Got His Visa. What's Next?

As planned, my husband will go first to NZ by February next year. If he immediately gets a job, my son and I will follow after 3 or 4 months, that will be around the month of May. For now, we need to convert some of our stuffs into cash by selling them. My hubby needs to bring pocket money for housing, food, fare, utility bills, etc. to NZ in addition to the cash from our savings. The 13^th month pay he will be getting will be used to purchase his ticket. Per immigration, he needs to bring around Php100,000 to sustain himself for at least 3 months, so that will amount to PhP300,000 for his 9 months stay. It's a huge amount of money, so we really need to get our stuffs sold. Part of my hubby's 13^th month pay will take care of our son's milk and other needs. To free ourselves from accommodation, utility and food expenses, my son and I will stay in my parents' house. I asked my sister to temporarily help with other expenditures, if she can, so we won't be a huge burden to my parents.


This is going to be a huge risk to take. If we back out and not do anything about our financial goals, we'll remain in status quo and won't be able to achieve our future goals like education for our son, our retirement fund, and, of course, assistance to those in need which includes our parents. Prayer and moral support of our families are the most important things we need at the moment. We believe that it's better to act now than be sorry later when we're no longer able take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us. Some people do not succeed because they are afraid to take the risks. They'd rather not do anything and remain idle because they are afraid to lose what they have, afraid to try and fail. I love what I read that said “Failure is not you, it is an event”. We are not afraid to face the challenges and even failure than not doing anything at all. After all, God is with us and He is ahead of us. He knows our future and He is already there waiting for us. After all, there's nothing to lose. We wouldn't know what's in store for us if we won't try while the opportunity is available. Not everyone has the qualifications (in terms of health or skill needed) to apply for immigration. Grab it while you can.

NZ SMC Visa Application

Our case officer's decision arrived yesterday via email. Feeling a mixture of emotions, we didn't know how to react but just opted to offer a thanksgiving prayer to God. Thankful and happy because my husband's visa was granted, better than getting rejected. A bit disappointed because my baby and I won't be able to join my husband in NZ because he got a JSV (Job Search Visa) or Work Visa – used to be called WTR or Work to Resident Visa. We learned that a partner used to be granted JSV as well. That is no longer the case now.

Same CO who reviewed our application granted the same visa type to a friend of mine who's single. She's now in NZ and has been looking for a job since July of this year. We heard that most families get RV or Resident Visa but recently COs are limiting provision of RVs to applicants. We think we answered well during the interview and submitted complete documents. My husband who is the primary applicant is an Application Programmer and has been in the IT field for 5 years now.

Could it be that COs base their decision on NZ government's list of current and urgent job vacancies that needed to be immediately filled in? We'll see what will happen but I guess the momentary separation is beneficial to our marriage. As always, we need to look for the silver lining in every circumstance.

Reaching our Milestones

Thank God we're done with our interview with the NZ immigration. Once again, we're reminded of valuing hard work. No pain, no gain. All questions were answered to the best of our abilities. Yet that does not guarantee a positive result. Our friend was right. Waiting for the result is the hardest part. And the journey has not yet started. My husband and I agreed that no matter what the outcome will be, nothing is going to change. If we get denied, we'll move on and start working on plan B. We will set our expectations low yet remain positive.
I'm glad that as a couple, we don't stop dreaming. The desire to go out of the country started long before my husband and I met. Same goal, same country. Unfortunately, this American dream ended when the US economy started to fall apart. Another door has opened after we got married and we want to take advantage of this new opportunity.
Many friends wonder why we need to leave the country since my husband got a good job in a prestigious company. Yes, our daily needs are being met somehow. But nothing is left for savings despite our efforts in budgeting our expenses. Materialism is not part of our family's culture. We do not have to keep up with the Joneses so using old cellphones and having no new gadgets every year are fine with us. As early as now, we want to save money for our son's education and prepare our retirement fund. We do not want to end up broke and poor when we reach the age of 60 and pass all the burdens to our son. Yes, there are lots of options for us to achieve our goals. But this is the most viable at the moment considering the skills and health requirements in applying for NZ's SMC visa. We'll start with what we have and we are not going to waste time.