Friday, November 6, 2009

Sweet submission

After being in a very bad mood since the application failed to reach the embassy on Monday, I now have some good news to report: it is now, finally, off our hands.
It wasn't plain sailing.  We were thrown into a dilemma of, "How long will it take?"  "Will we be stuck here with no passport for months into the New Year with no job?"  "Would it be better to just go to New Zealand immediately and worry about applying for the right to work there?"
This latter option was surprisingly do-able.  I hadn't realised that with a British passport, I can just go to New Zealand.  The only requirements are a return flight within six months and some money in the bank.  No visa.
But I couldn't have worked - at least not in a straightforward way - until I got a work permit (which seems to be the same thing as a visa, except you get it from within New Zealand).



I have to admit that I felt a little nervous at having the gate opened to me like that.  Suddenly there was nothing between me and New Zealand - it all felt so unfamiliar and far away.  
Some sound advice from Ross' dad was to try and get some information out of the embassy staff about how long it would take.  One brief phonecall later and I had my answer: "three to four weeks".
Really?  Was it a lie?  A mistake?  I was expecting at least two to three months.
Well, we'll find out in five weeks.  We sent it off by registered post yesterday.

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