NEW ZEALANDers heading to the US and their USC spouses - POST HERE!

[amaciar 0]

Woo Hoo Congrats Kim and Russ.

Nic and I have been back in the states for a little over a month. Nic's not so green "green card" arrived in the mail last week. He has been showing anyone who will look at it ever since. There is a on going game to find all of the holograms on the card.

No luck with jobs yet but we are waiting for Nic to find a job in New England somewhere before I can start my search. There seems to be plenty of positions but I am sure there are plenty of people applying. One site I have foudn that has been great for just general work and apartments is Craigslist.com. There are heaps of apartments added daily and many people appear to be adding jobs on the site as well.

[kelzm 0]

Congrats to Kim and Russ and Shawn and Lu too! Lots of things happening.

Amaciar - How long did it take for Nic to get his SSN? Did he wait for it to be sent by mail or did he go into the office? I'm trying to get a good idea of the timeframes so that I know if I need to go in to apply. Lots waiting on getting that SSN!

[KimandRuss 0]

ShawnandLu, in my own selfish haste, I don't think I ever properly congratulated you on your approval! Congratulations and have a safe trip home Friday!

Russell still hasn't had a moment to post but i'm sure he will share the few tidbits that he thinks you should know soon enough.

Edited September 18, 2008 by KimandRuss

[kiwiana 2]

Congratulations to ShawnandLu and Kim and Russ!!! Great news!!

Hope everyone else is doing well. A lot has certainly been happening this past month in the kiwi region! It's wonderful to see that some are already in USA, with others almost heading over there.

I looked on the igor list the other day. I had gone from #250 down to #233 then back up to #239! No wonder my head has been in a spin all week with all this bouncing around jk!

[KimandRuss 0]

Thanks again everyone. We are counting down the minutes!

Amy, what does nic do? Sometimes a job recruiter (aka headhunter) can help a lot. If you get close to Central MA you'll have to let us know.

[amaciar 0]

Congrats to Kim and Russ and Shawn and Lu too! Lots of things happening.

Amaciar - How long did it take for Nic to get his SSN? Did he wait for it to be sent by mail or did he go into the office? I'm trying to get a good idea of the timeframes so that I know if I need to go in to apply. Lots waiting on getting that SSN!

Nic has had a social secutiry number for a few years. He was here on a work visa and so he does not have to worry about that step. We called a while ago just to make sure. I would suggest going in though. Just to change a spelling on Nics name on his card he would have to send in his passport plus his green card. So as you can imagine we don't really want to let go of that little card! We did send in the SSN sheet provided from immigration and the lady on the phone at SS said they had not received anything. Yet another reason to go in I would say. Sorry I couldn't of been any help.

[amaciar 0]

Thanks again everyone. We are counting down the minutes!

Amy, what does nic do? Sometimes a job recruiter (aka headhunter) can help a lot. If you get close to Central MA you'll have to let us know.

Nic is a town planner but he wants to get into a company dealing with wind technology. There appear to be planning jobs out there but I am not sure what they think of hiring someone not trained in the USA. It has only been a month though so we can't be too frustrated yet. Funnily enough we just looked at a posting for a job in MA it would have been right up Nics ally but they are looking for more experience than he has So the search continues We haven't thought of a recruiter. What do they do?

[KimandRuss 0]

recruiters are paid a fee or a percentage of the salary from a company looking to hire someone.

You get your resume to them and they do the searching for you and the companys pay them to find you. It's win win.

[KimandRuss 0]

got the visa today, in the post, was waiting for me when i got home from work

got home and my family was just sitting around, i said hi to them all, they were watching tv and hardly looked up.

so i was standing there, and finally i ask, did any mail come for me today, they said yes its on the kitchen table...... i was like who do you think you are? (as a joke)

was pretty, kim will post pictures tomorrow

take care

Russ

p.s. will review the consulate soon i promise

[KimandRuss 0]

[cdneh 3,112]

There it is, in all it's manilla envelope glory! And only a few days to go!!!

[cdneh 3,112]

I've just read the review Russell has written...thanks so much for posting that! Those of us that are waiting still will find that very helpful. I for one feel a bit calmer about that part of the process.

[kiwiana 2]

Wow! that's so cool to actually see what the package, letter and visa looks like! Congratulations Kim and Russell!! Just days away now!!! woo hoooo!

I think my hand will be superglued to that envelope, come the day it is me sitting on the plane with it.

Many thanks for the review Russell. It's really great to be able to read everyones experience at the Embassy. Makes those of us who are still waiting a little bit more at ease about that part of the process. And to know exactly where to go once inside the embassy.

Did they mention anything about the 1-134 or want to look at Kims original birth certificate at all?

Once again congratulations! It's been a long wait for you guys but you will be together very very soon!!!!!!!!!

[amaciar 0]

You must be so relieved! Great to have that package and passport in your hot little hands? Not long now try to get SOME sleep on the flight over

[LandS 0]

Oh, I'm so happy for you and Russ, Kim! It does feel good to hold the passport and brown envelopes in your hands!

Thanks for all the congratulations everyone! Well, I am already here! And it feels great!!!!!! :dance: It is such a relief being here and know that you don't have to leave again! In fact, can't leave again at least until AP. I wish Russ a safe trip home, and hope you can rest a little on the plane. I'm usually pretty good at sleeping on planes, but I came on Qantas and they have some kind of service through almost all the flight so it was very difficult to get any rest. So, if anyone is coming on Qantas, get some sleep the night before if you can!

I just wanted to warn you guys that when it comes time to book your flights, it is better to have a long layover in LA. My flight was supposed to get in at 10:45am but was delayed in Auckland for 1 hour, so I got to LAX when the peak busy period was starting! I was supposed to have a 2 hour layover and now I had to go from terminal 4 to terminal 1, get my boarding pass and go through security in 1 hour. Needless to say, I didn't make it, but was booked on another flight. Things are a mess at LAX, the airline agent told me to ask the TSA agent if I could be expedited through security but told me it was unlikely, I asked one TSA agent and they told me I had to go to the end of the line, which was outside the terminal and halfway to terminal 2!!!! At the end of the line, I spoke to another TSA agent and she told me to get someone from the airline to escort me through security. When I went to talk to the airline, they told me to just go by myself, but I told them they had to come with me. So this guy reluctantly escorted me through the first half but left me at the end of a big line closer to the x-ray! So I talked to another TSA agent and she let me through! I got to my gate just as the guy was closing the door!!!! So, the lesson here is, if you are having some kind of problem just ask as many TSA agents it takes until you get what you want!!! hehehe

Oh, about POE at LAX. It was pretty painless. I got the impression that the guy who 'interviewed' me hadn't dealt with many of these before as he seemed to have to think about what he had to do next (he almost forgot to put a validity date on my I-94). Nevertheless, he only asked a few basic questions (when did you meet, what does he do, when is the wedding) before stapling the I-94 on my passport. The only thing that has me concerned is that when I asked him where he was going to send the brown envelope, he told me that it stopped there. He wasn't sending it anywhere! That after the wedding we had to send new information to USCIS for AOS!!!! Does anybody know if this is right? I've been trying to find info on the forums but no luck!

Edited September 22, 2008 by ShawnandLu