Getting New Zealand Citizenship

June 2012: We are now officially Kiwis, we now have citizenship after living here for almost 6 years. To apply one must have lived in NZ and possessed a permanent residency visa for at least 5 years. The cost of the application is $470.

If you have broken the law (including speeding tickets), these can way against you. I got my acceptance 2 weeks before Terri, because she had to sort out her speeding tickets in the last 2 years, more than 2 or 3 and she would have to postpone her application.

You can obtain the relevant application forms from here: http://www.dia.govt.nz/Services-Citizenship-Citizenship-Application-Fees-and-Forms?OpenDocument#three.

After filling out the forms, you then make an appointment to see a case officer.

We decided to attend the ceremony at the Waikato Council Offices, some of the larger centres go on for hours. Our ceremony lasted 30 mins., then tea and nibbles, all very civilised.

Waikato Mayor and us two