richsadams
9th November 2004, 07:57 AM
Hi All :cool
On and off we see questions here about Permanent Residence, citizenship and how things work. Even though we used an immigration consulting firm, we were still a bit confused as to how it all worked ourselves. Since we just gained our NZ Residence we thought we’d share what happens. It’s kind of complicated but here goes...
Regarding permanent residence...after you've been approved in principal (after the NZIS has confirmed all of your EOI supporting documentation, etc.) you will be asked to send your passport along with your fee ($300 NZD for each applicant) to the NZIS. They will return your passport with two stickers placed on two pages. One is a Residence Permit. The other is a Multiple Entry Returning Resident's Visa.
The Residence Permit in your passport is confirmation you have the right to remain in, and settle in New Zealand. It is valid for as long as you are in New Zealand and could only be challenged if you had obtained it by fraud or if you committed a terribly serious crime :booby .
The legal nature of any permit, however, is that it expires when the holder leaves New Zealand; so, to protect your right to leave NZ and to re-enter, your passport also contains a Returning Resident’s Visa. This RRV guarantees that during its life, you will be granted a fresh Residence Permit, when you come back to NZ after a trip away.
The RRV is valid for multiple journeys, for a period of two years only. At the end of the two year period you will be entitled to an indefinite RRV if you meet certain criteria. There’s a number of ways to meet that criteria such as spending a total of 184 days or more in NZ for each year of the next two years. Or as principal applicant you establish a base in NZ by purchasing a family home within 12 months of the date you were granted your first Residence Permit and all of your family included in your Residence application have lived in that family home for 184 days or more in the next two years (the home can't be rented or leased out to someone else) and you have spent at least 41 days or more in NZ during the 12 months before your next RRV application. There are other criteria about establishing an IRD tax base and such, all too complicated :eek to go into here.
The RRV Policy that applies to the principal applicant also applies to any dependants who have been associated with your application for residence. Their right to reside in NZ cannot be influenced by the principal applicants movements in and out of NZ; but their eligibility for an Indefinite RRV in two years time will be directly related to the principal applicant's eligibility for an IRRV.
Phew! :roll:
The safe and conservative position is to ensure that you spend at least half of each of the next two years in NZ after having received your RP and RRV. After those two years you can file an application for an Indefinite RRV and that will be it...you'll be a VIP! :laugh
After receiving your Residence Permit you can later apply for NZ citizenship. Currently the law allows you to apply for citizenship three years after receiving your Residence Permit. However, we have been told that effective January 1, 2005 that changed to five years. So anyone gaining an RP through December 31, 2004 can apply for NZ citizenship three years later, after January five years later.
Hope that clears up a little confusion! :nice1
On and off we see questions here about Permanent Residence, citizenship and how things work. Even though we used an immigration consulting firm, we were still a bit confused as to how it all worked ourselves. Since we just gained our NZ Residence we thought we’d share what happens. It’s kind of complicated but here goes...
Regarding permanent residence...after you've been approved in principal (after the NZIS has confirmed all of your EOI supporting documentation, etc.) you will be asked to send your passport along with your fee ($300 NZD for each applicant) to the NZIS. They will return your passport with two stickers placed on two pages. One is a Residence Permit. The other is a Multiple Entry Returning Resident's Visa.
The Residence Permit in your passport is confirmation you have the right to remain in, and settle in New Zealand. It is valid for as long as you are in New Zealand and could only be challenged if you had obtained it by fraud or if you committed a terribly serious crime :booby .
The legal nature of any permit, however, is that it expires when the holder leaves New Zealand; so, to protect your right to leave NZ and to re-enter, your passport also contains a Returning Resident’s Visa. This RRV guarantees that during its life, you will be granted a fresh Residence Permit, when you come back to NZ after a trip away.
The RRV is valid for multiple journeys, for a period of two years only. At the end of the two year period you will be entitled to an indefinite RRV if you meet certain criteria. There’s a number of ways to meet that criteria such as spending a total of 184 days or more in NZ for each year of the next two years. Or as principal applicant you establish a base in NZ by purchasing a family home within 12 months of the date you were granted your first Residence Permit and all of your family included in your Residence application have lived in that family home for 184 days or more in the next two years (the home can't be rented or leased out to someone else) and you have spent at least 41 days or more in NZ during the 12 months before your next RRV application. There are other criteria about establishing an IRD tax base and such, all too complicated :eek to go into here.
The RRV Policy that applies to the principal applicant also applies to any dependants who have been associated with your application for residence. Their right to reside in NZ cannot be influenced by the principal applicants movements in and out of NZ; but their eligibility for an Indefinite RRV in two years time will be directly related to the principal applicant's eligibility for an IRRV.
Phew! :roll:
The safe and conservative position is to ensure that you spend at least half of each of the next two years in NZ after having received your RP and RRV. After those two years you can file an application for an Indefinite RRV and that will be it...you'll be a VIP! :laugh
After receiving your Residence Permit you can later apply for NZ citizenship. Currently the law allows you to apply for citizenship three years after receiving your Residence Permit. However, we have been told that effective January 1, 2005 that changed to five years. So anyone gaining an RP through December 31, 2004 can apply for NZ citizenship three years later, after January five years later.
Hope that clears up a little confusion! :nice1