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Thread: Citizenship/ time frame/ due date

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2015
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    New Zealand
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    34

    Default Citizenship/ time frame/ due date

    I have been granted New Zealand residency in mid June 2015. I have been away for holidays every year but not more for more than 4 months the most I have been away every year was about 2 months. When am I due to apply for citizenship? Would about end of April 2020 make me qualify for citizenship? would also love to hear from people Who have recently got their citizenship how long did it took and how was the process and all?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Blenheim
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    1,620

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    Quote Originally Posted by Khan1192 View Post
    I have been granted New Zealand residency in mid June 2015. I have been away for holidays every year but not more for more than 4 months the most I have been away every year was about 2 months. When am I due to apply for citizenship? Would about end of April 2020 make me qualify for citizenship? would also love to hear from people Who have recently got their citizenship how long did it took and how was the process and all?
    I can highly recommend to call the department of Internal Affairs, they'll check your dates and will tell you exactly when you're good to apply. Seems a lot safer than relying on guesses....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    New Zealand
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    34

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    I rang them twice they didn’t ask me for exact date they asked me what it said on their website, but my 5 years will be completed in mid June I have Then told them to book me for the end of April which they did not sure if it is good to email them my exact dates and they will reply me again

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    9

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Khan1192 View Post
    I have been granted New Zealand residency in mid June 2015. I have been away for holidays every year but not more for more than 4 months the most I have been away every year was about 2 months. When am I due to apply for citizenship? Would about end of April 2020 make me qualify for citizenship? would also love to hear from people Who have recently got their citizenship how long did it took and how was the process and all?
    Contact them, I was under the impression it was living here for 5 years, but contact them and they will clarify

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    New Zealand (ex: South Africa)
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    The presence requirement is:

    • You must have spent at least 1,350 days in New Zealand as a resident in the last 5 years immediately preceding the date of application, and
    • You must have spent at least 240 days in New Zealand as a resident in each of those 5 years.


    So, given those presence requirements, this is how to calculate whether you meet them. For purposes of example, let's take an application date of 15th July 2020.

    • First, determine the five one-year periods prior to your date of application. For the example application date of 15th July 2020, this would be:
      • 15th July 2015 to 14th July 2016
      • 15th July 2016 to 14th July 2017
      • 15th July 2017 to 14th July 2018
      • 15th July 2018 to 14th July 2019
      • 15th July 2019 to 14th July 2020
    • Next, for each of those periods, work out how many days you were in the country. Note that INZ considers days that you depart from or arrive in New Zealand as days spent in New Zealand (RV1.15.5), so you can count those days. However, you can not count days that you spent in the country and not holding a residence-class visa (e.g. if you were on a Work Visa, you can not count the time spent in New Zealand on a Work Visa towards the citizenship presence requirement). If any one of those five periods works out to less than 240 days, you do not meet the presence requirement.
    • If all of those five periods are greater or equal to 240 days, add them all up. If the sum of all five periods is greater or equal to 1,350 days, you meet the presence requirement. If it's less than 1,350 days, you don't.


    If you're not sure of how many days you've spent in or out of New Zealand, you can request INZ's records of your travel movements here -- this is likely what the Department of Internal Affairs will look at as well.

    If you don't meet the standard presence requirement, the Department of Internal Affairs has discretion to reduce this to 450 days during the 20 month period immediately preceding the date of the application for citizenship (being days that you hold a residence class visa), but only in exceptional circumstances. If you believe that exceptional circumstances apply to you, you should contact the Citizenship Office to discuss your situation.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    34

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    Thanks for the brief explaination is their any way I can private message u here? Thanks

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Dairy Flat, Auckland
    Posts
    1,789

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    Just click on the name of the person you want to pm which is at top left of the post that they made , then you get options, one of which is private message, click on that and off you go. I note you have made more than 5 posts so it should work fine

    Alternatively go to the top left of any page you will see Private messages 2nd in. Click on that then on send new message. Then enter the name of whom you wish to pm but the first way is easier

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    New Zealand (ex: South Africa)
    Posts
    1,201

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Khan1192 View Post
    Thanks for the brief explaination is their any way I can private message u here? Thanks
    No. I've experienced a high volume of private messages asking me for help directly, so I've disabled the ability for members to private message me.

    A few reasons for this:

    • I cannot legally provide immigration advice.
    • I believe that any question good enough to be asked of one forum member will, in almost all circumstances, also be of value to the greater forum membership as a whole.
    • Asking your question in the public section of the forum distributes load amongst forum members. An individual forum member may be too busy to answer your question.
    • This forum is indexed by search engines -- consequently, if you ask your question in public and it is answered, a future querent can find your question and the answer instead of asking it again.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    NZ (Auckland; via Canada)
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    1,350

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    You can apply as soon as you have 240 days in year 5 (plus any time spent out of NZ in year 5): you don't have to wait for 5 full years. When we applied we made an appointment with DIA here in Auckland. I emailed them with my passport number, visa number and IRD number. They checked my eligibility and rang to set the appointment. I completed my application in advance, got my photos, and brought ALL my evidence (passports, current and expired since arriving in NZ) with me to the appointment. They reviewed my application, we tidied up anything that needed to be tidied, and they took photo copies of my passports and immediately gave the originals back to me.

    This was much better than mailing in the application, only to have it send back to fix something. My husband did his around a year later and he forgot one passport: the DIA staffperson let him go home, come back with the missing passport, they took photocopies: no need to reschedule or resubmit everything.

    All in all a very civilised process!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    New Zealand
    Posts
    34

    Default

    Thanks for sharing your experience. I rang them about a week ago they asked me the question which are on their website I told them I will be competing 240 days in April then she said when would I like to book an appointment I said end of April will be good so she booked me in for that. my main concern is just in case if I am few days short will the officer send me back to Reschedule an appointment again or they will take the application but won’t process till my presence requirement is met.

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