Citizenship/ time frame/ due date

[Khan1192]

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?

[newarrival]

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....

[Khan1192]

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

[Thomprice27]

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

[Kelerei]

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.

[Khan1192]

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

[Dave in NZ]

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

[Kelerei]

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.

[LemonAndPaeroa]

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.

Is my thinking here correct?

Let's assume someone got their residency on 23 February 2017, and they travelled overseas on a few occasions:

23 March - 30 March 2017 (7 days)
2 January - 31 January 2018 (30 days)
1 March - 30 June 2021 (90 days)

• Year 1: 29 October 2016 - 28 October 2017 (247 days as a resident, with 7 days travelled overseas: 240 days to meet the requirement)
• Year 2: 29 October 2017 - 28 October 2018 (365 days as a resident, with 30 days spent overseas: 335 days to meet the requirement)
• Year 3: 29 October 2018 - 28 October 2019 (365 days as a resident)
• Year 4: 29 October 2019 - 28 October 2020 (365 days as a resident)
• Year 5: 29 October 2020 - 28 October 2021 (365 days as a resident, with 90 days spent overseas: 275 days to meet the requirement)

This person meets the 240 days requirement on 28 October 2021 (and they also spent more than 1,350 days in the country).

I was previously thinking it was just 240 days into year 5, but I think one needs to take into account travel in year 1 if they were not a resident for the whole year?

[jawnbc]

No, you should start each year on 23 February, assuming that's your first date as a in-NZ NZ resident:
23 Feb 2017 - 22 Feb 2018, etc etc.
Each year you need only to have not been outside NZ for more than 125 total days in any of those years.
In your final year, as soon as you hit 240 days you can apply for citizenship--you don't need to wait until 22 Feb 2022.

Is my thinking here correct?

Let's assume someone got their residency on 23 February 2017, and they travelled overseas on a few occasions:

23 March - 30 March 2017 (7 days)
2 January - 31 January 2018 (30 days)
1 March - 30 June 2021 (90 days)

• Year 1: 29 October 2016 - 28 October 2017 (247 days as a resident, with 7 days travelled overseas: 240 days to meet the requirement)
• Year 2: 29 October 2017 - 28 October 2018 (365 days as a resident, with 30 days spent overseas: 335 days to meet the requirement)
• Year 3: 29 October 2018 - 28 October 2019 (365 days as a resident)
• Year 4: 29 October 2019 - 28 October 2020 (365 days as a resident)
• Year 5: 29 October 2020 - 28 October 2021 (365 days as a resident, with 90 days spent overseas: 275 days to meet the requirement)

This person meets the 240 days requirement on 28 October 2021 (and they also spent more than 1,350 days in the country).

I was previously thinking it was just 240 days into year 5, but I think one needs to take into account travel in year 1 if they were not a resident for the whole year?