A weight off our minds

Posted on Thursday 10 January 2008 at 08:23 - Post Comment

I may have mentioned in previous posts about our problem with our working holiday visas expiring soon.  Well, that soon was getting ever closer, and on Monday we realised that it was the 14th of this month - just a solitary week away.

Alarm bells started ringing I can tell you.  We hadn't had any news from immigration about our EOI being accepted and an ITA being issued, and yesterday we decided that we couldn't wait any longer - it was time for some positive action.

As a result, yesterday evening saw us running around the place putting together all the paperwork we had to support an application for a 2 year work visa based on my job, and a supplementary 2 year work visa for T.  Problem one was that our medicals - done in late September - had gone past their 3 month shelf life so T rushed off to the doctor who originally did them and pleaded with him to re-sign them.  Her charms did the trick and she returned victorious.  Solved.  Problem 2 - our police checks were 12 months out of date.  Regardless that we had been out of the UK for 12 months and so we hadn't even had a chance to commit a crime, this could be an issue.  Ah well, we decided that we'll just have to blag that one. 

Passports and forms were all done - all we had to do we turn up at Immigration the following morning.

4.30 this morning the alarm went off.  Yep - you read that right - 4.30am.  We were up and out of the house by 5, and outside the immigration office in 10 minutes - the first in the queue.

Why so early?  Well we had heard from numerous sources that Immigration only see 20 'urgent' cases each day and so you have to be first in the door - or at least near the front - to ensure that you get in front of a immigration official.  We were actually SO early that number 3 & 4 in the queue didn't appear until 6am.  So, we could have had a bit of a lie in after all, but better safe than sorry eh?

8.30am, the doors open and in we troop - nervous and tense.  Some classic blagging and a few 'oh, that's in the post's' later, and 10am comes.  Out we troop, but this time it's $400 lighter,  with smiles on our faces and brand spanking new 2 year work permits in our passports.

Hoorah!

At last - some breathing space until the evasive ITA arrives, and some solidity behind our time in NZ at last.  Just as we are really getting settled too - it couldn't have come at a better time.