Definition of living in a country for 12 months in the last 10 years

[burton37]

Hello

The residence application form asks people to: "List all of the countries you have lived in for 12 months or more (whether on one visit or intermittently) in the last 10 years, with the dates you began and ended living there." The people are instructed to then enclose police certificates for these countries.

Does anyone know if this is interpreted to mean that the 12 month stay had to occur entirely within the ten year period? In other words, if it was a 12 month stay that began a few months before the period began 10 years ago (and therefore, the total stay in that country was less than 12 months within the 10 year period), would that have to be declared?

The background to my question: I have absolutely no criminal record in any country, but in this case the country (South Korea) is notoriously difficult to get police certificates for if you are out of the country, and are a third party national. I had a stay of about one year and one week, but in terms of the last ten years, only nine months of this stay fell during this period.

Basically, I am hoping that a strict reading of this requirement means that I won't need to get a Korean police certificate. I'd be happy to get one if I could easily do so but (despite what the NZIS website claims), they don't routinely issue these types of certificates from South Korean embassies.

[JandM]

I had a stay of about one year and one week, but in terms of the last ten years, only nine months of this stay fell during this period.

So you won't need a police certificate, luckily.

[burton37]

Really! Is it that clear cut? Is that how they interpret it? I hope so...

I appreciate that the sentence tries to be "plain English", but in this particular case it seems ambiguous, and maybe they should have elaborated and spelt out what it actually means in cases like mine. (I tried reading the Immigration Service operations manual that they have online, but it just repeats the same sentence with no elaboration.)

But I don't mind living by the "letter" of this sentence if it lets me avoid getting a certificate! (I suppose the alternative way of interpreting this sentence could lead to ridiculous situations. For example, a person with a year long stay in a third country might have only one day that overlapped with the start of the ten year period, and they would need to get a certificate.)

Thanks JandM

[ChrisMwn]

Hello

The residence application form asks people to: "List all of the countries you have lived in for 12 months or more (whether on one visit or intermittently) in the last 10 years, with the dates you began and ended living there." The people are instructed to then enclose police certificates for these countries.

Does anyone know if this is interpreted to mean that the 12 month stay had to occur entirely within the ten year period? In other words, if it was a 12 month stay that began a few months before the period began 10 years ago (and therefore, the total stay in that country was less than 12 months within the 10 year period), would that have to be declared?

The background to my question: I have absolutely no criminal record in any country, but in this case the country (South Korea) is notoriously difficult to get police certificates for if you are out of the country, and are a third party national. I had a stay of about one year and one week, but in terms of the last ten years, only nine months of this stay fell during this period.

Basically, I am hoping that a strict reading of this requirement means that I won't need to get a Korean police certificate. I'd be happy to get one if I could easily do so but (despite what the NZIS website claims), they don't routinely issue these types of certificates from South Korean embassies.

The ten year period relates to the 10 years preceding the date of lodgment of the application.

So, you can effectively manipulate the period by delaying lodgment of the application and it on includes any time spent in a country, prior to that date.

I've had a similar situation where only 364 days in country, fell in the 10 year period preceding the date of lodgment

[burton37]

I've had a similar situation where only 364 days in country, fell in the 10 year period preceding the date of lodgment

Thanks for that Chris. I presume in that case, the client didn't send in a certificate?

Also, I'm curious if in this sort of situation, would the Immigration Service notice the 364 day "gap" in the "record" (or the nine month gap in my case) and ask for police certificate anyway? I was under the impression that they have the discretion to ask for any extra information they want.

As I said, I have nothing to hide in not getting a Korean police certificate, but basically the only way to get it is to (somehow) find someone in Korea who is willing to help, and then give them power of attorney to get the certificate on my behalf. And if the Immigration Service asked me for one, and I started to cite difficulties like this, the case officer might start to question my reticence. Aside from the South Korea issue, I have a straightforward and strong application, and of course I want it to go smoothly!

[JandM]

I have the feeling you're overthinking this. You, or Chris's client, needn't have any inexplicable gap, but can quite frankly say where you were, then it's obvious you meet the requirements. INZ don't go looking for difficulties.

[burton37]

I have the feeling you're overthinking this.

Ha ha ha! Yes possibly - I do have that tendency.

I also got very worried after spending some time reading about the potential difficulties involved in this issue on a Canadian immigration forum. A lot of very anxious people there.

Thanks again Chris and JandM.

[ChrisMwn]

The calculation is very simple.

In the 10 years preceding the date the application is accepted, did you spend a total of 365 days in any country? Regardless of when you first arrived in that country, any time outside the 10 year period is not counted.