Hi Alan,
I am in a similar situation.
I am eligible to apply for the Permanent Residence Visa as of Dec 2011 having held a Resident Visa for the previous two years and fulfilled the time spent in NZ criteria.
However, at the end of October I am goign to US for 6-9 months.
1. I want to apply my Permanent Residence Visa from US as I dont want to travel to NZ just for Visa, but I also want to make sure that I get a Permanent Residence Visa and not a 1/2 years waiver of travel conditions.
Can you please let me know how did your experience go when applying for Permanent Residence Visa in UK ?
Your help will be much appreciated.
Regards
Varun