Cheapest Way to Phone NZIS

martwend · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 5:59 am Post subject: Cheapest Way to Phone NZIS

Hi!

It is possible to talk to a real person at NZ Immigration but they charge you a £1 a minute for the privilege and you have to go through a really annoying and long winded talk and instruction procedure before you get to the real person.

Having got through the 'press this button , cough twice and hope for divine intervertion ' routine, the help wasn't that helpful and, to be honest, you'll probably find this web site more useful.

Once you get a named case worker, and a direct line, it gets better but I think it also helps to get a hard copy of the NZQA information.....you get more info than on line and it is easier to cross reference between sections.

Hope that helps,

Wendy Rolling Eyes

Grey · I Like It Here Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 74

..or you can call the NZ offices which is actually much cheaper (even more so if you use one of those discount phone companies)

karltsmith · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 9:34 pm Post subject:

If you call the NZIS in London you can bypass the longwinded crap and save yourself money by pressing the * key on your phone and then 9 this will save you about 3-4 mins i.e. £3-4!!!!!

Ian Simpson · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 4:29 am Post subject:

Hi Grey, that's an interesting post. I've had a quick look at the NZIS website and there's a phone number there for the Auckland offices of the NZIS. So is it permitted for us to bypass the London office at £1 per minute and phone NZ directly instead?

24 HOUR TELEPHONE SERVICE FOR NEW ZEALAND IMMIGRATION SERVICE CUSTOMERS The National Contact Centre is pleased to announce the following services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

For all questions, call the National Contact Centre on 09 914 4100 (For people calling within the Auckland toll free region), 0508 558 855 (Callers outside the Auckland toll free region).

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/Offices+and+Fees/Locations/New+Zealand/Auckland+Region/

Grey · I Like It Here Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 74

We use http://www.pd-dial.com, no sign up or anything, just gives a number to call before dialing. Calls to NZ (if BT, not sure about others) come in at 5p per min!! cool

Calling NZIS in NZ is handy for general things, like checking rules etc but probably won't give specific info relating to London (like processing times).
Worth keeping in mind though, we've used them a few times.

Just noticed someone was asking about NZQA. NZIS won't be able to help but on the NZQA site there is a number for a call centre. (don't forget the 5p thing!)

karltsmith · Posted: Tue Jan 06, 2004 10:53 pm Post subject:

Hi Everyone, Re Cheap phone calls to NZ

OK this is the cheapest I've found from a BT phone offered by Telediscount.

DIAL the access code 0845 351 0035 and then your NZ number 0064 X XXX XXX etc. then press the # key.

Calls are charged at local rate during the day GMT (3.5p min) and only 1p/min after 6pm GMT. Meaning your can talk to anybody in NZ during the NZ daytime for only 1p per minute.

I've used it and its great for friends and rely's to keep in touch on the cheap!!!!!!!

The charges are shown on your BT bill so no joining fees, no contract, no fuss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't think this one can be beaten........

Grey · I Like It Here Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 74

JCM · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 8:50 pm Post subject:

karltsmith · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 8:57 pm Post subject:

sometimes access number do change. A full listing is on the web page. I have used this one for several months now and it still works. They may have more than one acces code per country though to either cope with demand or monitor their marketing. The acces code I use is from a circular that came through the post!

Hope this helps!

JCM · Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2004 9:00 pm Post subject:

Ah-ha - thanks Karl. Clink

Silversmith · I'll Hang Around A Little Joined: 19 Nov 2003 Posts: 32

Just for refernece - does anyone know the official £1 a min number??

Ian Simpson · Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2004 5:26 am Post subject:

Hi Silversmith,

It used to be on the official website under Offices and Fees.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

On the front page of that site I see it says just now:

Important Note:

We are aware of the current issues concerning the absence of the Fees Calculator. We will endeavour to have the Fees Calculator up by the end of December 2003. We apologise for this inconvenience.

I think that's where the phone number is currently buried.

JCM · Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 5:32 pm Post subject:

My parents tried phoning me at the weekend using Telediscount but it didn't work. They'll try again next weekend. I don't know if it has something to do with the fact that they use Telewest. Confused

While we're discussing the subject, I'm wondering whether anyone knows of a really cheap way to phone from NZ to the UK? 1p = 2.7c a minute would be wonderful if we could get it.

karltsmith · Posted: Tue Jan 20, 2004 8:59 pm Post subject:

Hi JCM

The access numbers I quoted are for BT lines only so that is undoubtedly the problem. I' not a Telewest customer. I will look into it for you and post when I have an answer re cheap phone calls via Telewest!

Karl

karltsmith · Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2004 1:53 am Post subject:

Hi JCM,

Me again, you can try www.onetel.co.uk who are quoting 4p/min to NZ from a Telewest line.

Most other companies I've looked at charge the same as this. It looks like you need to be a BT user to take advantage of the 1p/min rate.

Sorry

Karl Rolling Eyes