Residency in Austrian Passport
Hello all,
I have an Austrian passport with NZ Permanent Residency.
The Austrian passport number consists of 1 letter and 7 digitis. However, after a small gap there is an 8 digit, which does not belong to the actual passport number. It may be best to googel a picture of an Austrian passport to get a better understanding.
My problem is that Immigration NZ considers this 8 number as part of the passport number, and therefore it is mentioned on my NZ Residency sticker. When going through immigration at the airport, however, my residency does not get acknowledged, because the machines only read 1 letter and 7 digits. So I usually land up with an immigration officer and explain my situation. Once I was issued with a visitor visa, which I only figured out when I received an email that my visitor visa is expiring. At the moment I am with Indefinite Residency in the System (Single Entry).
I have tried to explain it to Immigration NZ in AKL CBD, however, they say that the sticker needs to have the same number as my passport picture page. Airport Immigration usually refers me to AKL branches to sort it out.
I was wondering if anybody (any Austrian I guess) has experienced similar problems and to see what are the best solutions. Ideally I want to keep my Indefinte status in the system, however on Multiple entry. ;-) I am travelling in a few months, and I guess when coming back I land up at the immigration counter again.
