Passports back yesterday!!

[Papias]

Yesterday we received our passports with the blue stickers for PR!! It only took 3 months and could have been less, cause they asked for more proof of partnership (that took a month to get).

Just a quick question:
There is a Returning resident's visa valid until Oct 2011. Does that mean that I can enter and leave the country as many times as I want until then or is it just for one trip? it says multiple entries.

[JandM]

Congratulations!

With the RRV, you have the entitlement to come and go an unlimited amount of times for two years. Any time you leave NZ and then return, a new visa will be placed in your passport for the next time.

At the end of two years, if you have 'demonstrated your commitment to NZ' (see the NZIS website for ways of doing this, but the most common is to have lived in the country for at least half of each of the preceding two years), you can apply for IRRV - indefinite returning resident's visa, which entitles you to come and go in effect for ever. If you haven't met the conditions for getting IRRV by the end of the two years, you will need to apply for an extension to your RRV.

[IanW99]

Originally Posted by JandM

...
With the RRV, you have the entitlement to come and go an unlimited amount of times for two years. Any time you leave NZ and then return, a new visa will be placed in your passport for the next time.
...

What you of course meant to say is that the PERMIT expires when you leave NZ and you get a new permit on your return. You of course keep the original RRV (visa) for two years.

Ian

[JandM]

Of course, Ian's right. A visa is what allows you to travel TO the country, and a permit is what allows you to stay IN it. The effect of what I said remains the same - with the RRV, you have the entitlement to come and go an unlimited amount of times for two years.