Halloween, and other news...

So thankfully Halloween isn't really a favorite holiday of mine, because it doesn't really exist in New Zealand. There's no pumpkins (it's springtime), no costumes, and definitely no ridiculously over-spiderwebbed porches. Actually, they don't have that fake spiderweb stuff here at all. One of the doctors I work with just returned from a conference in California, and was so amused by Halloween-mania that he bought himself some fake spiderwebs, a few severed fingers, and a big 'ol bag of mixed candy. And it was all only $22!!, he said. Ahhh…. New Zealand.

Halloween here looks like sunshine (but rain this afternoon apparently) and life as normal. Oh, and one minor little milestone I accomplished this morning…

Our applications for our 5-year work visas are submitted.

I just re-read my post from almost exactly this time last year (50 weeks ago, to be exact) when I submitted the paperwork for our one year work visas. The feeling is the same now as it was then: thank god that's done, it's out of my control now, and I deserve a drink!

The process of applying for our visas was complicated this time by the good 'ol USA and it's ridiculous shut down. My fingerprints should have been cleared by the FBI back in late September, and all of this should have been submitted with plenty of time to spare in the early days of October. Instead, my FBI clearance came in the mail yesterday (3 months after being initially submitted, pretty pathetic) and all of this got submitted today. Halloween.

In regards to the 5 year work visa- we are applying for a work visa and the NZ Immigration office will decide on the duration. This amount of time will be at least 2, and up to 5 years. Although we don't foresee living here through 2018, we are hoping for the maximum 5 year visa. Because really, we have no idea what we are doing.

We have 6 weeks until our one year visas expire, so in regards to the delayed submission, it should all be fine. But leaving it down to the wire like this is not my style, and I'm very unimpressed- can you tell?- by the reasons for the delay.

Once again we had to submit:

Four different meticulously filled out application forms (28 pages total)
Official job offers (we're both staying at our current positions)
Proof of prior experience in job field including hours worked
Proof of registration in job field
Letters of recommendation from current and past employers
FBI clearance
Proof of our relationship including:
  Letters from friends and family verifying the validity of our marriage (thank you again mom, dad, Ashley and Jade for printing and signing several copies!)
  Photos from throughout our relationship
  Proof of joint bank accounts
  Proof of owning property together
  Marriage Certificate

And this time around we each had to submit in addition:

Medical Certificates (at a cost of $600) including:
  Full physical
  Full set of blood work and urine samples
  Chest X-rays

Ahhhhh…. so when it's all done, this is what you have:

And what you should also have is a cold beer on a hot spring day. But for me, I'm off to work.