Essentially, it is a right affixed into your passport granting you the permanent right to live and work in the New Zealand. You are eligible for state medical care immediately, but must be resident in New Zealand for two years before qualifying for social welfare assistance (i.e. unemployment benefits). You are not permitted to vote as a permanent resident in New Zealand. After two years, you can apply for citizenship, entitling you to a New Zealand passport. Temporary residents (those on student and work visas) are generally not entitled to medical care or social welfare assistance at any time and are generally unable to remain for longer than 4 years. These applicants are recommended to take out private health insurance.

For the 2010/11 New Zealand Residence Programme the maximum number of new residents that can be approved for residence has been set at 50,000.

Every application is different and processing times largely depend on the type of visa being applied for. As a general rule however, it takes most applicants for permanent residence in New Zealand 6 to 12 months (including the time required to prepare the application before lodgment) to receive a decision on their visa application. Spousal cases and temporary work visas tend to be a little quicker at 3 to 6 months, while applicants requiring professional registration can take an additional 6 to 12 months to process.

Normally, your arrival must be within 1 year from the date of your medical tests or police certificates, which occur during the processing of your residence visa application. So, if you deduct part of the official processing time, you will generally be 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 may only have a number of months to enter the country.

No. This type of service is no longer provided by Government. The authorities exist to enforce the immigration law, make decisions on residence applications and to issue residence visas. Although basic information and application forms are available, the authorities are unable to provide independent advice and personalized guidance on your specific case. Only a New Zealand Migration Agents can provide this kind of service.

Yes. A surprisingly large number of applicants are unaware how strictly the immigration regulations are enforced and are often unnecessarily refused or delayed due to technical errors on their application or by submitting the wrong supporting documentation. So the moral of the story is to seek the professional guidance and independent advice of a migration consultant before lodging an application for residence. Migration agents exist to help you find the best way through the immigration maze and are highly effective in doing so.

Which type of visa and you apply for depends on why you want to come here, the skills you have to offer, and how long you want to stay. Work and live permanently in New Zealand Skilled Migrant Category The Skilled Migrant Category is for people who have the skills, qualifications, and experience we need, and who want to live and work permanently in New Zealand. Work to Residence Category The Work to Residence Category allows you to get a temporary work visa and as a step towards gaining permanent residence. Applicants may be qualified in occupations that are in demand in New Zealand, or may have exceptional talent in sports or the arts. Residence from Work Category The Residence from Work Category is for people who are already in New Zealand on a work to residence visa, and want to apply for residence. Employee of a Relocating Company Category If you are a key employee of a business that is relocating its operations to New Zealand, you can apply for a work visa, and later a residence visa,under our Employee of a Relocating Company Category. Work temporarily in New Zealand Temporary work We grant temporary work visas to people who have a job offer from a New Zealand employer, people skilled in occupations that are in demand here, people coming here for a particular purpose or event, and people who want to gain work experience or work after studying in New Zealand. Find out about the options for temporary work in New Zealand. Working holiday If you’re aged between 18 and 30 years you may be eligible to experience life in New Zealand on a working holiday. Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work Category Our Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Work category is for temporary workers from overseas to work in the horticulture and viticulture industries.

Everyone who comes to study in New Zealand from overseas must meet certain rules and requirements. If you are coming to New Zealand to study for more than three months, you will need a student visa.

The applicant\\\\\\\\'s partner and dependent children can be included in one application. \\\\\\\\"Partner\\\\\\\\" includes wife or a de facto partner who has lived with the applicant in a genuine and stable relationship for over 2 years. Dependent children include unmarried children aged 19 years of age or younger, who may be considered dependent if they are totally or substantially reliant on their parents for support, and have no children of their own. Parents, siblings and homosexual partners cannot be included in an application, and must make a separate application in their own right, which may be reliant on the original principal applicant's case being successful. My qualifications require assessment by the NZQA, who is the NZQA? NZQA stands for New Zealand Qualifications Authority. The NZIS provide independent evaluations of overseas qualifications. An assessment of your qualifications generally takes approximately 12 weeks.

A Permit endorsement in your passport allows you to be in New Zealand while a Visa is an endorsement in your passport that allows you to enter (or re-enter) New Zealand.

Any family members in the application, who do not meet the requirement to arrive in New Zealand within 12 months of the approval in principle date, will have their Residence Visa lapse, and thereby be unable to take up permanent residence. A new application would need to be lodged for that person, and they would need to meet policy as it stood on the date they applied. It is important to note that each person\\\\'s requirement is only to enter for a short time, and they can leave once they have completed their RRV immigration formalities.

As a non-resident, a person may buy property in New Zealand up to 1.25 hectares in area size. Over that size, Overseas Investment Commission approval must be obtained, before the purchase will be allowed. As a New Zealand resident, there are no restrictions on property purchases. Please note that the owning of property as an overseas citizen, does not entitle the owner to any exemptions for meeting residence policy. On its own, ownership of land in New Zealand does not qualify a person for residence.

Citizenship and Residency are quite different. As a resident you retain your country’s citizenship, after you have resided in New Zealand for a minimum of 3 years you may apply for New Zealand citizenship.

NZQA stands for New Zealand Qualifications Authority. The NZIS provide independent evaluations of overseas qualifications. An assessment of your qualifications generally takes approximately 12 weeks.