As you might expect, applying for a residency visa entails a significant amount of paperwork. We have four months from the time our EOI was selected and we were invited to apply to get the actual application submitted. The Skilled Migrant Category visa requires us to submit:
- The application (duh)
- Letters from each employer I’m using to verify my skills stating the exact start and end dates, title, average number of hours worked per week (to prove it was full-time) and contact details. I need to prove 10+ years using GIS so that’s five different positions and three different employers. Plus a letter from my supervisor verifying my job duties, and any job descriptions, offer letters, etc., I can find.
- Education qualifications – both transcripts and the actual diploma. They need to see this for my Bachelors and GIS Masters, as well as Kelly’s Masters.
- FBI criminal check – We have to get our fingerprints taken and send them off to the FBI so we can be certified felony-free.
- Proof of partnership – Our marriage certificate by itself won’t cut it so we need to gather photos, shared utility bills, bank accounts – anything to prove we’ve been a couple for more than a year.
- Copies of our passports
- Passport sized photos
And all of this has to be either an original or certified (notarized) copy. We also have to get medical checkups including chest x-rays and blood work, but it seems like this paperwork might be submitted directly from the doctor to INZ. So far it’s been pretty smooth getting the documents together. Just waiting on the verification letters from NPS at this point, and we should have them on hand next week. Then all we need is our medical exams. We’re getting closer!
Kiwi Bound 