NZ Resident Visa (with travel conditions) questions...

[Danny0191]

Hi. We are in something of a quandary regarding our NZ Resident visas, and I was wondering if anyone here could offer some much-needed advice?

To put you in the picture, myself, my wife and our teenage daughter moved to NZ in September 2014. At that time I had secured a job in the Bay of Plenty and we arrived in NZ on September 26th, 2014 and I started work five days later.

Once we were in our rented house, we converted the Work Visa that we had arrived with into Resident Visas. They came with a start date of 3rd February 2015 and travel conditions which expire next month (3rd February 2017).

Now, here’s the complication. We hit something of a snag regarding our immediate plans in NZ at the end of 2016 and returned to England to address our eldest daughter’s health problems as well as our youngest’s GCSE exams.

We left our jobs, departed from NZ on February 2nd 2016 and have not been back since. Obviously we won’t be in NZ when our Resident visas expire next month, so here is my question…

Given that we spent over 494 days in NZ in total, are we in any way eligible to make our Resident visas permanent (with zero travel conditions), or do we fall foul of their 184 days in each 12-month period rule?

We’d very much like to return to New Zealand on a permanent basis in the not-too-distant future, but we’re not sure how the above would affect our ability to do so.

Is there anything we can do that would prevent us losing our Residency visas? It goes without saying that, if at all possible, we’d very much like to avoid going through the entire immigration application process again when we return to NZ.

Any advice, suggestions or guidance would be gratefully accepted. Thanks for your time.

[JandM]

Given that we spent over 494 days in NZ in total, are we in any way eligible to make our Resident visas permanent (with zero travel conditions), or do we fall foul of their 184 days in each 12-month period rule?

No, you're not, at the moment, and yes, that is why. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...anent-resident

However, you may be eligible for a Variation of Travel Conditions, which would extend the time before you need to be back in NZ to stay, to qualify for PR once you have completed the conditions of 184 days in NZ in each of the previous two 12-month periods (counting backwards from your date of eventual application). Here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...vel-conditions are the details - it looks as though you could qualify under 'You have spent enough time in New Zealand.'

[Danny0191]

Thanks JandM - this is really useful. So as I see it, it is only possible to extend the travel conditions for a further 12 months, with a permanent resident visa out of the question.

Here's a thought: Do any of the days we spent in NZ count towards any future permanent residence application? ie, have we already got one lot of '184 days in 12 months' in the bank, or does the whole thing get wiped clean and clocked back to zero once your original residence visa expires?

Thanks again.

[ChrisMwn]

Thanks JandM - this is really useful. So as I see it, it is only possible to extend the travel conditions for a further 12 months, with a permanent resident visa out of the question.

Here's a thought: Do any of the days we spent in NZ count towards any future permanent residence application? ie, have we already got one lot of '184 days in 12 months' in the bank, or does the whole thing get wiped clean and clocked back to zero once your original residence visa expires?

Thanks again.

The calculation is always done , by looking at the number of days spent in NZ as a resident in each of the two twelve month periods preceding the date of application.

At some point your earliest days spent in NZ will drop off, while others remain.

[Danny0191]

Ahh, okay. Understood. That's a bit of a shame but makes complete sense. Thanks for the advice Chris

[ChrisMwn]

Ahh, okay. Understood. That's a bit of a shame but makes complete sense. Thanks for the advice Chris

no advice, just referring you to publically available information, here:
http://onlineservices.immigration.go...nual/index.htm