Request for original passport

[nicholassin]

Hi all, i've got this offer from some company in NZ. Since they are not familiar with the immigration process, they hired an immigration agent to submit the application for me. The problem is i'm not in NZ yet, and to submit my application, i've been told to mail my original passport to them first before they could submit it to the immigration. Is it normal for this to happened ? The contract is for one year so its a temporary work visa. And how long its usually takes to get one ? Thank you all before

[rizjunior]

That immigration agent should be licensed and if they are licensed, there is no harm sending original passport. It will cut short time considerably.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

[nicholassin]

ok then. thanks a lot. Hi JandM, nice to see you

[Manks]

The other option might be to send a certified copy of your passport. You'd need whatever officials are recognised in Malaysia to do that though. Perhaps send an email to Immigration directly to see what they will accept.

[April]

We had to send our original passports in - everyone does. However, as someone just said - check out the agent first.

[nicholassin]

Thank you for the advice guys. I did try to ask if a certified copy will be enough. How long will it takes to get one application approved ? Any of you have experience with that ? Temporary Work Permit i mean. Thanks again you guys

[JandM]

Google 'NZ immigration (whichever) branch processing times' and you'll find a page giving their estimate of how long on average the various kinds of visa are taking at the moment. It's only ever an approximate guess, not a promise, because there are possible hold-ups and variations in individual cases, but it should give you an idea.

[nicholassin]

Thanks a lot for the tip