napierlass

Hi all, hopefully this is a simple question for someone.
I am a kiwi in the UK, been here 20 years married for 13. 2 kids.
I thought it would be cheaper to apply for descent citizenship for the kids rather than pay for medicals for them etc on hubbys Partnership/family/permanent application. But am confused as the small print says you have to reside in NZ to apply for citizenship. Is this the case for my English kids?
Also on his form it says the partner (guess that's me) needs to provide a police form too...is this a money making scam or dont they want me back after 20 years..lol.

TommyLuck

Yep, you need to provide a police certificate for you too.

Not quite sure how this can be construed as a scam as Immigration doesn't make a penny from this piece of documentation, unless they are in collusion with the Criminal Records Office

The main reason I was lead to believe was to check on domestic violence offences. Men suffer too!!


As for your kids;

My wife is a Kiwi, our daughter was born in London in 2010. She is a New Zealand citizen by way of descent through my wife.

I don't see why this should be different for your kids, unless you gained you NZ citizenship by descent?

I could be wrong and if I am someone will correct me. Which is why I specify the year my daughter was born and was issues her NZ passport. Rules change from time to time and can be dependent on when you were born.

This link seems to support my thinking;

http://www.dia.govt.nz/Services-Citi...t?OpenDocument

Be aware that you can apply for Citizenship and Passports for your kids at the same time.

What should be noted however is that whilst my daughter (and your kids) can be citizens of NZ they are unable to pass on their citizenship to their kids until they live in NZ for a specified time period (5 years??) and upgrade, for the want of a better phrase, their citizenship.


I too applied through the family visa route and it all went pretty swimmingly to be honest. I put in my application, with the medical stuff and police checks, etc on the 29th of October 2012 and the sticker in my passport is dated the 6th of December 2012.

Watch out for the Migrant Levy they don't tell you about that you have to pay before they'll let you pick up the passport with the visa sticker in!!

http://glossary.immigration.govt.nz/migrantlevy.htm

napierlass

Thank you so much for you reply Tommyluck. I am impressed at how quickly your application was processed. I am being made redundant at the end of march and am hoping for a quick process before the cash dries up!

So basically you did citizenship and passports at the same time. So your daughter didn't need medicals (which cost about the same but at least you get passports out of it). Its not a problem doing the medicals but for value for money I'd rather avoid them and get citizenship for them x

I am happy to do a police check but keep on finding little things in small print that I wasn't expecting and to me they seem as clear as mud!!

I am aware of the migrant levy, was it only you that had to pay that or will my kids have to pay it too?

Once again thankyou for your help x

ps; Born and bred in Napier!!

JerseyMatt

Hi napierlass,

My wife(kiwi) and I are going through this at the moment. With our first son we sent off a citizenship by descent and a passport form off at the same time which they will process together. It took 3 weeks (at this time of year) to get them both back even though they say it takes about 20 working days. For the passport application side of it you'll need someone with a kiwi passport to act as a witness which they don't budge on.

On the residency visa side of it for me I've recently lodged my application which they have allocated straight away as my wife is considered to be an expat. They have said as a guideline they should have a decision in about 10-12 weeks as it is a busy time of year for them.

Good luck
JerseyMatt

JAJ

Children under 16 (with an NZ citizen parent) don't need to wait 5 years to "upgrade". It can be done immediately upon arrival in New Zealand.

Same goes for overseas-born children of NZ citizens by descent. If they arrive in New Zealand, with permanent visas, and are aged less than 16, they can immediately be granted NZ citizenship.

bourbon-biscuit

JAJ is right, and he made my year about four years ago when he pointed this out to me

TommyLuck

Ah, there you go. Easy.

Cheers.

TommyLuck

Sorry about getting back to this late, I don't tend to subscribe to thread updates.

My daughter DID NOT need a medical as she is a New Zealand passport holder. Nor was she liable for the migrants levy, for the same reason.

Totally get you on the clear as mud thing.

JAJ

Assuming you are born in NZ, then register your children as NZ citizens by descent and get them NZ passports. It's a simple process.

Once you arrive in NZ to live, and can demonstrate you're settled, then you go to the NZ Citizenship Office and apply for them to be upgraded to full NZ citizenship. No waiting time if they are under 16.

Important - if you're not a British citizen, it would be strongly recommended to become naturalised British before you leave the U.K.

BEVS

You are a treasure of BE JAJ.

No. I am not sparing your blushes.