Becoming a Kiwi: My Residency Application

As you'll probably know, I've applied for residency here in New Zealand. Mostly so that I have options in the future. I really do like to have options. I guess I'm greedy too - unsatisfied with being able to settle anywhere in Europe or the USA, I seem to have this innate desire to allow myself to settle anywhere I wish. I have no question that during further travel, I will get the urge to reside somewhere else too. But for now, I've got to tell you... New Zealand truly is a wonderful country. And at this point in time, I would love to live here and (one day) bring up kids here. I love everything about it. Its stunning beauty, the outdoor activities, the weather, the well-rounded kids that seem to live here (with their genuine love for the outdoors; not for their games consoles), and the people in general. And Wanaka... what a place! The problem? It's so far away from my mum and brothers. And that's a real issue for me, as having been away for 17 months, I really miss them. But I just can't help but love this country, despite this obvious drawback.

I genuinely think that you make your own luck in life. I know that I seem to be very lucky, but I also try to take advantage of opportunities as they come to me, and I try not to be afraid to say 'yes' to them. My current circumstances mean that if I'm going to get residency, that now is the most likely time that I'll ever have of gaining it. I have 160 points (you need 100 points to apply) due to my age and working situation. And I can easily foresee myself living here for 6 months of each of the next few years. So why not take the bull by the horns and grab the opportunity? It's only a bit of time and money that's required.

It cost about $2000 to apply - and there's no guaranteeing that they'll even grant me the residency. They could easily say that the skills I say that I have do not actually make me 'skilled' in their eyes. It's a gamble I'm willing to take. But that money was saved up here, whilst living in Wanaka. I didn't dip into some savings account to make this possible. I just knew what I wanted, and saved hard, so if they do say 'no' to me, I don't really feel as though I've lost anything.

A good friend of mine, Seb, really helped me out by making me a 'residency box' so that I could put any loose change in there. I don't think he realised just how helpful it would be. Every week, I took a few hundred dollars out of my pay-cheque and put it in my box. After a few months, I'd just about saved up the whole amount! Thanks so much Seb! :o)

  

I'm not sure that I'm able to gain citizenship here (already having dual nationality), but residency would be a great asset to have. I'm even thinking of setting up my own cafe! It would be great to own my business - but that's in the 10 year plan... (the first I knew of this '10 year plan' was when I just wrote it! I wish my mind would tell me that it's thinking these things! So I guess I have a 10 year plan... which means I can gallivant around the world until then...) and this can be set up anywhere in the world - UK, USA, NZ... or somewhere else. That would be awesome.

Oh dear... that paragraph makes it sound as though I don't even want to live in NZ after all of this effort! I really DO want to live here, but I can't help but feel that I rushed into this residency application, just 'because I could'. I'm extremely jealous of friends who are leaving NZ to continue travelling, but I just seem to be stuck here now until the residency decision is made. Which I don't mind in the slightest - I love it here. But I wish I could 100% say that I was here out of a love for the country and not out of obligation. I'd love to head off to India for  few months, but I worry that it might show a lack of NZ commitment to immigration if I take off. And plus I have a full time job which I need to stay at for the residency application. So you see my predicament... although residency will open up doors and it'd be fantastic to be granted it, I feel as though it's somewhat holding me back from life. But when I realistically look at it, I'd stay here until the end of the winter anyway - my current visa expires in September, and I don't have the money to travel at the moment. That 'residency box' has now become a 'travelling box' - but I no longer seem to have the incredible savings ability that I had before! Once my true desire (along with the likelihood) to continue travelling kicks in once more, I'm sure I'll be able to save the necessary money!

Below is a time-line of my application to date:
August 2011: Submitted Expression of Interest (EOI)
September 2011: Selected from EOI Pool of Applications & received Invitation to Apply (ITA)
November 2011: Submitted ITA
January 2012: Case Officer (CO) assigned
Currently: Waiting for CO to review application
Expected decision date: June / July 2012

I guess the only thing I can do now is wait. Wish me luck! :o)