# Time Lines



## Siouxzee

We have finally managed to get all our documentation (police clearance took 8wks) and couriered our documents off to Immigration New Zealand in London will hopefully arrive tomorrow. Finally feel like we are moving onto the next step.
Just have a few questions if anyone has any feedback on their experience.

1) How long did people find it took on average to process the skilled migrant visa?

2) How long before they schedule the interview and then how long after the interview do they make a decision?

3) London office is processing our visa, we are in South Africa. There is a New Zealand office in Pretoria however that is still a 7hr drive for us. Do they conduct a phone interview or do you have to go to your nearest branch?

4) When setting up an interview do they give you options of dates and times or do they just give you a set date and time?

Sue


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## zeiger

Siouxzee said:


> We have finally managed to get all our documentation (police clearance took 8wks) and couriered our documents off to Immigration New Zealand in London will hopefully arrive tomorrow. Finally feel like we are moving onto the next step.
> Just have a few questions if anyone has any feedback on their experience.
> 
> 1) How long did people find it took on average to process the skilled migrant visa?
> 
> 2) How long before they schedule the interview and then how long after the interview do they make a decision?
> 
> 3) London office is processing our visa, we are in South Africa. There is a New Zealand office in Pretoria however that is still a 7hr drive for us. Do they conduct a phone interview or do you have to go to your nearest branch?
> 
> 4) When setting up an interview do they give you options of dates and times or do they just give you a set date and time?
> 
> Sue


Hi Sue,
It looks like even now, both our applications are going in parallel 
I also just sent my ITA to London and my status has changed to "Application Received" today. They got my documents yesterday (as per DHL).

All the best with yours! Hope we can meet in New Zealand some day 

I too have similar questions and I can't answer any of yours. But I will watch this thread because the information is valid to me as well.


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## Siouxzee

Hi Zeiger
What are your timelines for going over to NZ ideally we are hoping to be there by Jan 2012 at the latest if no job comes through before then. 
Are you applying for jobs in the meantime?
Will let you know as soon as I hear anything from the Immigration office.


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## zeiger

Siouxzee said:


> Hi Zeiger
> What are your timelines for going over to NZ ideally we are hoping to be there by Jan 2012 at the latest if no job comes through before then.
> Are you applying for jobs in the meantime?
> Will let you know as soon as I hear anything from the Immigration office.


Hi Sue,
I have not started applying for jobs yet although I am keeping an eye on various job sites so that I know in/near which city there are most jobs. Because I am in the IT field, my job search narrows down to major cities only.
We hope to get to NZ in 2012 as well. But it all depends on what type of visa we get i.e. a WTR or a PR. I would prefer a PR and as such, my wife and me are pretty flexible on when to get there. We don't have any furniture to move or kids to take care of once we get there (no looking for schools etc.) and this greatly increases our chances to settle there very quickly.

Do keep in touch! I will let you know about our progress as well


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## Siouxzee

They changed our status as well to Application Received. They phoned as they needed a CVC number for the credit card. Said everything was in order and the application will now be placed in the queue for processing  So we are onto the next step - YAY!


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## zeiger

Siouxzee said:


> They changed our status as well to Application Received. They phoned as they needed a CVC number for the credit card. Said everything was in order and the application will now be placed in the queue for processing  So we are onto the next step - YAY!


Congrats Sue!
We did not receive any phone call probably because I sent them a bank draft instead of my credit card details.
According to some other threads, now they will check our application documents and see if there is anything missing or not. If anything is not missing, our status should change to "Application Lodged" and our originals (if any) will be returned by mail. We should also get a physical letter with the payment receipt, name of our case officer etc.

Lets hope it gets done quick 

BTW, do you think your case would be referred to an MA? I am not sure about ours (probably not because our doctor has ticked "No abnormal findings" in the summary) but if that happens, it means we should add 2-3 weeks to the original timeline specified by the london office.


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## Siouxzee

Oh goodness I am hoping not, we also had no abnormal findings and we are not on any chronic medication etc.
I have just looked on the website and the timelines seem to be alot shorter than what I originally thought.
Once you application is allocated to a case officer this is what they say
Skilled Migrant application (without job offer)
Applications are placed in a managed queue. Once the application is allocated applications are processed within one to three months. 
I thought it was minimum of 3mths.
The question is how long it takes to get allocated, from what I read I think that could take 3wks.
Wow I cant believe how excited I am, this is finally becoming a reality. Of course I am still nervous in what decision they will make in terms of PR or WTR.
We are hoping that being on the LTSSL list (my husband is also in IT) it might help.


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## nzimmig

Hi,
I had submitted my EOI on 26th Jan 2011 and selected on 9th Feb but still waiting for ITA. Can any body tell me if they were selected and received the ITA? How much expected time for ITA


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## topcat83

nzimmig said:


> Hi,
> I had submitted my EOI on 26th Jan 2011 and selected on 9th Feb but still waiting for ITA. Can any body tell me if they were selected and received the ITA? How much expected time for ITA


Hi Ali

Did you check on-line?

NZ Immigration will be checking your application to make sure they agree with your calculations, before they contact you. I guess you should hear soon....


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## nzimmig

topcat83 said:


> Hi Ali
> 
> Did you check on-line?
> 
> NZ Immigration will be checking your application to make sure they agree with your calculations, before they contact you. I guess you should hear soon....


Hi,

Thanks Topcat83 for the reply. I have submitted my EOI on 26th Jan 2011 and selected on 9th Feb 2011. As far as NZ immigration website my EOI has been processed by Bangkok branch and branch processing time is one month. Now its almost going to a month waiting for their reply.


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## Siouxzee

Zeiger - any updates on your status. 
Our status also now says Application Received with the following message Thank you for your application for residence. You will shortly receive an acknowledgement letter with information on next steps.


