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

[kelzm 0]

That's awesome news rubyred!! Times going to fly by for you now.

Kim - todays the day isn't it?!!

Gnomegrrl good luck with selling your house. I've just put mine on the market amidst all the doom and gloom in the media about selling. I've got some people coming to look at it on the weekend so fingers crossed they'll like it and want to buy it.

As for me. Waiting for NVC. Honestly, it baffles me that it takes a whole month for them to send each form! Oh well. The good news is that in two and a half weeks I get to go visit my husband and have a vacation. Yippee.

[KimandRuss 0]

Thank you Gnome girl! You needed your new husbands paystub? Or your ex husband for proof of child support? We're K1...so my info still goes to Auckland for Russell to take with him. I'll be sending along lots of copies of checks.

Justine! You have a date!!! That's wonderful news. How great of your parents to help you out with their points too. I know how expensive it is to fly domestic in NZ! Sorry Jordan will be so busy when you get there but I really dont think it's going to matter too much! btw..did you get my last email?

Kel...I see ya lurking! Did you get your house sold yet?

Well, if you can believe this, I have three calls into the registrar of deeds last week to confirm that I can go pick up my divorce decree from the courthouse tomorrow and still no call back! I am legally divorced as of today and a couple months ago he told me to call back to confirm I could get my certified copy as early as 'the next day'. If I don't get a call back today i'm not going to be happy. I've been patient enough! I printed out almost everything I need all day yesterday. 10 years worth of 'everything'! Had just a few things left....when I got an error, tried to reboot... and got a bios error on startup! It's just my luck! Good thing I fix computers!

So, today promises to be crazy. Tomorrow all I want is to watch my bank account drop!

[cdneh 3,112]

Well, if you can believe this, I have three calls into the registrar of deeds last week to confirm that I can go pick up my divorce decree from the courthouse tomorrow and still no call back! I am legally divorced as of today and a couple months ago he told me to call back to confirm I could get my certified copy as early as 'the next day'. If I don't get a call back today i'm not going to be happy. I've been patient enough! I printed out almost everything I need all day yesterday. 10 years worth of 'everything'! Had just a few things left....when I got an error, tried to reboot... and got a bios error on startup! It's just my luck! Good thing I fix computers!

So, today promises to be crazy. Tomorrow all I want is to watch my bank account drop!

Oh man...waiting on bits of paper..how I can identify with that!

I'm still waiting on a couple of things..long form birth certificate and Canadian police report..but nothing that I need right away.

Two days ago, after checking and rechecking and checking again (paranoia on my part) I sent a package off to my fiancee with all my bits and bobs. He should have it in a week...and then he can add his bits and bobs and file...already!

[GnomeGrrl 0]

Thank you Gnome girl! You needed your new husbands paystub? Or your ex husband for proof of child support? We're K1...so my info still goes to Auckland for Russell to take with him. I'll be sending along lots of copies of checks.

Justine! You have a date!!! That's wonderful news. How great of your parents to help you out with their points too. I know how expensive it is to fly domestic in NZ! Sorry Jordan will be so busy when you get there but I really dont think it's going to matter too much! btw..did you get my last email?

Kel...I see ya lurking! Did you get your house sold yet?

Well, if you can believe this, I have three calls into the registrar of deeds last week to confirm that I can go pick up my divorce decree from the courthouse tomorrow and still no call back! I am legally divorced as of today and a couple months ago he told me to call back to confirm I could get my certified copy as early as 'the next day'. If I don't get a call back today i'm not going to be happy. I've been patient enough! I printed out almost everything I need all day yesterday. 10 years worth of 'everything'! Had just a few things left....when I got an error, tried to reboot... and got a bios error on startup! It's just my luck! Good thing I fix computers!

So, today promises to be crazy. Tomorrow all I want is to watch my bank account drop!

Jeremy will love being called 'new'. LOL. It was his paystub I had to take. I didn't have to provide any proof of what I earned at all whatsoever. My ex owns his own business and fiddles the books so he pays the minimum amount of child support possible. It's also not done through the court here. Our IRD (IRS) take care of it and work out what they have to pay by their taxable income from the previous year. My ex (I never married him, fortunately) hasn't even seen or spoken to the kids in 4 years despite the fact he lives in the same town, so I'm sure if it wasn't through the IRD, I'd have huge problems getting him to pay.

I hope you get everything sorted today and definitely hope you get your paperwork away tomorrow!!!

Kel, I'm hoping I'll be lucky in that respect. Invercargill seems to be bucking the national trend. Only one house in our street hasn't sold quickly and it's way overpriced. I'm still busy painting, but it should be ready for market next week, fingers crossed. Good luck with yours!!!

Edited April 15, 2008 by GnomeGrrl

[KimandRuss 0]

Hi Guys,

first off this isn't kim, its her ....i'd like to say significant other,

shes out celebrating and having a well deserved drink right now so i figured i would be the one to fill you guys in because really i am just so 'chuffed'

we filed today, well she did as she did most of the work, she sent it by courier and should be there at VSC at 3 pm tomorrow to be added to the top of the pile of a box where it will be the first to be reviewed and accepted (asking too much? after 10 years of waiting i dont think so )

everything going well i could be there in as little as two months, at this stage we really aren't waiting around for anything, any form that needs to be filled out is being filled as we get it and sent the same day, some people would say impatient, i would have to agree with them but the time apart is really dragging out and i miss her damnit

i am sure kim will fill you in on the specifics if you have any questions you need to ask i will be lurking around as normal

i hope everything is going well for you all, believe me when i say i know how stressful all this can be, just remember the light at the end of the tunnel

luv

Russ

[kelzm 0]

Hey Russ and Kim, big congrats to you both. Seems to me like you've made it through the hard part, hopefully the rest will be smooth (and rapid!) sailing from now on.

