Immigration calls...

It's been a bit more than a week since I've sent my residency application to Immigration New Zealand. I hadn't heard from them, yet, only seen online that they had received my application. Knowing it takes 3 to 9 months to process it I wasn't too worried about not hearing from them. No news is good news, right? Well - I heard from them on Friday and the news wasn't good. They were trying to take out the fee and my credit card kept declining. Fortunately the lady on the phone was quite nice and said she was holding my application until Monday so I could hopefully sort something out. Which I have - by Tuesday they should be able to access the money and then... the waiting begins I guess...

Today I met a lady who used to work for Immigration and she said if they take the money it's already a good sign. It means I have already been assigned a case manager and they have started the process (not like the last couple years when they kept sending my applications back saying they were incomplete). Apparently they are pretty much shutting down in December but if I am VERY lucky I might get a response as early as NOVEMBER!!! She reckons January at the latest I should know what's happening...

Please everyone, keep your fingers crossed...