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Thread: What's the absolutely safest way to get a residence application to Auckland?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2017
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    Default What's the absolutely safest way to get a residence application to Auckland?

    The Immigration Service used to have a dropbox and branch in Wellington, and applications could be dropped off there. This has closed recently, and now I have to send my residence application myself to the Auckland branch.

    What's the absolutely safest way of doing this? I don't mind paying for a premier service. The application includes the original full copy of my birth certificate, and this is an essentially irreplaceable document in my home country - so my application basically just can't go missing!

    Maybe I'm being paranoid - I've just been reading a lot of the threads about the misadventures of couriers on the NZ Reddit board and they scare me! What have other people done?

  2. #2
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    Feb 2008
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    Leaving aside the matter of reliable couriers etc. for other people to suggest - why don't you go to a JP (Justice of the Peace) - find one here http://justiceofthepeace.org.nz/Find+a+JP.html = and get a certified copy of your birth certificate? It costs nothing. This is acceptable for an application to INZ, and your actual certificate need not leave your possession.

  3. #3
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    May 2017
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    Thanks for that JandD. I did consider certified copies of my birth certificate and passport, but a friend submitted a certified copy of her certificate and was told later that she would have to send in the original anyway. So I thought I may as well submit the original.

    (Does it make a difference if the document is certified in NZ or overseas? Perhaps getting it certified overseas is why my friend had to send the original? I will check...)

    I'm less concerned about submitting my passport, because for a (big) fee, my embassy can replace that. It would be good to have it in my possession for identification purposes while they consider my application, but don't the NZ Immigration Service need my passport so they can put the residence sticker in? Do they just ask for it at the end of the process?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
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    Germany
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    Quote Originally Posted by burton37 View Post
    Thanks for that JandD. I did consider certified copies of my birth certificate and passport, but a friend submitted a certified copy of her certificate and was told later that she would have to send in the original anyway. So I thought I may as well submit the original.
    I sent certified copies of my passport and birth certificate with my residence application and was never asked to provide an original. I ordered the certified copy from the city where I was born and they included a signed statement certifying the copy, which I also provided to INZ. I know in your case you can't get another copy, but if you're concerned it might be worth sending in the certified copy now and then only providing the original if they do indeed ask for it, since they might not. INZ never had possession of my original passport until it was time to place the residence visa stamp.

    (I'm glad they didn't, because to be honest I have no idea where my original birth certificate is!)

  5. #5
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    Feb 2008
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    The rules have changed fairly recently, so that certified copies are accepted in more situations than they used to be.

    Also, yes, as diallta says, as long as the applicant sends in their passport when told to get the visa label put in, INZ don't need to have it to hand during processing. Even those who have sent in their actual passport at the beginning usually get it returned quickly, after INZ have recorded that it has been seen and verified.

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