Moving to New Zealand

[afmamoon]

Hi all,

Its been a long time since I was active on this forum and it seems now I need your help once again specially from JandM.

I am planning to travel to NZ as my first entry date is very near. So do I need to bring my whole family with me or only my entry will serve the purpose for all of us ?

Regards,

Fraz

[JandM]

Hello again.

Your whole family need to arrive in NZ by the due date. When your passports (each person's passport) get stamped at the airport, this activates the visa. If this wasn't done for any one person, their visa would lapse and it would all be to do again.

If it's not convenient for any of the family to stay in NZ at this time, it would be perfectly all right for them then to go straight back, either on the next plane (though that's a bit tiring) or after a short visit. Once their visas are activated, the rest of the process depends on what the main applicant does - that is, in due course, when you qualify for PR, they can also get PR, without having to qualify individually.

But the timing of this first arrival is VERY important. Absolutely no excuses are allowed, for missing that date on the visas. Miss the date and the visa has lapsed, and the whole application would be no good, and have to be started all over again. So do make sure you allow a week or more for travel, just in case of travel delays of any kind.

[afmamoon]

Thanks a lot for clearing the ambiguities in my mind.

Regards,

Ahmed

[mazharsa]

Hello all, what are the qualifying points for PR.

after you land how much time does it take to get the PR status.

can the main applicant also fly back after a short stay,

[JandM]

All the details are here on the INZ website. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...quirements.htm You need to fulfil the requirements of the first paragraph, then ONE of the following criteria for proving commitment to NZ. Notice, you need to count the qualifying 12 month periods BACKWARDS from the date of applying for PR.

PR is a visa which can be obtained a minimum of two years after arriving in NZ and activating the Residence visa.

The main applicant can leave NZ and freely return at any time during the life of the two years' travel conditions that were issued with the Residence visa. How long s/he can stay out of the country will depend on which criterion for proof of commitment for the PR visa s/he is planning to use. What do you have in mind when asking this?

[forever]

Dear JandM

just need the information that the counter for "resident for a total of 184 days" will be started once the blue sticker stamped or starts after Immigration stamp.

All the details are here on the INZ website. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...quirements.htm You need to fulfil the requirements of the first paragraph, then ONE of the following criteria for proving commitment to NZ. Notice, you need to count the qualifying 12 month periods BACKWARDS from the date of applying for PR.

PR is a visa which can be obtained a minimum of two years after arriving in NZ and activating the Residence visa.

The main applicant can leave NZ and freely return at any time during the life of the two years' travel conditions that were issued with the Residence visa. How long s/he can stay out of the country will depend on which criterion for proof of commitment for the PR visa s/he is planning to use. What do you have in mind when asking this?

[JandM]

Validation of the visa upon arrival in NZ starts the clock running for time which MAY count. Two years after that point is the first time when a person COULD apply for PR.

But as I said, the 12 month periods, in each of which 184 days must be spent in NZ to count, are considered backwards from the date of the PR application.

For example, suppose Mr X arrives in NZ on 1st October, 2014. He can apply for PR on 1st October, 2016, using 'length of time spent in NZ' as his proof of commitment, as long as he spent 184 days or more in the country between 1st October, 2015 and 1st October, 2016, and also between 1st October, 2014 and 1st October, 2015.

However, assuming from your questions that Mr X is planning on a life in which he spends about half his time in NZ and half his time elsewhere, which makes the 184 days requirement a crucial counting exercise, suppose he arrived on 1st October, 2014 in order to validate his visa, but he had left some unfinished business behind in his previous home country, so he departed again and spent two months winding up his affairs there, arriving to start living in NZ on 1st December. Although having had a validated Residence visa for two years would still be a condition he had met on 1st October, 2016, he would not necessarily have the 184 days in NZ in each of the two-year periods mentioned in the previous example, so he would have to count very carefully, and might have to put off applying for PR until he could show 184/365 days in NZ in the year running up to THAT date, and 184/365 in the year before that also.

[ChrisMwn]

and to emphasise again, that once everyone has made a first arrival, the PRV requirements apply only to the principal applicant in the original residence application, not to any dependents (non principal applicants)