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## zeiger

Hi Sue,
No such message is there for me yet.
I still see only "Application Received" and "Full Medicals Received".

Will keep you posted. Speaking of which, do you use Facebook or would you share your email id? Then we can have a more private conversation rather than keep coming to this thread all the time.

Ofcourse, we can keep this thread updated with important information which would help others!


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## zeiger

Hi Sue,
I am not sure if yours shows the same, but my "Application Received" status is shown for the "Skilled Migrant Expression of Interest" application. I thought I sent my ITA but there is no mention of it! 

May be that is just how it works though, I just wanted to know if yours shows the same?


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## topcat83

zeiger said:


> Hi Sue,
> No such message is there for me yet.
> I still see only "Application Received" and "Full Medicals Received".
> 
> Will keep you posted. Speaking of which, do you use Facebook or would you share your email id? Then we can have a more private conversation rather than keep coming to this thread all the time.
> 
> Ofcourse, we can keep this thread updated with important information which would help others!


Hi there

You can PM each other - click on the other persons name, and it will give you the option. 

But we'd be really interested in 'listening in' on your conversations - so feel free to keep them on-line.


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## Siouxzee

Thanks Topcat!
For other people who are going through the same process mine also indicates Application Received next to EOI, however before for the EOI it said Decision successful and you could click on the link. So I am assuming the application received is for the ITA.
It also confirms they have received our Medicals.
On another page they state application received and we will get a letter shortly with the next steps.


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## zeiger

Hi Sue,
Thanks for the update, I will keep you and this thread posted.

@Topcat: Thanks for the advice


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## Siouxzee

Hi Everyone
Our application is lodged and we have received an email from the CO.
She needed some additional documentation as I was married before which we have emailed (waiting to hear if we need to courier originals), and asked us when dates and times that suit for an interview.
Does anyone know if this means they are happy with the application and once interview done they make a decision?


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## topcat83

Siouxzee said:


> Hi Everyone
> Our application is lodged and we have received an email from the CO.
> She needed some additional documentation as I was married before which we have emailed (waiting to hear if we need to courier originals), and asked us when dates and times that suit for an interview.
> Does anyone know if this means they are happy with the application and once interview done they make a decision?


That sounds very positive to me. Will it be a personal or a telephone interview?


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## Siouxzee

Telephonic, we are being processed by London branch but are based in SA.
Hubby is the principal applicant however she has asked to interview both of us. 
Has anyone had any experience with this? Do they chat to you seperately or should we ensure we have a speaker phone to have a multiway conversation? 
Just to clarify when I say experience, I mean not in terms of the questions but how they conduct the phone interview with more than 1 person.


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## zeiger

Hi sue,
Again, we got a similar story. Our CO has asked for some documents in original but there is no talk of an interview yet.
By the way, why do they ask for originals when I have already supplied the certified true copies? Any idea?

Best Regards,
Zeiger


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## Siouxzee

Not sure. Where they certified by?
Also it depends on the docs - police clearance and medicals you have to send the originals. everything else we had certified by the notary public and sent copies.
Though we will wait and see who knows they might still request more from us though i am hoping not


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## topcat83

Siouxzee said:


> Telephonic, we are being processed by London branch but are based in SA.
> Hubby is the principal applicant however she has asked to interview both of us.
> Has anyone had any experience with this? Do they chat to you seperately or should we ensure we have a speaker phone to have a multiway conversation?
> Just to clarify when I say experience, I mean not in terms of the questions but how they conduct the phone interview with more than 1 person.


Again, Telephonic seems a good sign to me - but as you say, it might just be because you're in SA and therefore it's difficult for a face-to-face.

There have been a couple of previous posts on telephone interviews (see the links below for a couple of them) but mainly they'll be wanting to know that you've thought through all the negative sides of emigrating too, and aren't just coming with rose-tinted glasses. They'll want to know things like how you'll cope with being away from friends and family, how you plan to settle in to NZ, how you plan to get a job (if you haven't already got one), and how you'll handle the different culture of NZ. I.e. that you're moving for all the right reasons, and that you'll be an asset to NZ.

Previous posts:
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/ne...70143-what-expect-during-phone-interview.html
http://www.expatforum.com/expats/ne...g-new-zealand/42664-telephone-interviews.html


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## LawinNZ

zeiger said:


> Hi Sue,
> I have not started applying for jobs yet although I am keeping an eye on various job sites so that I know in/near which city there are most jobs. Because I am in the IT field, my job search narrows down to major cities only.
> We hope to get to NZ in 2012 as well. But it all depends on what type of visa we get i.e. a WTR or a PR. I would prefer a PR and as such, my wife and me are pretty flexible on when to get there. We don't have any furniture to move or kids to take care of once we get there (no looking for schools etc.) and this greatly increases our chances to settle there very quickly.
> 
> Do keep in touch! I will let you know about our progress as well


Hi, good luck with the application and do keep us posted. _[deleted due to advertising]_


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## Siouxzee

Hi All
Sorry have not been updating things recently the last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind 
We did our interview, got the good news a few days later our residency visa was approved. We now have our passports back with our visas.
On the same day our visas were approved hubby got a job offer. So now it is all systems go to sell house, get things organised and get on a plane 
The process all happened far quicker than we ever thought!


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## topcat83

Siouxzee said:


> Hi All
> Sorry have not been updating things recently the last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind
> We did our interview, got the good news a few days later our residency visa was approved. We now have our passports back with our visas.
> On the same day our visas were approved hubby got a job offer. So now it is all systems go to sell house, get things organised and get on a plane
> The process all happened far quicker than we ever thought!


That's great news!


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