Jobs, Storms and Greencards.

So, most people reading this will probably already know that I managed to find a job. I started in the last week of September and I seem to be pretty good at it so far. The job is in call centre customer service, which I seem to be unable to escape, for a Health and Benefits Outsourcing company. That might bear some explanation for my NZ friends and family so here goes: the company basically takes the work from HR departments of other companies (outsourcing the work but not off-shoring it - as Mitt Romney likes to point out) to manage the benefits that the employers offer. One cannot survive long in the US without medical, dental, vision, long and short term disability and probably a number of other insurances. Employers here tend to offer these benefits to employees at a lower rate than they could purchase them on their own - known as group policies because the insurer gives a discount since it's expected to be bulk coverage - and also subsidise the premiums heavily - usually around 70-80% from what I've seen of good employers.

I like the job, it's interesting and it's certainly teaching me important skills to do with dealing with insurance carriers and understanding benefits that I would never ever had needed in New Zealand, but there is one problem. Well, perhaps 2, really. It's only a temporary job, to start with, so I don't have the stability I need to move out on my own with my husband. This time of year is known as "Open Enrollment" for the insurance industry and it's when most employers allow their employees to make changes to their benefits. They usually can't make changes any other time or year unless they have something major happen they they get married, have a child, get divorced and so forth. So, as you can imagine, it's a very busy time of year. The company I am temping for hired about 200 extra employees for this season and they won't have work for all of them once the season is over. That means that some people will be out of a job come January 31 of 2013.

The other problem is that it doesn't pay well enough for me to be able to support my husband as the main (if not technically quite sole) breadwinner. It doesn't offer employer subsidised group insurance at all unless I get "converted", as they call it, to permanent employment. I don't even know what hourly rate I would be offered if they wanted me to convert or if I would even get a pay rise except for being offered benefits. So much uncertainty.

To top it all off: my in-law just lost his job because the contract, which was meant to be for 3 years, ended due to the research project he was hired for being cancelled. So he has less resources and is stressed and taking it out on us by expecting us to pay for everything we need - which, as mentioned previously, we cannot afford to do. I'm trying to save up so that we can purchase our own car and pay for a deposit on an apartment and all that expensive stuff. The sooner I can do those things then the sooner he can sell his house and move closer to work opportunities and the entertainment that he enjoys. I guess it's hard to see the medium and long term when money is tight and you're not feeling very reasonable.

You may also have heard of Hurricane (or tropical storm as she was down-graded to) Sandy. She passed this way and I was forced to stay overnight away from home in a hotel paid for by my employer. It wasn't too bad as it was a nice hotel. I had to share the room with a co-worker but she was really nice and into RPing and LARPing so it was a nice evening. I sort of want to be friends with her now but I'm not sure how to approach her. I don't even know where she sits at work because the place is a maze of cubicles that I still get lost in occasionally. At home during the storm the power stayed steady and no damage to the house or people was sustained. Many are still without power in New York and New Jersey so we were very lucky that it we just got an edge of it and not the full force.

Lastly, my greencard arrived unexpectedly last week. I was expecting to have to apply for another work authorisation card since mine was only good until April 2013 and the processing time for greencards at the California immigration services (where my application was moved to expedite it, apparently) was 16 months when I last checked so that would have put me at July 2013 before I received my greencard. And I wasn't even certain if they were going to request a second interview here in the US, as they are entitled to do, so I really wasn't expecting it to arrive so soon. Still, one less thing to worry about it always good. So, as of October 2012 I am officially a conditional permanent resident of the United States of America for 2 years. Complicated, huh? Well, once the 2 years is almost up (90 days before it is up, in fact) I will be required to apply to have my conditional residency removed if I wish to remain in residence in the US of A. Then, after 3 years of continuous residence in the US (and if I meet a list of other requirements like still being married to a US citizen, having lived with him the whole 3 years and having been present in the US continuously for 18 months prior to applying, to name a few) I can apply for Naturalisation to become a US Citizen.

At first when I was considering moving here I thought that I would never want to be a US Citizen. And I still don't, really, if I have to be honest about it. But there are downsides to being only a permanent resident. Such as: if I leave the US for more than a year they can refuse to let me back in. They can also refuse to let me back in for any reason at all, if they so choose, and they don't even have to tell me why. That uncertainty really sucks. There are downsides to being a US Citizen too. Becoming a target for Anti-US forces (paranoid, huh?), having to file tax returns in the US for the rest of my life even if I don't live there and being targeted by the nasty and big dollar political industry as a potential voter. That last one really gets my gall because I feel like Abby from youtube (If you haven't seen the "Tired of Broco Bamma and Mitt Romney" video on Elizabeth Evans' channel, you should) and I'm not even targeted by all the ads, volunteers, cold callers and flyers that SuperPACs and campaigns are sending out. I really do feel badly for the voters of the US.

Well, if anything else interesting happens then I'll try to update. I'm so homesick it's not even funny. Keep NZ warm (figuratively speaking) for me, guys! I'll be home as soon as I can. I think even husband is sick of the US now. He's even said he could put up with Wellington's earthquakes and he was not as all tolerant of them previously so it's a good sign. Now, just to figure out how to afford to return. Put your thinking caps on and let me know if you have any brilliant ideas that are within the law.

I miss you guys!

~Be

P.S. I have my driver's license now also. I have to get it before I could really start applying for jobs in earnest as driving is really the only reliable way to get around here with jobs 20+ miles away.

Good News and Bad News

The good news is that I will be coming back to New Zealand at the end of November this year.  That is also the bad news, however.

I have to go back to NZ to sort out my visa. I need to have the medical examination there with a US immigration approved doctor and also have my consular interview at the Auckland US Consulate - the only US consulate in the country.  So, it's not so much a matter of choosing to come back as it is a matter of having to come back.

It's really a matter of unfortunate timing.  I had to come back to the USA to bring fiance back so he could get his medication refilled and because his NZ visa was finished.  I also didn't understand that there would be a stage after the initial application, which was approved a few days before I left NZ, so I hadn't realised that I would have to enter the US on a temporary vistor's visa.  And I also didn't know that under no circumstances can a person change status from a non-immigration visa onto an immigration visa without having to leave the continent and surrounding islands.

There is one other piece of good news, though.  It turns out that it will take less time to get an interview with the US Consulate and have my visa processed to completion than I had expected.  The Montreal US Consulate would take 5-7 months but the Auckland US Consulate apparently will take 3-12 weeks.  Of course, I seems that I can't actually ask for an appointment until after I have the results of the medical exam so I can't do that until I've returned to NZ and had the appointment and, supposedly, results could take up to 3 weeks to come through.  So, all in all, it could be 4 or so months before I can return to the US on an immigration visa (if one is approved) after returning to NZ.  Since I'm here until November it could be April before I get back to the USA.

It feels like a big, annoying waste of time and money but if it's what I need to do to be with fiance permanently then I'll just have to get it done.  Perhaps I can find some temp work while I'm there to help with the finances.  I still find it really hard no being financially independent for the first time in years.  Still, needs must.  I think I'm coming near to the end of the mountain of paperwork that I need to complete.  The weather is getting more mild here so it's easier for me to go out during the day.  Fiance is taking me out for a late lunch and grocery shopping soon.  We really need to find people to hang out with here; it seems like most of the 20-somethings here have gone off to college.  We've got a couple of leads, though, so we'll check those out.