deblee

Hi wendy_woo, thanks for getting back to me!

You can apply for a 9 month visa and in some cases a 12 month visa as a Brit, as long as you have sufficient funds etc and can show that you are not there to work. I believe to apply for 12 months you have to have a medical etc and then of course you have to leave for 12 months which is not ideal!! The 'normal' visit visa is for 6 months as you say. You DO have to leave NZ for the same time as you visited though eg if you stay in NZ for 6 months, you will then have to leave for 6 months. The longest you can stay is 9months in any 18 month period unless you apply for the parent multiple entry visa, which is 18 months max in 3 years. On this visa, you can only stay a max of 6 months in one go, but can then leave for a day/week etc (nip over to Aus, Cook Islands etc) and then return to do another 6 months. Great for emergencies etc where you may want to get back quickly. Lots of parents seem to use this visa whilst waiting for residency as it means they can pretty much be in NZ the whole time the application takes but it depends on how long your particular visa takes.

I have just read on the NZ immigration website that if applying for a multiple entry visa after visiting NZ for 9 months, they do not count the time you were already there! You do have to be out of NZ though to apply for the multiple entry visa and have to have a medical.

Hope some of that helps!!

Bet you're sooo excited about your first grandchild. When is he or she due?
xx

wendy_woo

Thanks Bev, baby is due 5th May, very excited! So what you are saying is if I go this time for 3 months, I have to stay away for 3 months?

If so that should work for me as I will leave 17th July and if I go back it will not be around Christmas as our daughter will be going back to work after then and may need me out there for some baby minding, and at that time we would be 15 months into our wait for a case officer, I really don't like to be away from "home" for too long at a stretch, we just need to move our "home"!!

deblee

Hi again, sorry, I know it is confusing!! Basically, the most you can visit for is 9 months in any 18...so, if you only go for 3 months you are fine to return again straight away if you wanted to My mum once went out about 4 times in 2 years and stayed more than 9 months in 18 (she didn't have a clue!!!) but nothing was said at immigration...although it is defo not something I'd recommend lol...if you're only going for 3 month each visit, then you'll be fine. And like you said, before you know it you'll have your residency

All the best for the new arrival

Deb x

BlackCrossInResidence

You always seem to get a six month visa on entry (no matter how long you officially have left of the 9 months in 18) and an email when that's about to expire.

I know from experience that if you contact immigration close to the 9 month deadline you can be asked to leave, and I was - however, I rang back next day and a different officer said 'don't worry, he was having a bad hair day, leave after your current 6 months are up'.

I guess that if your families here, you're spending money here and not taking a Kiwi's job then some officers may take the view that your presence benefits the economy.

deblee

Ha ha, that is interesting depends how they feel then?! So how long did that mean you were in NZ for in one stretch? There's no way my mum would 'chance' it though...she's a bit of a stickler for sticking to the rules...besides, she wouldn't want to risk not be allowed back in lol...I agree with what you are saying about the family spending money whilst they're in NZ. My mum for example gets both a state and a private pension, owns her own house so no mortage, and is fit and healthy (at 65). She's not well off by any means but she would only be putting money into the economy and not taking away. Isn't the 9 months thing to do with being classed as a resident or something...to do with tax??!! Or so I've heard anyway!

BlackCrossInResidence

I initially spent six months here, returned to the UK for six months and then returned to NZ for six months (during which time I breached the nine months in eighteen but was able to stay). I returned to the UK and applied for what was then the new eighteen month visa and have used that up in three visits over two and a half years. Fortunately just six weeks prior to it expiring, and whilst I was still in NZ, my residency was approved.

I now have to return to Yorkshire later this year, probably early May, to sort out my bits and pieces in the UK.

Fishy

Took my mum around 18 months. Now just trying to figure out her pensions etc-which seems more complicated than the vias process!