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Thread: Can I apply Permanent Resident Visa after 18 months??

  1. #1
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    Default Can I apply Permanent Resident Visa after 18 months??

    Hi,

    If I stay continuously for 18 months after my first entry to NZ on resident visa, can I apply for PR visa after 18 months? Or do I have to wait for 24 months before I apply for PR??
    I am asking this question as I have come to know a case where applicant got PR before completion of 24 months on resident visa.

    Regards,

  2. #2
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    "Acceptable evidence of your commitment to living in New Zealand

    1. You have spent enough time in New Zealand

    You have spent 184 days or more in New Zealand as a resident in each of the two 12 month portions of the 24 months immediately preceding your application for permanent residence."

    https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...to-new-zealand

    I believe you still need to have held the visa for 2 years though.
    Last edited by MagicPizza; 18th February 2020 at 08:54 PM.

  3. #3
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    https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-visa#criteria
    If you’ve been a resident visa holder for 2 years or more, and can show a commitment to living in New Zealand you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa. Once granted, you can live and work in New Zealand permanently and come and go from New Zealand without travel conditions.
    (my bolding)
    If you've spent at least 184 days of each of the last 2 years in New Zealand, you will meet this requirement. If you have spent this time here, you don't need to provide any evidence.as we'll check your travel records.
    Some people who used evidence of commitment to New Zealand other than the time spent in the country may have only been onshore for smaller amounts of time, but the grant of their residence would still have to have been at least two years earlier than their application for PR. To sum up, two years must have passed since a residence visa was granted/activated before someone who was a main applicant can apply for PR. It is one of the basic requirements, and there are other criteria to meet as well.

    Some people who have residence as a result of being a secondary applicant on their partner or parent's application under SMC might not, if they were overseas at the time, have received their own visa as quickly as the main applicant did, or have come to NZ till later than the main applicant. But secondary applicants' grant of PR depends on what the main applicant does - if the main applicant qualifies, then so do the secondary applicants (even if, to take an extreme example, they had spent two days in NZ to activate their residence visa, then stayed overseas ever since).

  4. #4
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    To reiterate what's been posted above, but in slightly different form...

    As per RV2.5, a principal applicant applying for a Permanent Resident Visa must meet all of the below requirements:

    • they either:
      • currently hold a Resident Visa, and have held that resident visa continuously for at least 24 months at the time of application; or
      • have held a Resident Visa in the three months before the application is made, and had held that Resident Visa continuously for at least 24 months before it expired (provided RV1.25 does not apply); and
    • their first day in New Zealand as a resident (R5.66.1) at least 24 months before the application is made; and
    • they can demonstrate a commitment to New Zealand by meeting the requirements set out in any one of the below:
      • significant period of time spent in New Zealand (RV2.5.1); or
      • tax residence status in New Zealand (RV2.5.5); or
      • investment in New Zealand (RV2.5.10); or
      • establishment of a business in New Zealand (RV2.5.15); or
      • base established in New Zealand (RV2.5.20); and
    • they have met any conditions imposed under section 49(1) or section 50 of the Immigration Act; and
    • they meet character requirements for residence (see A5).


    There are slightly different requirements for those who obtained a Resident Visa under any of the Migrant Investment Categories or the Parent Retirement Category, see RV2.10. I believe that this is mainly because the "investment in New Zealand" commitment to New Zealand is baked into their Section 49(1) conditions (see BJ9), so these applicants demonstrate a commitment to New Zealand by meeting their Section 49(1) conditions.

    Additionally, principal applicants must not be excluded by the provisions of RV2.1 or fall under RV1.25.

    For any non-principal applicant, the only requirement is that the principal applicant must hold (or be granted) a Permanent Resident Visa (as per RV1.20(b)), unless:
    • the non-principal applicant is excluded by the provisions of RV2.1; or
    • the provisions requiring a secondary applicant to be assessed independently of the principal applicant apply (RV1.20.1 to RV1.20.20); or
    • the non-principal applicant has never been in New Zealand as a resident (as required by RV1.5(d)).
    • the non-principal applicant does not meet character instructions (see A5) (unless given a special direction or granted a character waiver) or falls under RV1.25.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by manutd View Post
    Hi,

    If I stay continuously for 18 months after my first entry to NZ on resident visa, can I apply for PR visa after 18 months? Or do I have to wait for 24 months before I apply for PR??
    I am asking this question as I have come to know a case where applicant got PR before completion of 24 months on resident visa.

    Regards,
    If your residency was granted 6 months or more before your first entry then yes but you'll need to do a bit of maths to work out the specific day.

    The other replies show that to get it in less than 24 months of being granted the visa is not possible.
    Last edited by hab; 19th February 2020 at 03:23 PM.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by hab View Post
    If your residency was granted 6 months or more before your first entry then yes but you'll need to do a bit of maths to work out the specific day.
    This is incorrect.

    As per my previous post in this thread, RV2.5 clearly states that the primary applicant's first day in New Zealand as a resident must be at least 24 months before the application for a Permanent Resident Visa is made. Note that there is an error in RV2.5, which I copy/pasted into my previous post: the definition of "first day in New Zealand as a resident" is in R5.66.5 and not R5.66.1.

    Then, the definition of "first day in New Zealand as a resident", as per R5.66.5, is either:
    • the day the person's Resident Visa is granted, if the person was in New Zealand on the day it was granted; or
    • the day the person is first granted entry permission on the basis of their Resident Visa, if the person was outside of New Zealand when that person's Resident Visa was granted.


    Hence, in the scenario you describe where a Resident Visa was granted offshore, 24 months from first entry is an absolute minimum. Not meeting this requirement makes the primary applicant ineligible for a Permanent Resident Visa.

  7. #7
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    Thanks for the correction I hadn't spotted the extra detail in the ops manual.
    By any chance do you know if eligibility for citizenship has a similar rule, I thought I only had to HOLD a residence class visa for 5 years and therefore would intend to apply 4yrs8months after my return to NZ with a residence visa granted offshore >6 months before?

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by hab View Post
    By any chance do you know if eligibility for citizenship has a similar rule, I thought I only had to HOLD a residence class visa for 5 years and therefore would intend to apply 4yrs8months after my return to NZ with a residence visa granted offshore >6 months before?
    A tad off-topic for this thread, but anyway... the presence requirement for the grant of New Zealand citizenship is:

    • a minimum of 1,350 days during the 5 years immediately preceding the date of the application; and
    • at least 240 days in each of those 5 years, --

    being days during which the applicant was entitled in terms of the Immigration Act 2009 to be in New Zealand indefinitely (so, holding a Resident Visa or Permanent Resident Visa).

    Technically, it's therefore possible for someone who does not spend any time outside New Zealand to apply for the grant of New Zealand citizenship 4 years and 240 days after that person's first day as a resident. Time spent outside of New Zealand can obviously affect one's eligibility. The Citizenship Office can, on request, calculate an eligibility date based on your specific circumstances.
    Last edited by Kelerei; 19th February 2020 at 04:44 PM.

  9. #9
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    Thanks for explaining those points Kelerei

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