Gnomegrrl - question for you about your kids and your ex. Do you have legal custody of your children? If not, did you have to get a notarised letter from your ex to get permission to move the children? I havent' applied for my son yet but that's going to be happening soon, I'm thinking that I'll need to go to the family court and get a custody order so I can prove to the US govt that I have permission to move my son.

[dbears 1]

Hi Guys,

first off this isn't kim, its her ....i'd like to say significant other,

shes out celebrating and having a well deserved drink right now so i figured i would be the one to fill you guys in because really i am just so 'chuffed'

we filed today, well she did as she did most of the work, she sent it by courier and should be there at VSC at 3 pm tomorrow to be added to the top of the pile of a box where it will be the first to be reviewed and accepted (asking too much? after 10 years of waiting i dont think so )

everything going well i could be there in as little as two months, at this stage we really aren't waiting around for anything, any form that needs to be filled out is being filled as we get it and sent the same day, some people would say impatient, i would have to agree with them but the time apart is really dragging out and i miss her damnit

i am sure kim will fill you in on the specifics if you have any questions you need to ask i will be lurking around as normal

i hope everything is going well for you all, believe me when i say i know how stressful all this can be, just remember the light at the end of the tunnel

luv

Russ

BIG BIG CONGRATS for being able to file already.. we have been waiting with Kim for this... and we will wait and hope and pray with you guys that you will get approved the soonest!

God speed

[GnomeGrrl 0]

Hey Russ and Kim, big congrats to you both. Seems to me like you've made it through the hard part, hopefully the rest will be smooth (and rapid!) sailing from now on.

Gnomegrrl - question for you about your kids and your ex. Do you have legal custody of your children? If not, did you have to get a notarised letter from your ex to get permission to move the children? I havent' applied for my son yet but that's going to be happening soon, I'm thinking that I'll need to go to the family court and get a custody order so I can prove to the US govt that I have permission to move my son.

First of all, grats Russ and Kim!!! Fingers crossed for a speedy reunion!!!!

Kel, I'm afraid I can't help you there. One of mine just turned 18 and the other is about to turn 17, so they're too old for custody orders or for their father to be able to stop them leaving the country. Having legal custody will definitely help, but your ex can throw a spanner in to the works any time he likes until the kids are 16 unfortunately

[KimandRuss 0]

gnomegirl... lol maybe I should have said 'recent' husband. my bad! thanks for the congrats.

Thank you Gay (dbears) I really appreciate your support.

Thanks kel... hope everything else is going smoothly for you too.

Well, like my sweets stated... we've finaly got the paperwork sent yesterday and i'm stoked about that! It was no easy task though! Some of you know that i've already waited years for my ex to sign the divorce agreement. Russell being booted from the country...etc. Well if that wasn't enough... I had everything scanned in, forms filled out...etc all stored on my hard drive for months now. Just waiting to be printed up and organized into the packet. Well, after printing off all our pictures and a few other things on Sunday I went to reboot and windows wouldn't load. It was late and because I work with computers I thought 'no big deal' I will finish up tomorrow... yes well, turns out my hard drive failed and I couldn't get to any of it. After diagnosing the problem, I didn't have time to see if I could copy the drive over and had to get on another computer at home and scan and print everything again. Needless to say, I was up pretty late getting that all done. On top of that, I had 4 calls into registrar of deeds office to make sure I could pick up my decree yesterday....with no call back. I decided I'd take the 1/2 hour drive into the city and drop in to see if I could get it anyway. When I got there I was sent to an entirely different building...where I was sent back to the same place I started!! At this point all I could do is shake my head. Anyway, I got it! From that moment on nothing else seemed to matter and I was all smiles! I spent about 40 minutes in line at the post office and sent the package overnight. As soon as I got into my office I had a call from the registrar's office.... my decree was ready to be picked up! I just had to laugh!

So the package was very well organized and very throrough, with tabbed off sections and I went over everything twice but I still worry because of the loss of all my previous information and the mad rush in which I put it together again. It still feels really good to have it done and to be in the waiting game. I know for many this is the part they stress about most and maybe after a few weeks of waiting we'll get there too ...but for now, we're just so happy to be on to the next chapter.

Thanks for all your support. Knowing we're not alone in this has helped make the process to get to this stage more bearable.

[kelzm 0]

Ouch, sorry to hear about the hard drive drama Kim. I'll keep my fingers crossed that you don't meet any hitches with the package you sent in.

I'm on the home stretch with NVC now, waiting for one more coversheet to be generated then I can send in my last lot of forms. Yay. Then it'll be off to consulate for my medical and interview. It's great to see the end in sight.

[KimandRuss 0]

Thanks Kel. I don't know what i'd do without drama ..im so used to it!

That's great that you're getting so close!!!

[emma&sammy 0]

Hi Guys!

Well I finally had my interview on Thursday - it was easy as, I was there for about an hour and a half, mostly waiting. The first lady gathered all my papers together for the interview, & told me a few things about what would happen next. And the Lady who interviewed me was really nice, only asked a few questions like

where we met

when we met

what our wedding plans were

& about all the visits i'd had

all in all went pretty smoothly, I had a bunch of evidence of our relationship, but she didn't really look into it too much, she could see I was well prepared anyway. So i'm picking up my passport on Monday, & flying out on Tues evening ! Finally!

Best of luck to you all!

[KimandRuss 0]

Emma... CONGRATULATIONS!!! So happy for you!

[kelzm 0]

Congrats Emma!

[GnomeGrrl 0]

That's awesome! Congratulations Emma!!