[settersred]

Well guys we are here and our container is now in the country. We just had a little problem with customs, I hope you can all follow this!

We came on a holiday visa in September. My OH got a job in November. We thought we would be getting a years work visa (to the following November)but what we got was a visa entiteling us to stay for a year from the date we entered the country (September). Customs have a ruling that came into force on 15th November that if you do not have residency or a visa for 12 months or more then they charge GST on everything in the container.

Now to stay here for more than 12 months you need medicals.
So you either pay GST or pay medicals etc. to enable you to get an 12 mth+ visa, Then you probably need to pay for medicals again when you apply for residency as the old ones would have run out.

Beware anyone coming on a holiday visa, when you apply for work permits they need to be for more than 12 months, which will probably take you past your allowed year without medicals.

We were very lucky with ours as the guy in Customs processed our stuff as of 12th Nov (3 days before the ruling) which was when OH's visa was issued.

Appart from that little scare we are thoroughly loving it here and will be applying for residency after Christmas.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year :cheers

[victoria]

Phew!Well done for getting through what would have been an extremely expensive event & thank you forwarning others of this new development.

[lockstock]

Just read your post and realised the implications for us travelling without a visa due to hold ups on the medical side which we hope will be resolved before the container gets there at the end of January. Who calculates the GST and can you get it back once the visas are approved? We're stuffed anyway if the visas don't get granted and by that time I'll be past caring!

[victoria]

You won't get the GST back & it's calculated normally by the shipping agent. I would advise you ask them to store your stuff (you'll be charged) but it may well be cheaper in the long run. The gst can run into 100's. A wp will be acceptable to release your stuff.

[settersred]

You need to check whether storing your stuff will be enough as I was lead to believe that the GST was calculated by Customs when they processed the container, regardless of actual delivery date, so even if you postpone delivery Customs will still process the container when it comes off the boat.

Please tell me if i am wrong cos your idea could save lots of people lots of $$$$. The only other way that came to mind was sending stuff in the name of someone who already lives here, don;t know if this will work though.

[lockstock]

We're in that situation right now. The shipping agent has contacted us to say the container will be here by the end of the week. We still don't have our PR (Christmas holidays delayed the extra medical processing) and it's too late to apply for a wp. I've faxed all the info to customs re PR application and asked for it to be taken into consideration. The shipping agent says he'll do as much as he can to delay 'opening the box' - so we'll be without furniture for while yet. I'm due to start work on 28th so even that is at risk now.

But we're staying calm. A week is a long time in New Zealand!

[IanW99]

We're in that situation right now. The shipping agent has contacted us to say the container will be here by the end of the week. We still don't have our PR (Christmas holidays delayed the extra medical processing) and it's too late to apply for a wp. I've faxed all the info to customs re PR application and asked for it to be taken into consideration. The shipping agent says he'll do as much as he can to delay 'opening the box' - so we'll be without furniture for while yet. I'm due to start work on 28th so even that is at risk now.

But we're staying calm. A week is a long time in New Zealand!

Have you been in to visit NZIS yet whilst in NZ to see if they can speed up the application?

When we were applying (in NZ) they told us it could take several months, a quick visit to their offices in Wellington and PR was in hand the following day - well worth going in and explaining the urgency to them.

Ian

[kanatakiwi]

Please tell me if i am wrong cos your idea could save lots of people lots of $$$$. The only other way that came to mind was sending stuff in the name of someone who already lives here, don;t know if this will work though.


I think that might be a bit dodgy, as the person would have to be an immigrant but not have brought any stuff with them when they came, and not have been here more thean "a reasonable time" accordng to the NZ Customs Website. I don't know what the definition of reasonable time is, but when we came, I seem to recall something about being able to bring stuff for up to 19 months?
Also it specifically says you the goods must be for "your own personal use and not intended for any other person or persons or for gift, sale or exchange". I don't personally think I would want to put a friend in the position of taking the rap for doing this for me. :no


Might be worth it to get the medicals, if they are straightforward it shouldn't cost that much, and you are going to have to get them at some point soon anyway if you intend to stay.

Lastly my read of the stuff on the customs page says you need a 12 month visa. Correct me if I am wrong, but can't you get a 12 month visa without medicals? I thought it was anything OVER 12 months that required the medical.

For anyone in this dilemna here is the info from the webpage:

Eligibility
Your household or other related effects (excluding motor vehicles, boats and aircraft) will qualify for concessionary entry, i.e. free of duty and exempt GST, for a reasonable time after you arrive in New Zealand, provided you can meet all of the following conditions.


Conditions
you have arrived and on arrival hold a document authorising residence in New Zealand; and
you have resided or lived outside New Zealand for the whole of the 21 months before the date of your arrival in New Zealand; and
you have owned and used the goods before the date of your departure for New Zealand; and
the goods are for your own personal use and not intended for any other person or persons or for gift, sale or exchange.
The following goods will not qualify for duty free entry, unless you can establish that the items have had personal use prior to their arrival in New Zealand:

goods shipped directly after purchase to avoid local taxes in the country of export
replacement electrical equipment operating to New Zealand standards.
Goods of a commercial nature (such as factory plant and office equipment) do not qualify as household effects.


Document authorising residence in New Zealand –

means any of the following:

a New Zealand Passport
an Australian Passport
a current New Zealand Residence visa or permit or a current New Zealand returning resident's visa or permit
a current permanent residence visa (including a resident return visa) issued by the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia
a current New Zealand work visa or work permit that was issued for a minimum of twelve months
a current New Zealand work visa or permit issued under the Long Term Business Visa policy, that was issued for a minimum of 9 months
A current New Zealand visitor's visa or permit that was issued for a minimum of three years.

Good luck
Gloria

[IanW99]

Agree with what Gloria has said, but the problem that was raised by settersred is that if you come to NZ on a visitors visa and then apply for a work permit for 12 months then NZIS take into account the time when you arrived so don't actually give you a 12 month visa e.g. if you apply for a work permit after 1 month of arriving, you only get an 11 month visa.

It would be interesting to clarify this point with NZIS and customs because technically NZIS are allowing you in the country for 12 months which should be sufficient for Customs rules, so this may just be an interpretation problem?

Ian

[kanatakiwi]

We thought we would be getting a years work visa (to the following November)but what we got was a visa entiteling us to stay for a year from the date we entered the country (September).

hmmn I see your point Ian. I assumed they got a 12 month visa backdated to September. I think with the paperwork showing they got a visa entitling them to stay a year from the date they first entered the country, they should be able to go to Customs with that. Might be worth a phone call to the Customs people to ask about this.