Good God, when will it end? Temp visas and GST on belongings.

[Bromley86]

Now that our work visas have come through (yay!), and suffering from a lack of sleep, I was going through the paperwork to make sure everything was in order when I saw this in the paperwork with one of our shipping quotes:

Foreign Citizens

Customs Regulations

The following regs apply to blah blah work visa holders

* Used household goods and personal effects can be imported free of Customs charges provided they are for personal use by the following immigration categories: Persons who hold one of:
a) a current NZ PR visa or returning residents visa (NO)
b) a current work visa issued under the Long Term Buisness Visa or the SMC categories (NO)
c) a current visitor's visa that was issued for a minimum of 3 years (NO)

All other visa holders (That's us) cannot import household goods free of customs charges and will be required to pay duty and or tax on any effect except clothing and personal items (personal items then defined as stuff what you carry).

Arrgh! Anyone care to talk me down and tell me it's okay, given that we're currently in possession of 12m (pos 13.5m) temp work visas via the Specific Purpose or Event route. Sure, if everything plays out, we'll have SMC visas before the ship arrives, but what if it doesn't?

[Bromley86]

Panic over! I was clearly given an old/incomplete form as the Customs website includes this:

​Document authorising residency in New Zealand means any of the following:
...
A current New Zealand work visa or work permit that was issued for a minimum of twelve months.

I kinda knew that, as it's the same wording as I'd previously seen on an Importing-your-car factsheet.

[tea drinker]

Glad you could answer yourself

Take a breath now