At this point many thanks for all congratulations, my birthday far from home was a blast!
In other department I was blessed with success as well!
The Friday before last Friday I spent visiting the authorities focusing on applying for my visa extension, requesting the 18+ card and issuing my New Zealand driver’s licence.
A few words about the visa extension for anyone thinking about that option:
Main requirement is that you spend 3 months (12 weeks, one day per week will count) working in agriculture or horticulture (firm details on the official government website). So anything greenish up to processing food, monitoring canned goods won’t count anymore…
Your income has to be taxed and you have to collect your paychecks, as they are to be handed in alongside your application. I just got a scrap of paper from my employer with proof of all payment…
The ‘standard’ working holiday visa you apply for online and you have to carry a printed piece of paper next to your passport. The extension, however, is applied for on location only, so it is an offline process. Meaning, you go in there with all the paperwork, hand it over in person and in my case don’t wait longer than a week to get the confirmation email back. And you have to hand in your very passport. Thus, you are without one for a short time, which came out well in the end. In contrast to your printed out ‘E-Visa’ you receive an elegant sticker inside your passport and don’t have to carry a folded piece of paper anymore.
Bottom line: Who completes their 12 weeks by every trick in the book, can easily apply for the extension. 3 extra months are a hundred percent worth it! 😉 Oh, and the fee for the extension is a whopping 165 dollars, though it should feel fair for what you get…
As I stay for more than one year in New Zealand, I have to carry a New Zealand driver’s licence. That one you can apply for in one of the AA centre (New Zealand Automobile Association).
You fill out a charming questionaire, state some details from both your driver’s licences and the passport and pay a small fee. The passport photograph and some copies of your documents they take on site. I was issued a temporary driver’s licence and very soon I saved an envelope that was not entirely soft from the rain from the leaky postbox:
The integral parts are still legible. 😀
As on said Friday I had taken on both obstacles, I went for requesting the 18+ card as well.
This card is a simple proof of age, when you go buy some wine for your cooking. 😛 They are as strict as rigid in the shops here… So when you do not want to carry you bulky passport everywhere, this card is quite the replacement.
But I was taken aback, as I just left my passport, which is necessary to show in order to get your card done, at the immigration office only a few minutes ago and went out of the post office empty-handed.
But when I held the driver’s licence in my hands, I also held a very absolutely legitimate photo ID and that was all I needed. Besides, this is the more badass 18+ card, as you are able to drive on it in Germany too. Getting pulled over might even be fun then. 😀
Ultimately, the 18+ card would’ve cost me ana additional 35 dollars. Now I am not mad at all… 🙂
Yesterday I went for some entertainment which was brought to me by a young choir (regarding the average age and ensemble existence) from Wellington. Next to wonderful music the did something special in the end: They broke the classic formation for the last 3 songs and surrounded the listeners. The concert was about captivity,detemination and resistance and music predominantly coming from concentration camps. It was impressive!
My first singing lessons I also have completed and there shall be many to follow. I have learned many things about myself and among them that singing is one of my greatest passions…
