How's life in NZ/Aus?

sirbob

i've been in oz sence march lovin it so far jus wish my girlfriend cuda come .... she's visitin for a month do soon hoin to convince her to stay for the yr ... jus need to work now so i've money for wen she gets here

Zambia

Welcome to Boards

Sir Bob ...where the hell is der?

MOD Oh and please do not respond in text speak

Jagera

Mellor wrote: »

Anther day, another problem,
I got two parcels sent over from home, just some birthday presents from family
One was a jackey and a jumper, it arrived last week, the other was a hoodie and a bottle aftershave, never came.
i thought it was jsut delayed, but its now a week since the first arrived. They were sent together.

Any idea what the issue might of been. Aftershave? If customs took it in to inspect, what sort of delay could I expect. Or will I ever get it

I'd say it'll arrive eventually.

Over the years the vast majority of packages both to & from Ireland arrived in 7-10 days. One time something arrived in 24 hours, I nearly fainted, it must have made every perfect connection.

For the late stuff, we sent Christmas cards one year, from Ireland to Australia, and they arrived the following OCTOBER. Every single Aussie bound one arrived in the same period. I can only wildly guess what happened to them.

Some things were opened by customs, but it didn't delay the stuff much.

A rare few packages took longer, maybe 3-4 weeks.

brendansmith

Crumble Froo wrote: »

and we'll have to do another mini-Chch beers again! (I think it was just me and jank last time)

Would be keen on getting this going if anyone was interested.

Crumble Froo

nice one. ill send you some contact info for me, what are the circumstances of you bein here aain? (sorry, the letter between f and h on my laptop is one of the ones that hasnt worked post-quake...)

KingdomYid

It is bucketing down in Sydney today, it has not stopped since I woke.

IrishInNZ

watna wrote: »

Well, well well. Our very own NZ and Aus forum!

To start us off I thought I'd make a thread for general/off-topic chat. Feel free to drop in to us and tell us how you're getting on, are you homesick, having a difficult time?

If you have specific questions about travel or visas etc please start a new thread. This is for random chat.

I'll start.

Man, New Zealand is cold.

But the sun is shining! Well it was until about an hour ago!
I think things here are good, but definitely not as good as Australia! Live in Wellington, and if I wasn't living here I don't know how I'd feel about NZ. But there's definitely been a surge in Irish people coming here - it's almost starting to feel like home... almost!

Mellor

I think I lost my passport, whats the procedure for gettign it back. Contact the consulate I imagine. What sort of fee am i looking at, time frame (i don't need it in a hurry or anything)

watna

Mellor wrote: »

I think I lost my passport, whats the procedure for gettign it back. Contact the consulate I imagine. What sort of fee am i looking at, time frame (i don't need it in a hurry or anything)

I just got a new passport from the Consulate in Auckland. It cost me $160 NZD and took about 7 weeks (it has to get sent back to Dublin).

The most annoying thing was you can't pay by credit card and you could only pay by eftpos if you were in Auckland and could go in to the Consulate. I had to go to the bank and get a bank cheque which cost me $6. Not sure if it'll be the same in the embassy in Aus though.

boreds11

Is the weather in Perth going to be like this for the rest of the Australian winter? Non stop rain - I thought we had it bad in Ireland until I came here.

kiwipower

watna wrote: »

I just got a new passport from the Consulate in Auckland. It cost me $160 NZD and took about 7 weeks (it has to get sent back to Dublin).

The most annoying thing was you can't pay by credit card and you could only pay by eftpos if you were in Auckland and could go in to the Consulate. I had to go to the bank and get a bank cheque which cost me $6. Not sure if it'll be the same in the embassy in Aus though.

The Consulate in Auckland?
When I was applying for my first Irish Passport from NZ I had to send the application to the Embassy in Canberra, Australia. (though that was 10 years ago.) It only took about three weeks for me to have the passport. (Hand written though)

watna

kiwipower wrote: »

The Consulate in Auckland?
When I was applying for my first Irish Passport from NZ I had to send the application to the Embassy in Canberra, Australia. (though that was 10 years ago.) It only took about three weeks for me to have the passport. (Hand written though)

They must have changed it. I thought they'd have sent it to Aus too but it went all the way back to Dublin. Maybe the consulate wasn't up and running ten years ago or something. Hopefully if you're in Aus they can do it in the embassy there.

kiwipower

Its funny, both my passports are expiring over the next 2days to 6months.

To get the Kiwi one renewed:

1. Go online
2. Down load application form
3. Fill in Application form
4. Send form and money to Embassy in UK
5. Get new passport in a couple of weeks

Irish one:

1. Go Online
2. Cant down load application form told I have to get it from Garda Station or Some Post Offices
3. Go to two Garda Stations, be told at each they dont have application forms.
4. When I FINALLY can get an application form...
5. Sent form and money to passport application office
6. Wait
7. and Wait
8. (and from what I hear) Wait again!
9. Might eventually get a new passport!

watna

Well, apart from having to get the bank cheque I found the process easy enough, far easier than renewing my American passport.

