Entering NZ with residence visa
 

I know that they give you a certain amount of time to enter NZ with a residence visa but can you just do a quick in and out of NZ to validate it or are there conditions that you then have to stay once you have entered?
Cheers

Re: Entering NZ with residence visa
 

You will be given a returning resident visa in your passport which is valid for one trip within a two year period. Once you have used this visa once you will have to apply for another returning visa before you leave NZ. Otherwise you will not be allowed back into the country

Re: Entering NZ with residence visa
 

Sorry but this is not true. A Returning Residents Visa [RRV] allows you to re-enter NZ multiple times, not just once. You apply for a new one once it expires, this will be two years after first entering NZ for your first RRV. The residence visa would be for single entry. But this is irrelevant to nicole as RRVs are no longer issued, they have been replaced by residence visas with travel conditions and permanent resident visas[PRV]. Same visas really just different names.

Nicole I'm not sure where you are in the process or your situation. If you are granted residency then you are given a residence visa with travel conditions for two years. You have 6months to get the visa in your passport and pay the migrant levy and then 12 months from the date of the visa to enter NZ and activate it. So you could push out going over for just under 18 months if you needed to. Once activated then your travel conditions start. This part of the visa allows you to leave and re enter NZ as a resident for two years. Theoretically you could activate your visa, leave NZ and then not return for just under two years. The down side of this is that when you finally move to NZ it will take you longer to get what used to be called an Indefinite RRV, now a PRV. You would have to apply for further RVs with travel conditions until you fulfill the requirements.
Have a look at my post at the top of the immigration forum about RRVs, it may explain things better!
Just had a look at your other posts and you're applying under partnership so you may be granted a PRV straight off depending on how long and where you've been together. The two year stuff above may not be relevant to you...