JamieandJamie

Thanks for all the congrats guys! Fiance arrives in one week YAY!! Then wedding in one and a half months.

*Sorry to hear about your husband cdneh, i hope he gets better soon

and we are approved!! SO EXCITED to be done with this part of the process, and so relieved to get approved After 9 months of being apart, only one more month left and on with the wedding planning!

YAAAAAAAAAAAY :dance: Fiance was approved for his Visa yesterday! He said the interview was super easy and the guy was really nice. Hopefully I can get him to post a more detailed recap on here like some of you all have done. Thanks for all the help, because of you guys he knew what hotel to stay in he knew there was a little coffee place nearby and everything to expect. I think it probably made it a lot less nerve wracking for him Im so excited to FINALLY be done with this part of the process. We sent in our I129F last august, so its been a long journey! Still dont get to see him for another month, but compared to the last 9 months this month im sure will fly by! Thanks again for all the help everyone, and Im sure ill stay on these boards as the process continues

Visa visa vi-SA! -to the tune of the conga-

Hehehe just had to celebrate in ALL the threads ^-^ So happy.

CONGRATS! YAY! Now you gotta tell me all about the interview haha My fiance is going for his interview next tuesday, i wanted to go with him, but on such short notice cant get down there now Any tips appreciated! I know ive read the interview stories from other kiwis, but a recent one would be great!

Wow just found this thread, very exciting to see so many Kiwis YAY. Congrats Mixxer

Welcome to the group! (im not a kiwi myself, just a kiwi lover lol)

Oh wow, the NZ consulate moves so quickly!! How exciting. Thanks for the info!

Hi kiwis, i have a question. My fiance just sent in packet 3, how long from now does it take to get an interview scheduled? and whats the deal with packet 4? Thanks guys!!

*bump* any of the pp's still here? just being nosey..

Just found this thread, i filed in august as well, but interview hasnt been scheduled yet But wow congrats to everyone else with the interview coming soon! Nice to see things moving along for august filers!

Paper

Ocean or pool?

Thanks for the clarification!

haha, thanks everyone

I'm marrying a kiwi, and he plans on being a dual citizen of the US and NZ. I had planned sometime down the road to live in NZ for a while so I could also have dual citizenship. However, I stumbled upon this on a government website:

A U.S. citizen may acquire foreign citizenship by marriage, or a person naturalized as a U.S. citizen may not lose the citizenship of the country of birth.U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one citizenship or another. Also, a person who is automatically granted another citizenship does not risk losing U.S. citizenship. However, a person who acquires a foreign citizenship by applying for it may lose U.S. citizenship. In order to lose U.S. citizenship, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign citizenship voluntarily, by free choice, and with the intention to give up U.S. citizenship.

Intent can be shown by the person's statements or conduct.The U.S. Government recognizes that dual nationality exists but does not encourage it as a matter of policy because of the problems it may cause. Claims of other countries on dual national U.S. citizens may conflict with U.S. law, and dual nationality may limit U.S. Government efforts to assist citizens abroad. The country where a dual national is located generally has a stronger claim to that person's allegiance.

In order to get NZ citizenship, I would have to apply for it, so this could mean i am voluntarily giving up my us citizenship. I then read, on some forums:

It is also a fact that until sometime in the 80s, just becoming a foreign citizen automatically lost you your US citizenship. There were some exceptions I will not go into. Then there were several court decisions (some going back to the 60s) whose net effect was the that only way to lose US citizenship was to renounce it voluntarily. The Supreme Court cases prohibiting involuntary loss of U.S. citizenship, BTW, are Afroyim v. Rusk (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afroyim_v._Rusk) (which held that the Fourteenth Amendment did not allow involuntary rescission of citizenship) and Vance v. Terrazas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vance_v._Terrazas) (which established the standards by which one's actions could be viewed as incompatible with U.S. citizenship.) Currently, the only ways to be stripped of your citizenship without explicitly asking the U.S. to do so are to make war on the U.S. (either by committing treason or by serving in a hostile army) or to take a "policy-level" position in a foreign government.

Even then, though, you won't automatically lose your citizenship. What happens in those cases is merely that the presumption that you intended to retain your US citizenship does not apply (as it normally does when you obtain another citizenship) and you may be required to demonstrate such intention. You will still only lose your citizenship if, in the circumstances of your particular case, the investigating consular officer is satisfied that you actually intend to lose it.

Ok, for anyone who actually read all of that, first off THANKS! Secondly, now I am just totally confused. I do not want to lose US citizenship, but id really like to get new zealand citizenship too (since my husband and future children will have it). Is this possible?? (This is a long ways away from happening, but I just wanted to know for the future if i have a chance at dual citizenship.)

oh i really want to go see the penguins!! Ive read about that place before!

Good topic!

Well I haven't moved yet but from my past visits:

- I vote for Mexican food too! Not only Mexican actually, but international food like Chinese, Thaï, Japanese, African... these types of restaurants in France are usually non-existant outside of major cities, and they're very, very far from the original cuisine.

- In N Out burgers. REALLY.

- Diners. I'm totally fascinated by diners, maybe cause I've seen them in movies since I was a kid, and I'm happy as a clam to eat cheap food there (even at Denny's!!).

