hallie_day

I contacted my immigration officer on 20 May and was told that they had everythig they needed but were just waiting for my husband's NZ police check then they could process the application. My kid's citizenship and passports had just come through so I posted those to my application and sent another note.
As it's been over a month so I emailed again last night and recieved an email this morning saying they are still waiitng for the police check and that it will be another 4 weeks.
WTF? We still have 12 weeks but that is rapidly being eaten up and I can do without the additional stress.

Ps. He has a clean record and hasn't lived in NZ for 19 years ;-)

Bo-Jangles

They are supposed to return them within 20 working days but are notoriously consistent in failing to meet that target.

hallie_day

So frustrating.
We managed to achieve so much in such a short time for my application that it's ridiculous something that should be straightforward is holding us up.
We need to go at the end of September and that time is rapidly disappearing.

Do you happen to know if there are any other watchouts/typical delays?
Our case should be fairly cut and dry - together 12 years, 2 kids, 2 mortgages, lots of evidence of our relationship, kids now have citizenship and passports....

KOH2

12 years together, kids, marriage certificate don't seem to matter.

In our case we had to prove that we had been in a loving and stable relationship over the past 12 months. After 14 years of marriage we didn't seem to have that many 'couple' photos - of course there was other evidence, but they wanted more proof of this stable relationship.

Don't worry - you'll get there in the end. At least it's not like the UK where you have to have a minimum income for your overseas spouse to join you.

hallie_day

God, I hate photos and totally avoid having mine taken so I mostly have ones of the kids, maybe including my husband. And by now our email conversations are largely of the 'can you pick up some milk/collect the children/pay the cleaner' variety than anything remotely loving.....
Given he is going back to take over the family business and therefore has a good salary offer, and we have enough money from our sale to buy a house outright in Auckland, I think I would rather the UK way.

hallie_day

But thanks for the tip.
I'll start hunting for stuff :-)

KOH2

Same case here - hubby wrote and explained + we managed to find a couple of photos where we were all together.

You just have to remember - the history doesn't matter - they're only concerned with the past 12 months.

Well, I'm sure that fulfills the 'stable' part of the relationship

hallie_day

We're buggered then. I have found one photo of us together in the last year.
And more emails about steam cleaners and overdue library books..... they do have kisses on them though!

Bloody hell, I don't even really want to go.