About return resident visa

[angelajunbo]

I know, I must stay in NZ for at least 183 days for each first two years because I am the principal resident visa holder.
Should my families, i.e. secondary resident visa holders, also stay in NZ for at least 183 days for each first two years?

[JandM]

First thing - very important! If you are choosing the first option for showing commitment to New Zealand, you need to stay in NZ for at least 184 days in each of the periods of twelve months before you put in your application (not 183). https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...to-new-zealand And INZ count backwards from the time of application - 12 months before that date, and 12 months before that again.

Second thing - the next visa is called Permanent Residence (not return resident visa).

And finally, to answer your question - no, the secondary applicants don't have to meet the commitment to NZ criterion, only the main applicant, who qualifies for all the family. Secondary applicants only need to have entered NZ before the relevant date on their visa, to activate the visa - they could even leave again on the next plane if they wanted.

[debisalso]

Hi there JandM,

Want ask a bit on this as well. Say, we activated our resident visa by entering NZ in March this year and currently back in our home country but intending to return to NZ for work end Aug. How would that affect the visa? Would that mean I will not be able to get the next visa (PR) if I do not meet 184 days for the first 12 months?

[JandM]

Whenever you apply for PR, INZ look at the 12 months before that, then the 12 months before that again, to see if you were there 184 days in each period of 12 months. They count BACKWARDS from the application for PR.

So after you get back to NZ to work and live, then you need wait to put in your application for PR until you can count and see that you had each lot of 12 months, with you in the country for 184 days. That application does not HAVE to go in straight away when you have been a resident for two years. That residence visa entitles you to live and work in NZ for ever, while you are in the country.

(However, you are counting strangely - some date in March till the end of August isn't quite half a year, so you would probably get 184 days during your first year after you activated your residence anyway.)

[angelajunbo]

Hi JandM, Hi all,
In INZ1176.pdf, I find another criteria for permanent resident visa: Established base in New Zealand.
For me, after I worked in NZ for 9 months full-time and then leave NZ and also stayed for at least 41 days in the second year, and my immediate family members also have lived in NZ for at least 184 days.
Then at the date in 2 years after my first arrival, May I apply for PR visa offshore outside of NZ?

Thanks.

[JandM]

Here is the established base criterion. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...to-new-zealand

5. You have established a base in New Zealand

You have established your base in New Zealand by having:

lived in New Zealand as a resident for at least 41 days in the year before you applied for permanent residence
and everyone else included in your residence application has been living in New Zealand for at least 184 days in the 2 years before you applied for permanent residence

You must also have either:

Purchased a home 12 months before or after becoming a resident, still own that home and live there now, or
worked full-time in New Zealand for 9 months or more in the 2 years before you applied for permanent residence.

You don't mention the second part of the requirement - that you must have bought a home in NZ and be still living there - and because of that, and your mention of applying from outside the country, I imagine you don't meet the conditions.

[angelajunbo]

Here is the established base criterion. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...to-new-zealand



You don't mention the second part of the requirement - that you must have bought a home in NZ and be still living there - and because of that, and your mention of applying from outside the country, I imagine you don't meet the conditions.

But I meet one of the second part of requirements: worked full-time in New Zealand for 9 months or more in the 2 years before you applied for permanent residence.
I do not know whether I could apply for PR offshore.

Who could do me a favor to tell me which email address I could send this question to immigration department?

[JandM]

Oh, I missed that.

Yes, if you qualify, you can apply from overseas. You need to use the INZ Office and fees finder http://onlineservices.immigration.go...or.htm?level=1. See here. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...anent-resident
Bottom of the page, If you're out of New Zealand and don't have travel conditions, then here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-resident-visa, then near the bottom of the page, Stage 1.