BritboyNZ

> My question is - will this provision apply retrospectively

As the Bill stands now, the provisions relating to eligibility for NZ Citizenship will come into force from 1st Jan 2005, or possibly later if the bill is delayed in parliament for some reason.

If you are eligible for NZ Citizenship it would be sensible to apply now (or as soon as you become eligible). Providing you submit your application before 1st Jan 05 it will be assessed against the present law.

I'm all for the changes - remember that other countries have similar waiting periods for citizenship. For the UK its 5 years, the same for the States from memory. If this law reduces the number of people using NZ purely as a 'backdoor' into Australia then thats a good thing. For those who are committed to NZ, the changes certainly won't cause any hardship - you just have to wait an exta 2 years before being able to travel on an NZ passport.

What concerns me more are the provisions to make NZ passports valid only for 5 years. True enough, this will make NZ passports a lot less desirable to fraudsters and dodgy nations (yes you israel) - why spend significant amounts of time and money forging a document that is only valid for 5 years when there are other, just as useful passports (eg Australian ones hahah) that are valid for longer. Because Internal Affairs charge for NZ passports on a cost recovery basis, (ie the $71 for a NZ passport is, so they say, the actual cost of producing it) there very likely won't be a reduction in cost to offset the inconvenience of having to re-apply every 5 years. I can definitely see many more ruined holidays/altered business trips because people forgot about the changes and assumed their passport was still valid when it had actually expired. Plus when you consider that a lot of countries insist that you have a passport with at least 6 months validity remaining after your intended departure date, the changes will in reality make NZ passports only useful for 4.5 years. Another stealth tax anyone?

Russ

Bj

Bobs <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected] ink.net>...
    > Tarla wrote:
    >
    > > On Wed, 04 Aug 2004 02:48:44 GMT, "Singh" <[email protected]> wrote:
    > >
    > >
    > >>what are the chances of this bill passing ??
    > >>Issue of conern to me is Citizenship as a PR will increase from 3 to 5
    > >>yrs....
    > >>is it a Labor and opposition party backed bill ??
    > >
    > >
    > > Why would it concern you? Don't you plan to live here for the rest of
    > > your life? Two more years passes in a blink.
    >
    > On the first plane to Australia, perhaps? A family of a friend of mine
    > did that. Get NZ Cit, get the passports, and off to Aussie to live.
    >
    > >
    > >>

It is known fact that kiwis and migrants are crossing over to OZ.
Imagine 10% of the population of NZ is in OZ. Before blaming
squarely on migrants, anybody had any statistic of the breakdown? Who
are to blame for this issue?? Isn't NZ
good enough?



    > >>http://www.knowledge-basket.co.nz/gp...s/20041481.txt
    > >>
    > >>
    > >>
    > >
    > >
    > > --
    > > Tarla
    > > ****
    > > If chopped, blended,liquefied and poured into large milkshake glasses,
    > > the average human body would serve 16 people.
    > > (Cannibal Quarterly)

Neil Raines

    > It is known fact that kiwis and migrants are crossing over to OZ.
    > Imagine 10% of the population of NZ is in OZ. Before blaming
    > squarely on migrants, anybody had any statistic of the breakdown? Who
    > are to blame for this issue?? Isn't NZ
    > good enough?
Australian wages are higher, and with more jobs, opportunities are greater.
There are also tens of thousands of Australians living in NZ.

infinity

We me and my wife looking to move to NZ end of next year, this change in policy worries me.

I assume that excluding those 240 days a year (over 5 years) you have to be in NZ, the other remaining 125 days you come return to the UK and it not affect your residency application?

Cheers folks!