- ICE-CREAM!! Man, American ice-cream is THE best in the world. If you're more into fruit sorbets I guess you'd prefer Italian, but if you go for thick ice-cream with a lot of bonus stuff in it, American is what you need!! My favorite place so far is Baskin Robbins. I stay away from healthy frozen yogurt...

- EVERYTHING (except for freshly baked bread and... stuff that comes from France) is cheaper than in France: food, clothing, utilities (except for internet connection), cars, gas, electronics, furniture.... Thank you €!!

- VAT is low.

- I love drugstores. We don't have that here, pharmacies are really meant to sell medication and that's about it. I can spend hours in a CVS Pharmacy, and I get all excited everytime I see one (it makes my husband laugh...). I just find it extremely cool to be able to buy a new lipstick, shampoo, Tylenol, potato chips and Easter decoration in the same place PLUS get a flu shot in the end. Awesome.

- in general, people are a lot more positive, supporting, friendly and open than in France. People actually talk to you and smile when they bump into you in the supermarket. I had to train my mother in law not to smile at men she didn't know here cause she was giving them false hopes. Then they would follow her.

- freedom. Live the way you want as long as you don't disturb me.

- the job market might be bad right now but it's still a land of opportunities. People don't keep telling you what you wanna do is impossible. They think you can be successful.

- you can spend money you don't have thanks to your credit cards. We don't do that in France, we only really get debit cards.

- the wilderness, national parks, nature.

- outdoor activities being very popular, like hiking, camping...

- the place I'm gonna move to is a very nice area on the Pacific coast with year round mild temperatures and mostly nice weather.

There's more but that's what came to my mind first.

EDIT: I forgot something important: public services are not on strike every other day. I'm SICK of it.

haha, this sounds EXACTLY like what my fiance would say. Especially IN N OUT and diners. He also loves the drugstores lol. Thats awesome what a positive attitude you have Oh, and i saw you love the national parks and things, have you been to yosemite or big sur yet? Those are must sees for sure

Your welcome!

Maybe you can return the favour?? Any suggestions on places to visit in NZ? My husband would love to visit there, and I've never been either.

Sure! I myself havent been to the north island yet, but my fiance says the best place to go there is wellington, he says auckland is just like any other big city. So really the only place i can speak about with any knowledge is the south island. queenstown is really nice (small, but touristy, lots of places to shop and eat, and its a little more upscale too. oh and it also has bungee jumping, shotover jet, and more kind of extreme sports if thats your thing). a MUST see is milford sound, so beautiful, lots of hiking, kayaking, or boat tours. If you like camping or backpacking thats a great place to do it, but even if you dont just a day trip is totally worth it. Another outdoorsy destination would be mount cook and all the glacier fed lakes near it. Again, just stunning, and if you enjoy hiking and nature i wouldnt pass that up. Theres a really nice hotel at mount cook, the hermitage, so you get the best of both worlds (nature and luxury lol). I also really loved Christchurch, but havent been back since the last big earthquake, so Im not sure how it is now. Before, it was like a big little city, had all the amenities of a big city but still felt nice, clean , quaint, had some neat museums and things to see. But I know it suffered a lot of damage I would also recommend going in the spring, things are in bloom, and little baby animals all over the place. Hope that helped a bit! Maybe some kiwis can add to this too, especially some info about the north island

Since my fiance is coming into the country on a K1 visa we cant go where i wanted (bora bora or somewhere in the carribean) we will probably end up going to Kauai. We went to the big island (hawaii) last summer and he loved it. Been to maui a couple times, so try a new island this time. I wanted to go somewhere more exotic....but i guess the hawaiian islands are pretty awesome

Thanks KLS, all of those places sound great, I guess no matter where i go itll be fun Im gonna save all that info you gave me, to look into those places, thanks again for the info appreciate it!!

hi all, i was thinking next time i go to NZ (which will be pretty soon) Id really like to spend some time in Australia either before or after. What city is the must see place? I also read an article about all the small islands surrounding aus and those sounded pretty fun too. any suggestions? thanks

I didn't see this forum when i first joined this site We're Jamie and Jamie from California and New Zealand. When we met we thought it was funny we both had the same name, didnt realize we'd end up marrying and having the same first and last name ...thats gonna get confusing

We are only 1 month into the K-1 visa process and we are deciding on a dress and picking a reception place. I think doing it ahead of time is smart planning and it gives us something practical to do while waiting for the visa approval.

thats true it does help keep your mind off the visa process a bit! Good luck with yours

awesome, thanks so much andie!!

sounds like a beautiful wedding! and lol @ picking a dress for your daughter, i can imagine

Anyone else out there who started wedding planning before even knowing if their sig other will get a visa? I know they say to wait...but i went ahead and booked a venue and bought a dress and all that stuff anyway! We're close to getting that visa now though, so not as much stress. But it was probably a bad idea, because it makes wedding planning 1000x more stressful!

So Im hopefully going to be with my fiance for the interview in auckland, anyone recommend any hotels nearby? Hes from the south island so he won;t know either. Thanks Also, side question, for any of u that had your fiance(e) with you at the interview do u feel it made the process easier and/or faster?