[ourquest]

Hello everyone. Like many on this forum we are a family with young children (3 boys) looking forward to a new life in family-friendly New Zealand. Plenty of other reasons too, stunning beaches, edgy mountainous landscape etc etc. We have viewed this forum often and have finally taken the plunge and begun contributing! We have found NZIS's website invaluable and in combination with this forum etc we are comfortable doing all the paperwork ourselves.
Not that we're particularly far with it...our EOI was selected in Sept (without job offer) and we patiently long for a further change in status. Despite our alledged patience we are planning to arrive in NZ around Mar 08 irrespective of where our application process is at that stage, and see what happens. We visited in March this year and we all felt very at home, and being adaptable and not very interested in being part of a global ratrace we are relatively confident of making a good go of it.
Apart from introducing ourselves here we have a question or two to ask (and until now we sort of ask each other and try and guess the answers!). Has anyone on the forum had any problems arriving officially as visitors, but where immigration suspect that they are intending to be in NZ more permanently? We will fulfil visitor's requirements (funds, tickets etc) but would like a smooth border crossing in anticipation of future PR!

[Lara Croft]

Hi Ourquest.

Sorry, but I can't answer your questions, as I am still in the UK at the moment. I'd just like to say welcome to the forum.

Where are you heading to in NZ?

Jane

[Mickstim]

Hiya. Also can't answer your question (although I believe it should not be a problem) but wanted to say welcome to the forum.

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi,
Welcome to the forum,
We came over on a normal tourist passport as our visas had not been approved then. We had return tickets for 4 months later and there was no problem at all. You can stay for up to 6 months as long as you have a return ticket.
Mind you we did not have 3 kids along but I am sure someone will be along soon who has done this?

Dave and Caroline

[james the mechanic]

Welcome to the forum,:clap
I’ll just point out that citizens of the UK travelling on UK passports, can stay for six months as tourists; many others may only stay 3 months (including those from SA).
Before taking advice always make sure is applicable to your own situation!
Confirmation of this @...
www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/visit/visitors/quickcheck.htm
Best wishes :nice1
James

[ourquest]

Battling to post replies here...still learning how to logon I think. Thanks for the warm welcomes and replies. A 3 month permit can almost always be extended for a further 3 months, and then again by another, so as long as one can prove funds and outbound ticket shouldn't be a problem. We should have quite a lot of time to "settle". Boys will be homeschooled (good topic for a different thread) initially to help them adjust and give them some stability. Oh, and to answer your question Jane, we intend to base in Auckland for a while, our dream to be south Coromandel area...great beaches, rural feel and proximity to AKL.

[Bobbysox]

Ourquest.... you are right Coromandel is superb in lots of ways, we will be very close by on the Hauraki Plains, so who knows if all goes well for you we may meet up at some point. Just keep focussed and I'm sure your plan will all come together as ours did/is/you know what I mean!
All the best
Rob and Karen
UK:exit NZ

[ourquest]

Thanks for the welcomes. AND we're now officially a little closer...as of today our EOI is now "decision successful" :nice1

[Lara Croft]

Well done ourquest - and now the rollercoaster starts!!! :)

Jane

[bmi]

... A 3 month permit can almost always be extended for a further 3 months, and then again by another, so as long as one can prove funds and outbound ticket shouldn't be a problem. ...

Hello ourquest, can you or another forumite elaborate on this point?

I thought it was not possible to stay more than 3 months (or 6 months for British) over a 12 months period with a tourist visa.

Thanks

bmi.

[Bobbysox]

Ourquest, well done, just when you thought all your troubles are over you need to start thinking about sorting all that stuff you have stored in the loft!!!!! I wish I'd started earlier than yesterday, especially as the removals estimators are coming on Thursday.
Honestly though we do all seem to accumulate too much "stuff", at least the charity shops will be doing all right from all us escapees, don't think the chancellor will be as pleased.

[ourquest]

Thanks all.

A couple of replies: firstly, to Bobbysox: Luckily we have got a lot of our paperwood ready...unabridged birth certificates, marriage certificate, some proof of partnership (although joint accounts are not common in SA (and in fact Standard Bank doesn't even allow it, so we don't have one) etc. Now we need police clearance (takes about 30days here), medicals and hopefully NZQA will hurry up as they've already had docs since early October. But that's not what you were referring to...it's all the JUNK in the house that is the real problem! We see this relatively positively...an opportunity to cleanse our lives.

And secondly to bmi: On arrival in NZ, visitors from visa free countries automatically receive a 3 month visitor's permit (6 months for UK citizens). This may be extended for a further 3 months by applying to NZIS, they will require that you are bona fide visitors, have onward tickets and still have sufficient funds (which is usually $1000 per adult per month, or $3000 per family per month). This process can be repeated to take your stay up to 9 months, and under certain circumstances, specifically if a residence application decision is pending, then they will issue a permit for up to 12 months (in 3-monthly issues). The rule is that you must be out of NZ again for at least as long as you were in, so if you spent 9 months as a visitor then you will not be permitted to return until another 9 months has passed etc (but if issued with residency or a work permit then these would take preference and you would be allowed back in prior to this elapsed time). So you thinking it is only 3 months in a year is incorrect but the truth is certainly better!
For visiting close family the new rules allow for a 9 month visa to be issued up front (ie parents, siblings) but it amounts to the same thing, just a bit more predictable.
Note; a VISA is issued from outside the country, a PERMIT is issued when in NZ (eg visas get turned into permits, and people from visa-free countries get permits on arrival), just in case anyone wonders why I mix the terminology in my post!
Hope this helps.