Thanks for your honest opinion Jandm. You have a point. I have thought about that too. The only thing I can say to that is that I will lose my permanent job I have if I would stay in NZ longer than 9 months. Without a residence visa for NZ it is tricky to let go of a permanent job and house in your country of residency. I'd rather not be in that situation where there is a possibility I will be empty handed, no job and no house to go back to. Horrible thought. Not sure how INZ will look towards that, but they do say somewhere that they advise not to make irriversable plans to NZ before you actually have your residence visa. Quitting your job and getting rid of your house is one of those irriversable things I suppose.