[Singel]

I sent an email to the Citizenship Office yesterday and receive the reply today ................ :raebanana

Dear Madam

Thank you for your enquiry.

If you applied for residency before 21 April 2005 and your application is
approved after this date, then you are eligible to apply for New Zealand
Citizenship under the old legislation of three years residency, provided
you meet the additional requirements for a grant of New Zealand Citizenship

You are required to hold New Zealand Permanent Residence status at the time
you lodge your application for New Zealand citizenship.

You are not required to hold this for any certain length of time before
applying for New Zealand citizenship.

Therefore the three years take effect from the time you lawfully came into
New Zealand being on a visa or permit as long as you obtained permanent
residency before 21 April 2005 during the three years prior to lodging an
application for New Zealand citizenship.

If you have any further enquiries, please contact us again by email or
phone Call Free (NZ) 0800 22 51 51, or if overseas (+64 4) 474 8123, or
visit our website: http://www.citizenship.govt.nz/.

Kind regards
Rita Foaese
Client Information Officer - Kaipûrongo Kiritaki
Citizenship Office - Raraunga
Department of Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua
Email address : Citizenship@dia.govt.nz

[Diny]

Thanks for posting that .... very helpful.

I'm well within the 3 year limit !!!

Diny

[Smiler]

Nice one Ivy. Thank you :nice1

[Moorf]

Oh, I think that means we can got for citizenship next Sept instead of March 2008!! :eek:

[clg]

Thanks Singel!

I always thought since I was not granted PR until after April 2005 that I could not apply for citenzenship for 5 years. Reading that sounds otherwise. I did a little search around that website and found this:

Permanent Residence before 21 April 2005
If you received permanent residence before 21 April 2005, or made an application for permanent residence before 21 April 2005 that was approved after 21 April 2005, you must satisfy two requirements:

1. Ordinary Residence; and
2. Lawful Residence

Ordinary Residence
You must have been ordinarily resident in New Zealand for the last 3 years. This means that you must have been physically present in New Zealand for the last 3 years.

Overseas Travel
Any travel away from New Zealand, short or long, WILL be taken into consideration in determining that you meet this requirement. You may not meet this requirement and may need to provide a letter of explanation if:

* You were away for more than one year in total;
* A single trip was for more than 4 months;
* You were not in New Zealand for 8 of the 12 weeks immediately before applying;
* You were not in New Zealand for 8 out of the 12 weeks at the beginning of the ordinary residence period (unless you have lived in New Zealand for 4 years or more).

PLEASE NOTE: shorter periods away may also mean you may not meet the requirement. Each application will be assessed on its merits.

If you travelled overseas during your ordinary residence period (i.e. during the last 3 years) you may still meet the ordinary residence requirement as long as:

* New Zealand was your home base; and
* You did not enter into a settled lifestyle overseas.

If you are under 21
If you are under 21, in the years up to your 18th birthday, you may be considered to have been ordinarily resident both where you are living and wherever your parent(s) had their permanent home base. For the period after your 18th birthday, the ordinary residence requirements listed above apply (i.e. where you have lived).

Lawful Residence
You must have been lawfully in New Zealand for the last 3 years by having valid immigration permits for all the period.

If you have a gap in your permits of no more than 14 days during the three-year period prior to applying for citizenship, you may still qualify.


Very good news!!!!

[kiwidebs]

yayy, that means Mark can get citizenship in 3 years not 5!! Thanks Ivy:nice1 .

Debs

[Singel]

Yesterday, I sent another email to the Citizenship Office to seek further clarification on the start date of the 3 year rule and receive the reply today .........................

Dear Ivy

Thank you again for your email.

The three years will start from when your arrived in New Zealand in June 2004.

If you have any further enquiries, please contact us again by email or
phone Call Free (NZ) 0800 22 51 51 or if overseas (+64 4) 474 8123.

Kind regards
Carol Thomas
Client Information Officer - Kaipūrongo Kiritaki
Citizenship Office - Raraunga
Department of Internal Affairs - Te Tari Taiwhenua

OMG :eek: It's starting from the day one, we arrived in NZ as tourist (on Visitors Permit) ..................... this is FANTASTIC NEWS !!! :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana

[diforsyth]

Thanks for the clarification - I really thought I was in the 5 year category because we were granted PR in May 2005 :nice1

[Singel]

YIPEEEE .......................... 8 months to go :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana