Frequently Asked Questions

No, not necessarily. Firstly, you will enter as a permanent resident that does not affect your current status of citizenship. After 5 years you can apply for citizenship of New Zealand (but this is not mandatory). The New Zealand government to a universal dual-nationality (ie the holding of two passports), so you could retain your current passport and obtain a New Zealand passport as well your own country of citizenship allows dual-nationality, as this right must be reciprocal. If not, you will need to surrender your other passport in order to become a citizen of New Zealand.

Essentially, a residence permit is a right affixed into your passport granting you the permanent right to live and work in a country. Once employed, you are usually eligible for health care in the state, but must be resident in New Zealand at least 2 years before qualifying for assistance from social assistance (ie unemployment benefits). The temporary residents (those on student visas and work) are not generally entitled to the aid of medical care or social assistance at any time. These applicants are advised to remove the private health insurance. The temporary visas are for up to 3 years and can be renewed depending on the term of employment or length of course.

To protect yourself in most of the high failure rate: up to 50% of applicants permanent residence visa DIY not receive their residence visas due to mistakes, misunderstandings or confusion of the application that usually arise during the process of immigration. This compares to an average success rate of over 95% for those applicants who apply through an agent officially recognized migration.

Normally, your arrival must be held within 1 year from the date of their medical certificates or police, which occur during the processing of your application for residence visa. So, if you deduct part of the official processing time, you are usually left with 6 to 12 months to land in New Zealand. The exception is for temporary visas, such as work visas, in which case you can only have a number of months to enter the country.

Current pass marks is 100 points.

Each application is different and processing times largely depend on the type of visa that is applied for. In general however, it takes most applicants for permanent residence in New Zealand 6 to 12 months (including time required to prepare the application before the holidays) to receive a resolution on your visa application. Spousal cases and temporary work visas tend to be slightly faster in 3 to 6 months, while applicants requiring professional registration can take a 6 to 12 months to the dossier.

For the residence of 2009/10 New Zealand set the maximum number of new residents that may be approved for residence were set at 50,000.