Feel not receiving enough attention regarding our residency application

[piromo]

Hi All,

My wife and I applied for residency visa as skill migrants. It has been more than 5 months but we have not heard back anything from immigration office. My friends, who applied one month before us told me that their officer contacted them within 2 months after they applied and last week they received their residency visa approval. I contacted the immigration office last month and they told me my application was allocated to an officer on March but we have not received any email or update or anything from anyone since today (applied Jan 2018) . Does it sound normal not that the officer did not contact us yet? Do I need to contact immigration again and ask for update ( do they provide?)?

Best regards

[Spiderman]

Normal. Immigration updated its web saying 75% skilled migrant application completed in 7 months. 95% completed in 15 months. So even if you have to wait 10 more months, thats still normal. I know you are wondering why other people got approved in 3-4 months and I'v been waiting for 5 moths and still waiting. I was in this waiting game as well. Be patient is the only thing you can do now I guess

[JandM]

It's normal. Also, for your own peace of mind, don't allow yourself to think that because some particular procedure, or timing, happened to someone you know, it will automatically happen to you as well. Every case is individual and different, and takes as long as it takes, and it's standard that you don't hear from INZ unless they have something to tell you, or need more information from you. No news is fine. It doesn't mean that nothing is being done; it means that the things happening don't need input from you.

[piromo]

Normal. Immigration updated its web saying 75% skilled migrant application completed in 7 months. 95% completed in 15 months. So even if you have to wait 10 more months, thats still normal. I know you are wondering why other people got approved in 3-4 months and I'v been waiting for 5 moths and still waiting. I was in this waiting game as well. Be patient is the only thing you can do now I guess

It's normal. Also, for your own peace of mind, don't allow yourself to think that because some particular procedure, or timing, happened to someone you know, it will automatically happen to you as well. Every case is individual and different, and takes as long as it takes, and it's standard that you don't hear from INZ unless they have something to tell you, or need more information from you. No news is fine. It doesn't mean that nothing is being done; it means that the things happening don't need input from you.

I really appreciate your comments. My current visa expires in few months that's why I'm a bit stressed. Do I need to apply for another visa meanwhile I'm waiting for residency visa? How long before expiring my visa should I do it?

[JandM]

If you get near the time when your existing visa will expire and your residence visa seems unlikely to have been processed in time, then yes, you will need to apply for a temporary work visa each - that way, if the temporary visa is not ready in time, INZ can issue you with an interim visa to keep you legally in NZ while processing on them finishes (but they can't do that for a residence visa). This can be done even as late as the day of expiry itself, though most people would find it too nerve-racking to leave it that late.

What visas are you currently on? When do they expire?