Expatting. Who knew it would be such a process!!??
Yeah, yeah I know, "Come on lady, what did you think? This was going to be something akin to a walk in the park?!"
Well, no, but....WOW. The amount of moving parts is something that only a watchmaker could appreciate. I might make this post into a few little posts. So for now I will start at the start.
It would probably have helped if we weren't relocating to a place that seems to be inconsequential and remote enough to frequently be left off of world maps. Little island countries don't make the best places to immigrate if you want it quick and smooth.
So, on March 6th, dear hubby (The Kiwi) left me for this little island nation to begin his job. Hence he has left me with tying up loose ends here ie: selling house, packing and shipping household goods and getting the pets through the exporting process - which is a nightmare in itself.
Mind you, we do have a lot of pets - 5 dogs, 1 cat, don't judge me. Then to add to the headache, most of New Zealand limits you to 2 dogs per household within city limits. Ugh. With a special license they MIGHT wave that rule. Which involves applying, paying a rather large amount and a house visit. Hubby is trying to learn more on this so will keep you apprised as I get more answers. Funnily enough, I read on the gov't website of the city we are moving to that they allow 5 cats at any one property. So got hubby tracking down the govt entity that deals with that to get more answers.
So back to the exporting nightmare. From all the paperwork from NZ and the US the whole process takes anywhere from 4-6 months depending on their previous health history and it is all dependent on the rabies vaccination.
Scenario A) The dog or cat has NEVER had a rabies vax - timeline is about 6 months.
Scenario B) The dog or cat HAS had a previous rabies vax no matter how long ago, the process is roughly 4 months.
All of my dogs have had previous rabies shots which are provable, only my cat is the issue making this a 6 month vs 4 month process. I am sure she had a rabies shot when she was fixed, but I cant prove it so, I have to proceed as though she has never had one. Which I did. She was given her rabies and all other shots the 3rd of February, she was also microshipped at the same time. The dogs had all of their shots, rabies, microshipped and a few dentals thrown in just because I didn't think I was spending ENOUGH money on this process :Insert sarcasm: 2 weeks ago.
To date, all 6 are now current on all shots needed. Next month, Apr. 6th marks the 4 month mark prior to shipment date. the next step in the process is a rabies titer and from what I understand there is only one or two places in the country who do these titers so the blood will be drawn by my vet and sent to the Univ of Missouri (I think) for titers. at around $200 PER pet ugh.
The next step in the process after the titer is to make a reservation at the quarantine facility in Auckland. We have 3 facilities that we are considering, I just have to make time to read reviews on each place. Mike will do this from over there likely the first part of May. After which, likely the end of June, we will apply for the import permit. Only in July do we need to do anymore vetting of the dogs and cat. My credit card will be very happy that I am giving it a break for a couple of months!
But as a nice aside, they all had general health checks and blood panels drawn (I have some older dogs and a few younger ones too) and all 6 are very healthy pups and an onry healthy cat.
To be continued....
No comments:
Post a Comment