resident visa 0 travel expiry date

[adrive]

hi..finally gotten the resident visa...but i have a few questions as i need to start the plan to move...sorry if it has been answered before :

1. will the residence visa for further travel within 24 months still be valid after the "first entry before" expiry date?

2. this is for pursuing PR in the future, if non-principle (say partner) account goes into the country first in the first year, will immigration nz start to count that date as a first entry for principle holder even if he/she has not entered NZ? Meaning, 184 days per year requirement for pursing PR gets 'activated' even without principle holder going into the country.

or perhaps, they count it separately per individual regardless of principle holder or not. I assume the latter.

3. what if principle holder only enters and is unable to fulfill 184 days per year and what will the implications be if he/she only enters on the 2nd year? all princple and non principle holders will have a choice to extend the 2 year resident visa further since the expiry date of 2 years will be up before fulfilling 368 days

[JandM]

1. will the residence visa for further travel within 24 months still be valid after the "first entry before" expiry date?

Your residence visa has to be activated by the "first entry before" date. When the visa is activated, that sets the clock running on the 24 months' travel conditions, which allow you to leave NZ and re-entry freely during the whole of the next two years. The visa itself allows you to live and work in NZ for ever, while you are in the country: it is the travel conditions which expire, and would not allow you to re-enter after the two years.

2. this is for pursuing PR in the future, if non-principle (say partner) account goes into the country first in the first year, will immigration nz start to count that date as a first entry for principle holder even if he/she has not entered NZ? Meaning, 184 days per year requirement for pursing PR gets 'activated' even without principle holder going into the country.

or perhaps, they count it separately per individual regardless of principle holder or not. I assume the latter.

The partner cannot activate the principle applicant's visa. But if the partner activates their own at an earlier date, it will expire first, and unless the couple have split up in the meantime, the partner cannot apply for PR on their own account, but will have to get an extension of their travel conditions, if they qualify for it, if they intend to travel out of NZ before the principle applicant qualifies for PR.

3. what if principle holder only enters and is unable to fulfill 184 days per year and what will the implications be if he/she only enters on the 2nd year? all princple and non principle holders will have a choice to extend the 2 year resident visa further since the expiry date of 2 years will be up before fulfilling 368 days

It is not a 2-year residence visa. It is a visa that lasts for life within NZ, with travel conditions that expire after two years. Nobody HAS to apply for PR exactly two years after they first activated their Residence. If they do not wish to travel outside NZ after the travel conditions expire, they can stay living and working in NZ until two years have past during which which the principle applicant has fulfilled the conditions for PR. Or they can apply for a variation of the travel conditions, if they qualify for that. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...vel-conditions And notice, when it comes to applying for PR, INZ count the one-year periods BACKWARDS from the date of application - they will look at the 12 months before application, to see if the principle applicant was in the country for 184 days out of that year, then again at the 12 months before that.

[adrive]

Thanks jandm, that was very helpful )

i was also wondering how exactly would they count the date backwards 12 months before the application. What if principle was in the country less than 184 days in the country out of that particular year?

Let's say for example, 2 years later there is 180 days in the first year, and then 188 days in the 2nd year. Will the 180 days be forfeited since it did not match 184 days per year rule? Or they would still count 2 years as a whole ?

[JandM]

The count is not cumulative, but literally day by day. If, counting backwards, the immediately previous year has 180 days' presence in NZ, it would not qualify, whereas if the applicant had waited another four days to put in their paperwork, they would have had the 184 days. But that would alter the dates for the year before that, and (depending on when in the course of the 12 months the person had been in NZ), it might knock some of the days in NZ out of consideration for that 12 months. And the counting is from the lodgement of the application, the lodgement being when an INZ official enters the details of what has been received into the system, so it's not possible to be pinpoint accurate in a marginal case. Better to give yourself some leeway.

[adrive]

The count is not cumulative, but literally day by day. If, counting backwards, the immediately previous year has 180 days' presence in NZ, it would not qualify, whereas if the applicant had waited another four days to put in their paperwork, they would have had the 184 days. But that would alter the dates for the year before that, and (depending on when in the course of the 12 months the person had been in NZ), it might knock some of the days in NZ out of consideration for that 12 months. And the counting is from the lodgement of the application, the lodgement being when an INZ official enters the details of what has been received into the system, so it's not possible to be pinpoint accurate in a marginal case. Better to give yourself some leeway.

thanks JandM...you have always been very helpful in these forums..not just to me but to everyone else regardless of who we are..

really appreciate this!