P18PPS

After nearly six months (at a very considered leisurely pace) of preparing our EOI this is now just about ready to submit. My husband is at 2nd interview/reference stage with jobs so we're hoping that once the NZQA ref comes through the EOI will go in and out of the pool quickly and that the ITA will be forthcoming. We've already got the following prepared:

police check - done
full birth certs for both daughters - done
marriage cert - yes
full passports for all - done
copies of all certs - solicitor organised for verified copies
funds in place (poor old credit cards!)

other than a medical for both adults (or is it kids as well) is there anything else we need to have prepared?? Girlies - I understand that you have to have your smears up to date but is there anything else anyone can advise us on that we should be pro-active and arrange?

Any advise is much appreciated.

Phipps family

Pinkie Pie

Hi there...welcome to the madhouse....

I think you've pretty much got most things covered....

The only thing I would say is that police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your ITA....

and passports have to have at least 12 months remaining on them from when your visas are issued.....

Medicals have to be done for kids as well as adults and x-rays for everyone over 11....

References from work would be good to have in hand too....

Any more questions, just shout....

pompeymike

Sounds like you're very well organised. You've pretty much covered everything there and if you've got the points you should be selected immediately after your EOI goes in. I noticed that you've already had your Police checks, this is the one thing that holds most people up because you can sometimes wait a couple of months for them to come through. Looks like you're in a position to send in your application as soon as you get your ITA. The very best of luck to you.

Mike

Biddy

Make sure all birth certs are of the long kind - 2 of our kids had only been issued with smallish square certs which we had to get upgraded - all takes time.
Biddy

P18PPS

Thanks to you all for your help - does the long type of birth certificates apply to adults as well?????

Also the employment refs - is this just a standard kind of confirmation start/end dates, job title, are they trustworthy etc kind of questions?? or are they more detailed?

Also on a completely different subject .... all roads point to Auckland as our new home (we are going wherever work takes us) - and have done a certain amount of research (we are bonkers as we're moving but have never been to NZ before) - are there any definite "no go areas" that anyone can suggest we avoid? Alternatively any definite must look at areas? We have 2 young daughters so schooling is a consideration, as is good eating out, walking distance to parks, shops etc (we currently enjoy living in a green suburb of Birmingham which is still 5 mins away from the countryside) ideally we would be looking for some of these qualities in our new home. So far north shore Birkenhead; Sandringham; Mount Eden (and if we could ever afford it St Mary's Bay !!!)... any other suggestions or comments from those in the know would be very welcome!

Thanks, Sam

Biddy

Long birth certs - I think apply to all
Emp refs - Pretty sure its a standard dates of employment, job title, main duties, salary etc.
Auckland - can'r recommend highly enough the book 'Where to live in Auckland' do a google and you'll find stockists. We had ours shipped from NZ relatively inexpensively.
Hope that helps
Biddy

P18PPS

Brilliant - thanks for your help, book is ordered and is currently being shipped.
Thanks, Sam