The worst part of it all was NZ Post losing my old passport and all the application forms on their way from Wellington to Auckland only to find out it had made it there after all and NZ Post hadn't bothered to trace it at any point of its journey, so it appeared to be missing. I felt like asking them to give me my money back seeming as I had paid for track and trace post and they had neither tracked nor traced it (plus I had spent a lot of my employers time on the phone tracking it down) but by the time I found out it wasn't missing I was just so relieved I didn't have the energy to complain anymore.

kiwipower

renewing my American passport.

I didn't think that the US of A alowd citizens to have dual citizenship?

mandrake04

yeah they do

I know a guy from Tyrone has USA/Irish/Brit/Aus passport

Zambia

Ah but has he declared them to each country?

mandrake04

Well I have just have the 3 and declared them to the Aussie Goverment (was on my application form)

I posted this on this thread before, http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=696630

CJhaughey

kiwipower wrote: »

The Consulate in Auckland?
When I was applying for my first Irish Passport from NZ I had to send the application to the Embassy in Canberra, Australia. (though that was 10 years ago.) It only took about three weeks for me to have the passport. (Hand written though)

Whe I got my first Irish Passport I am sure I got it in Wellington.
Its a bit silly having a consulate thats not in the Capital City.
Most countries have their embassy or consulate in the Capital for obvious reasons.

watna

CJhaughey wrote: »

Whe I got my first Irish Passport I am sure I got it in Wellington.
Its a bit silly having a consulate thats not in the Capital City.
Most countries have their embassy or consulate in the Capital for obvious reasons.

I know, pain in the ass. All the other embassies/consulates are in Wellington!

and yes, The American government is aware that I have dual nationality. It's quite common apparently

Mellor

mandrake04 wrote: »

and yes, The American government is aware that I have dual nationality. It's quite common apparently

Being aware and allowing it are two different things.

They are aware of the thousands on US citizens with irish or other citizen ships. they could care.

But the official line is that is not allowed, so they can take aggressive action against the guy with a [middle east] passport (or the russains previously)

mandrake04

Mellor wrote: »

Being aware and allowing it are two different things.

They are aware of the thousands on US citizens with irish or other citizen ships. they could care.

But the official line is that is not allowed, so they can take aggressive action against the guy with a [middle east] passport (or the russains previously)

I never posted the above....

Mellor

I quoted watna, how did that happen?

mandrake04

Mellor wrote: »

I quoted watna, how did that happen?

Glitch maybe .... makes confusing reading in the thread.

kiwipower

CJhaughey wrote: »

Whe I got my first Irish Passport I am sure I got it in Wellington.
Its a bit silly having a consulate thats not in the Capital City.
Most countries have their embassy or consulate in the Capital for obvious reasons.

I guess maybe its to do with the size difference between Wellington and Auckland. How many other countries have a capital city less than half the size of their biggest city?

mandrake04

kiwipower wrote: »

I guess maybe its to do with the size difference between Wellington and Auckland. How many other countries have a capital city less than half the size of their biggest city?

How about Australia

kiwipower

mandrake04 wrote: »

How about Australia

Touché

CJhaughey

kiwipower wrote: »

I guess maybe its to do with the size difference between Wellington and Auckland. How many other countries have a capital city less than half the size of their biggest city?

Washington DC : Pop 600k
New York Pop: 8 Mill.:D

mandrake04

Thought I would post this.

The number of Irish nationals living unlawfully in Australia has almost tripled in two years.
According to figures obtained by the Irish Echo, there are currently 1075 Irish nationals living here illegally, which is up from 871 on June 30, 2010.
A year earlier, there were just 470 Irish overstayers.
It appears that while job prospects remain bleak in Ireland, more and more people are opting to overstay working holiday visas or are working illegally on holiday visas.
“Any increase is a bad thing. We’re keeping a very close eye on these figures because these people really are vulnerable” said Orla Tunney, First Secretary at the Irish Embassy in Canberra.
“These people who are living here illegally aren’t covered by the reciprocal medical agreement between Australia and Ireland, so they’re not covered if they have an accident or get sick,” she explained.
“They’re also much more vulnerable to being exploited by employers, ” she said.
According to Ms Tunney, there are visa options that Irish people might not be aware of.
“For example, only 14 people availed of the 487 skilled regional sponsored visa in 2009–2010. Applications for that did increase this year but only to 50 and compared to the amount of people who are applying for the 457 visa, it’s tiny.
“It’s specifically highlighted for people who have completed the Working Holiday Visa (WHV),” Ms Tunney said.
She said the embassy was engaging with the Department of Immigration “to try and match people with the opportunities that do exist here”.
However, once someone has overstayed their visa there aren’t any options left for them but to leave the country.
“We understand why it happens but we encourage people not to overstay,” she said.
The Irish Embassy is also liasing with the Community Status Resolution Service (CSRS) in order to try to inform Irish nationals of their visa options.
The CSRS runs meetings to inform people of their options and to help people who have overstayed their visas.
People can also call them anonymously on 131 881 and discuss their options.
“Overstayers run a risk of getting a three-year ban from Australia which may also affect their chances of going to other countries too,” Ms Tunney said.

jank

Mellor wrote: »

Being aware and allowing it are two different things.

They are aware of the thousands on US citizens with irish or other citizen ships. they could care.

But the official line is that is not allowed, so they can take aggressive action against the guy with a [middle east] passport (or the russains previously)

They do allow it, not sure where you are getting that they don't.