Reylan

We have today received our passports with the coveted BLUE STICKERS in them!!!! Now it's real, we've got it!!!

We are off for a 'look see' next month. Can anyone tell us what, if anything, we have to specifically do when we arrive in NZ. Do we have to ask for our Permanent Residence Visa or do they do it automatically. Sorry to be a bit dense but excitement does that to me!

MissMarple

Hi Reylan,

Congratulations on your blue stickers! We're a long way behind you so very envious having only sent in our EOI on Sunday.

Best of luck with your move, Jules

mudblood21

Congrats, Reylan!

I also need to know what to do on arrival - I was just planning to wander up to the passport check in and ask them to tell me 'where to go!'

When are you going exactly? I will be in Auckland from the 10th.

Persephone

Congratulations on getting those stickers. I kept looking at mine every 5 minutes just to check they were really there

When you first arrive in NZ you will go through to the immigration area and there are two sections; one for foreign passports and another for NZ citizens and residents. I chose the one for NZ residents and stood there feeling all proud and 'ooh look at me, I'm a resident here don't you know'
You get to the front of the queue and the officer will look at your visas and stamp your passport automatically with a residence permit. Mine must have been having a bad day as she was really quite abrupt and told me that the permit and the RRV only lasted 2 years which was wrong
Must admit it was a bit of an anticlimax; no fanfares, celebrations or announcement to the whole airport that NZ's newest resident had finally arrived

elaine99

What are the Blue Stickers?

Persephone

The blue stickers are the Holy Grail of those applying for residency They are blue and they are stickers
One is a Residency Visa which allows you to travel to NZ in order to receive a residency permit. The other is a 2 year Returning Residents Visa which allows you to leave NZ and subsequently return and take up residency again.

elaine99

Thanks for your quick reply.
Can't wait to receive mine!

mudblood21

the day you get them is a truly lovely day!

enjoy yours!

Celticknight

Congrats from us too.


Waiting to send off for our "Blue Stickers".

Till we make decide what and where and when we will be setting off Down Under.

Ian.

willand tina_h

awh congrats guys, I aint been online much at all since being here, wonder why??? The blue stickers is our jewel to allow us to chill and breathe a little before making the biggest move ever!!!! Good luck, its worth it by far


Tina, x

mudblood21

Yes, TIna - when I saw your name I was going to come on and say 'hello stranger!' glad to hear it is going well for you. xx

Dewb09

congrats great feeling isnt it

Dewb

Mudplug

Hi sorry to but in on your conversation but Persephone you mentioned the above could you let me know what the actual time scale is please, we think we might have to validate before hopefully living and need to make sure we do everything right. Thanks

And Congrads Reylan, its a great feeling isnt it, we have our to

mudblood21

I think you have to get there within a year of the date on the blue sticker- on your residence visa it says at the top - "date of issue " and "must not arrive after".

When you arrive, you cash in your residence visa, and you have two years from then before the initial RRV runs out

there are different ways to qualify for IRRV- indefinite returning resident's visa.

hope this hasn't confused you even worse

Reylan

Hi Mudblood21. We fly out on the 10th and arrive on the 12th. Have you planned anything? We are going to look around a few areas and get a feel for them and we have a friend in the South Island so will go visit her while we are there. Only another 22days, 13hours and 27 mins - not that I'm counting!!