having better luck gnomegrrl.

The good news is that this time next week I'll be in California, yippee. I'm now starting to put together anything I can think of to convince people at the POE that I'll leave again so they'll let me in!