Permanent Residence: Apply in USA or in NZ?

[kiwieagle]

Hi, I've been reading the forum for a few months and haven't seen this topic before. I have learned so much from all of the discussions here, hopefully someone can let me know their experience.

My husband is a Kiwi and my kids are Citizens by Descent. We want to move to NZ but, for financial reasons, can't really wait too long for my application for Permanent Residence. My friend went to Australia with her husband on a tourist visa and applied after she got there. She had no problems. Are there any American spouses out there who have done this in NZ? Has anybody applied in the USA and moved to NZ and waited there? The Immigration website says they don't advise doing that, but they don't say you can't.

My other worry is that we don't have health insurance and I'm afraid to pay heaps of money for the Medical Exam only to have an American doctor rush through the paperwork and miss something and get it wrong. We live in SoCal where you get about 2 and half minutes to talk to your doctor when you have an exam and they are often extremely annoyed to do anything outside the routine. Have any Americans had problems with their doctor's exams?

Thanks so much, Sarah

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

[sophiedb]

I don't know about US doctors, but if you have no known medical problems and a clean police check it really shouldn't take too long for your visa to be granted

[mthldy]

Hi KiwiEagle...I am also the spouse of a Kiwi and have two kids that are citizens by decent. I recently applied with the NZ Embassy in Washington DC and it took them exactly 2 weeks to the day to approve my application in principle. I am now just waiting on my passport to be returned...I am hopeful that will not take too long. We are planning on making the move in July 2011.

I did my medical with our family physician. It was quite an involved process and I spent a good 30 - 45 minutes with my Dr. and her nurses. We made sure to make copies of EVERYTHING in the medical just in case I had to return for something else so that she would not have to start over again. It was a long time for her to visit with a patient but she was happy to chat about the move to NZ and didn't worry so much about the time it was taking.

It is a daunting process but as you leap over each of the hurdles that are in front of you, the process gets easier. Keep in light touch with the embassy once you file your application. They are extremely nice and helpful and I found that they answer emails very quick.

Good luck to you and your family on your journey

[Manks]

I did my medical with our family physician. It was quite an involved process and I spent a good 30 - 45 minutes with my Dr. and her nurses. We made sure to make copies of EVERYTHING in the medical just in case I had to return for something else so that she would not have to start over again.

I second the bit about going over everything in detail with your physician. In most other countries there are a panel of specific doctors that INZ specify where you MUST go to do your medical, so they are used to the paperwork and know what they're doing.

In the US you visit your own physician and you may be the only person they'll see in their entire lifetime for this exam. I went through every single page of our medicals after we'd had them and flagged where she had missed something or needed to sign/initial things. There were quite a few flags! She even missed off a vital blood test! Luckily she was extremely proactive and helpful and pushed to get things sorted for us as she knew we were on a tight schedule. You have to be meticulous and I would suggest you read the guidelines yourself, over and over, to familiarise yourself with what is required.

[ralf-nz]

In the US you visit your own physician...

Me just being curious: On the INZ website it is written that 'US citizens can use any local Doctor within the United States of America'. What is about citizens from other countries who are living in the USA?

[jeffanar]

I would definitely recommend applying from the US if you can, the wait time if you apply whilst in New Zealand is much longer (well at least it was when my OH applied).

[Manks]

Me just being curious: On the INZ website it is written that 'US citizens can use any local Doctor within the United States of America'. What is about citizens from other countries who are living in the USA?

I am a UK Citizen and was living in the US when I applied. I did ask our CO and she said we could use our US doctor. So that's what we did.

[Hagabel]

We used our local PCP and we told them the reason for the visit and they booked 1 hr appt for paperwork/medical for 2 adults and 2 kids. It was a little crazy and I double checked paperwork, our dr filled in something incorrectly and I missed it, it got sent back to us (by now we have moved to east coast, dr on west coast) but we were able to get stuff faxed backwards/forward and NZIS accepted it. We used London branch and they were really helpful.

A bit of a different tune to US INS when we got citizenship a few yrs ago!

[kiwieagle]

Wow! Thanks for the responses. I don't have a doctor because I don't have insurance so that's why I'm worried that any doctor I see will be irritated by the process. Since you all have told me it's about an hour to do, that will help when booking the appointment.