Visa Officer Phone Interview - captainash.com

Monday 23 June 2008

Visa Officer Phone Interview

At 10am this morning the phone rang, and I had "the interview". Thankfully it turned out to be nothing more than a chat with our Visa Officer, who seemed genuinely interested in our plans, and concerned that we'd be able to settle when we arrived.

The questions I was asked were:

Why NZ?
Why now?
Do you have any relatives in NZ?
What will you do if you don't get a job as quickly as you would have hoped?
What have you done to look for employment so far?
What support will you have in NZ?
Mainly how do you plan to make friends ?
What will your Partner do for a living?
Where will you live?
Have you visited NZ?
Have you looked at properties?
What wages to you expect?
How much do you expect to pay for your flat/house?

which thankfully was exactly what everyone at www.emigratenz.org prepared me for, so many thanks again to them.

The interview lasted around 20 minutes, and was to see whether we had actually thought the process through, or whether we were just gonna land, claim benefits for 6 months, and fly home.

Although ... that's not such a bad idea.

Everything seemed to go well, afterwards I asked if my answers had been OK, and was told "you have nothing to worry about" which was quite reassuring. Our case officer will now review our application, check all the evidence, then make a decision. Everything will then be passed to a secondary officer, who will do the same, read the interview notes, and hopefully agree with the decision. We will then be issued a resident visa, a work-to-residence visa, or be declined.

According to the paperwork, this should take 3-4 months, so all being well, we'll hear sometime around September. Keep 'em crossed!

Cost so far: £1730
New payments: None (thankfully)

Next article: BHF Weymouth Bay Swim (26 June 2008)

Next New Zealand article: Approval in Principle (26 June 2008)

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