Visa Transfer
You may remember that we recently got my son a new passport. There is one additional step necessary as an American living in New Zealand I needed to do: transfer my son’s visa to his new passport. While not complicated and free for an eVisa, it does take some time and planning to get it done. I knew I wanted to get this step done right away so I wouldn’t have to worry about it if we decided to travel again soon.
First, I checked the INZ website for all of the details. I have never needed an actual visa label in my passport, so the free eVisa option is what we’ve always done. The form to fill out is the INZ 1023. This is a very straightforward form that should only take a few minutes to complete.
Next, I made copies of both the data pages of the old and new passports. Then I took both the photocopies and the original old and new passport to a justice of the peace, or JP as they are commonly referred to here. There are many people who are JPs who will charge you for their time, but I’ve found the free JPs who rotate through the Auckland library system to be extremely easy to use. There is a comprehensive list of where JPs can be found on any give day here. After letting the JPs know that I need a certified copy, they examine the copies versus the originals, put their stamp on the copies, and ask for some basic information to enter into their log. At most I’ve had this process take ten minutes simply because I had to wait for people to go before me. It typically takes longer to get to the library than to see the JP.
Next I took the certified copies and the completed INZ1023 to a Kiwipost. I always send using tracked mail so I know when my documents were received. I had a momentary freak out when I checked the form for the mailing address, then realized the Wellington address was not the one to send my package to. I needed the address off of the INZ website which took forever to load in the Kiwipost. I mailed my paperwork on a Wednesday and it was delivered Friday morning.
At this point there is nothing to do but wait. There is a link with processing times here, but they aren’t entirely accurate. I called INZ on business day 10 after I hadn’t heard anything regarding the visa transfer, and the lovely woman on the other end of the line was able to tell me that it wasn’t processed yet, but don’t be worried until a month has passed. She also asked if I had upcoming travel and made it sound like she could perhaps expedite things if there was an imminent trip (there wasn’t).
I hung up the phone and decided I didn’t need to obsessively check the junk folder of my email anymore, and low and behold, four days later the visa transfer came through.
Here’s my disclaimer: I am not an immigration advisor or lawyer. This is simply my own experience transferring visas. Please do your own due diligence to make sure you do everything appropriately for you.
