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Citizenship residence requirement changes in April 2010
The residence requirement for obtaining citizenship by grant changes on April 21 and people who are eligible under the existing three-year residence requirement should apply now.
The residence period was extended from three years to five years in 2005, but a transitional rule was put in place so that some people could still apply under the old three-year requirement. That transitional period is now ending.
If you received permanent residence or had a successful application accepted by Immigration New Zealand before 21 April 2005, you could be eligible for a grant of citizenship after living here for three years.
However, from 21 April 2010, every permanent resident applying for grant of citizenship must have had permanent residence for five years.
You are most likely to be affected by the rule change if you had your permanent residence application accepted by Immigration New Zealand before 21 April 2005, but did not receive permanent residence for several months or more after that date.
If you are in this situation, you might already be eligible under the three-year residence requirement and could meet the residence requirement for a grant of citizenship now. However, from 21 April 2010 you could become ineligible and would have to wait until five years after you received permanent residence before becoming eligible again.
For example, if Immigration New Zealand accepted your permanent residence application on 20 April 2005, but you did not receive permanent residence until 20 April 2006, you could be eligible for a grant of citizenship now. However, if you do not submit your citizenship application before 21 April 2010, the five year requirement will apply, and you will have to wait until 2011 before becoming eligible again.
None of the other requirements for a grant of citizenship - such as being able to speak adequate English, being of good character (which generally means having no criminal convictions), intending to continue to live in New Zealand and understanding the responsibilities and privileges of New Zealand citizenship - are changing.
Applications can be sent by post or delivered to Internal Affairs offices in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch.
You should first check whether you can meet all the requirements. You can find more information at www.citizenship.govt.nz, including a calculator you can use to check your eligibility.
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