Zeebubs

29 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:

It will be great to have another kiwi in Seattle

It's such a beautiful city, I'm really looking forward to calling it home

Congratulations!  Always reassuring to hear the interview itself isn't very long in Auckland.  I just got my appointment date this morning for 30 May and reading other people's experiences really helps calm my nerves about it.

1 minute ago, vince88 said:

Yeah, I think it will be a lot cheaper to just drive up to Auckland because I need to do the medicals with all my family. It just surprise me with the cost though because last time it cost us about $500 for NZ immigration medicals including all the lab and x-ray 🙄

Oh yeah if you are doing your whole family then it's definitely cheaper to just drive up to Auckland and have it done!

Just now, vince88 said:

Yikes, that's ridiculously  expensive just for the exam. It can cost around $850 in total then?

 

I think it's better to do it in Auckland.

Yeah if you can get cheap flights to Auckland, it's definitely better to go there in terms of cost in my humble opinion.  Plus all the facilities are in the same building I gather.  In Wellington you need to walk up Lambton Quay a bit further to do the blood tests.

2 minutes ago, vince88 said:

Hi Zeebubs,

 

How much it cost you to doo all the required medicals in Wellington? I'm also expect to to it there but they won't tell me the price.

Hey

Examination is $580 plus a $20 courier fee (must be in cash), x-ray was $117, lab fees will vary, but expect no less than $100 I would think - you can pay for both of those with eftpos.  I haven't had any of the vaccinations I may need yet so no clue on the cost of those.

It's just a two room place, so you walk in and there's a sign saying knock on the internal door and take a seat.  No receptionist etc.  The doctor was very thorough and professional though.

@sherydenise  I've gone with Wellington for the appointment in the end.  No interview date yet, just sending my packet 3 back today, wanted to know when my medical was going to be first in case it took a week or so (as they implied he was fully booked!).  Sending that back today so I can get an interview date asap.

Unfortunately the x-ray place you have to go to here was all booked up for times after my appointment today, so I need to return tomorrow to complete that ><  Thankfully only a 20 minute train trip and a short walk, but still.

@sherydenise Finally heard back yesterday, and have an appointment this afternoon!  The medical consultation alone is $580 down here though, plus another $20 for courier fees.  Oh, and they want it in cash!  Can pay for lab and x-rays with card thankfully.  Honestly if I had been able to grab some cheap flights to Auckland, it would have been cheaper to just fly up there and have it done ><  Oh well.

Thanks for the write up.  Been trying to book an appointment with the Wellington place since Friday but they aren't replying to the email.  Such a weird system, called them, they took some of my details, then gave me a gmail address to email to 'contact the doctor' and said he would reply with an appointment time.  Odd that the receptionist doesn't do all that.  Seriously considering just going up to Auckland for it if they take much longer.

Package delivered to Auckland this morning (Friday) and changed to Ready, time to continue my journey in the NZ/AU forum section if I need help in the future.  Good luck everyone

Got an email from NVC saying we shipped today.  DHL tracking says it will arrive by Friday   (I wonder if that's Friday US or Friday NZ though, and if so, if they do Saturday delivery then... time will tell).

@Zoltan KBe careful with using travel insurance, make sure to check it will cover you if you are not planning to return to your country to reside.  A lot of them will have clauses which will void the policy if this is the case, which is why expat insurance exists.

@Kitchj Try searching for 'expat health insurance' - I've been looking into Cigna's, but there are lots more available.

My fiance called the NVC today (for the first time, didn't seem to be any point until I saw others around our date getting numbers), number was assigned yesterday.  I'm not sure when they actually received it though so I just put down the same date on my timeline 🤷‍♀️.  Here's hoping we ship out with the next batch, but I wont be put off if we don't make it.  More waiting wont hurt

Have you looked into expat insurance?  I am going to cover myself for the shortfall between landing in the states and getting married, since travel insurance does not cover you if you are not returning to your point of origin.  I've had quotes for $220 US a month (minus outpatients which is another $140, and before I've declared any pre-existings).

I would like to point out that travel insurance is also very important when you are simply visiting your fiance before attaining your visa. Last year I was visiting when I was struck down with a necrotising soft tissue infection.  I was helicoptered back to a major hospital.  Four days in ICU, two surgeries, six days in acute care.  I ended up in the US six weeks longer than I had intended, had to have outpatient management with general surgery and other specialties.  At one point a PE was suspected so I needed another ER visit, ultrasounds and a CT.  

Having taken out travel insurance, paying extra to make sure pre-existing conditions were covered, meant I did not pay a cent towards any medical bills.  I was also flown back to New Zealand in business class (they also were going to fly two nurses to be with me for the trip back, but I felt comfortable with my fiance taking care of me, so they flew him business too, and a regular flight back to the US).

I am definitely making sure I have expat insurance (travel insurance usually requires you to be returning to your country of origin) to cover me until being able to get on my future husband's insurance after the move.

Just now, brandonflude1 said:

Yeah, what web browser are you using? Perhaps time difference and browser had an impact since you're in New Zealand.

We both were trying, both with Chrome at first and then Edge, same result. Just doesn't like my birthday I guess 🤷‍♀️

8 hours ago, Greenbaum said:

It's been said that you need to use DD/MMM/YYYY where month is in the three letter machination. Let us know if that works.

Yeah I had tried that before asking here, alas did not work either.  I just put in yesterday's date and corrected it in the body of the request.

Anyone else having problems with the 'Ask NVC' form?  My fiance and I have both tried to submit and update our email addresses, but it keeps returning 'invalid date of birth'.  It's not incorrect, and we click through via the calendar rather than typing it. Fiance got worried when it came up with the error the first time as he thought he had gotten it wrong, hah.

Got our hard copy NOA2 today, notice date was actually 29 March 2019, not 1 April.  So; old site updated on 1 April and says 1 April, new site emailed me on 2 April and says 1 April.  Physical paper copy arrived 4 April and says 29 March

Approved today as well!  Checked the old site, did a double take wondering if it was some cruel April fools joke.  Had deliberately not had my hopes up in case we took a while longer than others to get approved.  So excited.

Checked the old site expecting nothing, was approved today!  111 days, so happy!

1 hour ago, Ella and James said:

Poor you 🙁 I really hope that heals soon. I was wondering if I should get a job before going for my interview or make my time waiting as easy as possible by maybe volunteering on a farm in Canada or France.

I do have about £20K in savings which I've heard is good for showing I will be able to support myself during the AOS period later after marriage.

Are you visiting your fiancee in the U.S. in the meantime?

Not visiting no, it's a long way to go and quite expensive as a result, so we are just waiting out the K1 process, then he will come down here and collect me.  Thankfully despite him being a day behind there's only four hours time difference at the moment, so when he's not at work or sleeping we hang out on Discord  and play games together :).  

10 hours ago, Ella and James said:

Are any of the foreign fiancee's on here unemployed during this process? What is everyone doing with their time?

I'm not working at the moment, but that's due to recovering from an NSTI I caught when I visited the US in September ><.  Nearly healed, hopefully will be all set by the time I get my visa - then I'll spend the time waiting for EAD rehabilitating and getting my strength back up.

Filling my time with browsing these forums, housework, and sorting things to throw out or donate when it comes time to move (NZ>US is expensive for moving things so I'm just fitting as much as I can in suitcases).

Yay, congrats!

It didn't affect the processes in America, but the shutdown affected staff levels at the Auckland consulate, thus causing delays.

I hope they are able to get it to you quickly!  Good luck.