Visas

This morning I got an e-mail saying I would get a call at 6pm from Geoff in NZ, who's helping me find a job. I prepared for this phone call by not having another beer at 5 with Lisa and Dan and then having plenty of water. 6pm on Sunday is 12:00 noon Monday.

I found out the following: I'll get a 2-year work visa; Bryce will probably have to apply for an open work permit. In order for him to come to NZ with his "partner" (me) we have to prove that we've lived together for at least a year. WHAT!? Apparently being married isn't enough, because some couples may marry just so that one can sneak into the country. So we have to provide to the NZ government our lease we signed together in July '07 AND letter(s) from friends/family verifying that we lived in sin for a good year before getting married. And we may have to show a voided check from our joint checking account.


Geoff also told me that it's difficult to get a job without first being registered with NZSTA, and that I can't get a work visa until either I have a job offer or I've been accepted to NZSTA.

Geoff, our contact with the agency who's helping me find a job, assured me that we should be able to find a job for me and get our visas by March with no problem. Hopefully the application to the NZ speech therapists' association (NZSTA) has been received by now. That packet cost $25 bucks to send! jeesh.

We're still hoping for Christchurch but will be happy with anywhere in NZ.