Part 3 – The tricky bits

Mission: Make processes that usually take a great amount of time happen in an extremely small amount of time, with a very limited budget and a whirlpool of emotions.

I found that writing about the period between deciding to relocate and the actual relocation quite daunting and confusing. For a month or two things were so chaotic and disorganized because moving to a new country is not really an exact science or a clean-cut, linear process. We weren’t able to manage or plan everything in a logical order or specific time frame. We had to take it day by day, prayer by prayer and we did what we had to do at any given time. We had to constantly be ready to deal with what was in front of us. Looking back now it all seems quite puzzling and definitely miraculous.

By the end of September we had our homework done and we understood that we needed a Skilled Workers Visa for Evert and a Working Partner Visa for myself. This might sound like a minor step, but with all the different types of Visa’s available this was actually one of the most difficult tasks from an admin point of view. What we gathered from multiple sources was that it could take anything from 6 weeks to 6 months to get your Visa’s approved.

Now we had some major hurdles to face. As I previously said, we weren’t in the best financial position. We only just got married, I have not had full time employment for almost a year as I was completing my Masters dissertation in clinical psychology, and to top it all off Evert still had a hefty monthly study loan to pay. We soon realized, to move your entire life has a lot of hidden little costs. It includes everything from the fees to obtain Visas together with all the required documentation, right through to the funds to move out of our apartment, monthly storage fees, airplane tickets, extra luggage space, temporary accommodation in Auckland as well as permanent accommodation in Queenstown, transport in and around Auckland as well as to Queenstown from Auckland, along with all of the daily living expenses in NZ$. It was just adding up to what seemed like an impossible amount.

We were overwhelmed and we didn’t have an idea where to start. Of course it didn’t really help our finances that everything happened so fast, as we didn’t have a lot of time to save up money. Yet we reminded ourselves that God would provide. Every time we needed funds for example to pay for the police clearance certificates, medicals, or visa application fees, the money just seemed to be available.

Additionally a lot of big decisions had to be made in a short space of time. I felt as if I was being pulled in several different directions and I couldn’t decide what was the most important. We had to decide what we were going to take with us, what we would store and what we needed to sell or give away. Were we going to sell our cars and when, when would be a good time for Evert to quit his current job, to cancel our rental agreement and move out of our apartment and where were we going to stay before moving abroad. Moreover there was a boat load of admin that needed to be done from new tax numbers, bank accounts and international licenses all the way through to closing accounts and tying up loose ends.

All uncertainties that we had whilst still not having the security and definite proof that we were going to receive the long term working visas.

We had 2 options. We could either wait for the visa’s to be approved before making any life changing decisions, or we could start selling and cancelling everything, trusting that our applications would be approved without any problems.

Should we or shouldn’t we. We were in limbo. We were hesitant. We knew that if we waited too long we wouldn’t be able to arrange everything in time. We also knew that Evert's new company wanted him to start as soon as possible so we really didn’t have any time to waste. Again we had to remind ourselves that God gave us clear instruction to move to New Zealand and because it came from Him He would make things work out according to His perfect timing.

As soon as we put our trust entirely in Him, it all fell in place. We received every single document either in time or ahead of time. We obtained our Visa’s right when we expected it to be approved. We booked our plane tickets that same day. The timing worked out perfectly in sync with his NZ company. And we had a lot of time to spend with our families before we left. We wouldn’t do anything differently and we give all the thanks to the Lord!

A small celebration dinner after Hubby signed his employment contract,

with our apartment still nicely intact.

The good ol' times after all our furniture was sold and collected. This is the lounge. We survived with some camping gear and I managed to convince Evert that we needed the TV until the last day.