tchart: Also unless you're planning on urgent travel is there any need to renew your current passports?

If they get too 'stale', you may have to start the application process of from scratch, costing hundreds of dollars and requiring a bunch of paperwork that you may not have anymore, and will take a lot of time and even more money to get.

Urgent travel is infrequently planned in advance.

If an elderly relative requires care Right Now, it'd be rather awkward if you'd allowed the old passport to go out of date while expecting a shiny new NZ one

PolicyGuy:

tchart: Also unless you're planning on urgent travel is there any need to renew your current passports?

If they get too 'stale', you may have to start the application process of from scratch, costing hundreds of dollars and requiring a bunch of paperwork that you may not have anymore, and will take a lot of time and even more money to get.

Urgent travel is infrequently planned in advance.

If an elderly relative requires care Right Now, it'd be rather awkward if you'd allowed the old passport to go out of date while expecting a shiny new NZ one

freitasm:

 

You don't need to cancel your other passport once you get New Zealand citizenship - unless you are renouncing the other one.

 

That would depend on the country where person is from. Where I'm from, we're deemed to have lost our citizenship if we are to swear allegiance to another country. To keep the original citizenship, we need to go through a bureaucratic process of taking an oath of allegiance to the homeland to re-acquire/retain citizenship then get a new passport =))

allune:

 

freitasm:

 

You don't need to cancel your other passport once you get New Zealand citizenship - unless you are renouncing the other one.

 

 

That would depend on the country where person is from. Where I'm from, we're deemed to have lost our citizenship if we are to swear allegiance to another country. To keep the original citizenship, we need to go through a bureaucratic process of taking an oath of allegiance to the homeland to re-acquire/retain citizenship then get a new passport =))

 

It's little things like that which determine the course of your life.

When I first came to NZ from Sydney, you didn't even need a passport: a NSW driver's license was sufficient evidence of residency for trans-Tasman travel. I know, it seems ludicrous now, but the mid-1970s were simpler times.

Four or so years later, I wanted to travel back to Sydney to visit family.
Oh horror, a Passport is now required!

At the time I was eligible to claim Australian or NZ citizenship, but to "become an Aussie" I was required to formally renounce my UK citizenship (I don't think that's the case now), whereas NZ was quite happy for me to retain dual citizenship.

Hence, I became a Kiwi, and have lived, worked and retired here for over four decades as a proud follower of the All Blacks

allune:

 

freitasm:

 

You don't need to cancel your other passport once you get New Zealand citizenship - unless you are renouncing the other one.

 

 

That would depend on the country where person is from. Where I'm from, we're deemed to have lost our citizenship if we are to swear allegiance to another country. To keep the original citizenship, we need to go through a bureaucratic process of taking an oath of allegiance to the homeland to re-acquire/retain citizenship then get a new passport =))

 

Hence my qualifier is "renouncing" as when you accept another citizenship some countries will assume you have renounced it from your previous homeland/citizenship.

freitasm: You don't need to cancel your other passport once you get New Zealand citizenship - unless you are renouncing the other one.

--> India doesn't allow dual citizenship, so I am planning to renounce it.

tchart: Also unless you're planning on urgent travel is there any need to renew your current passports?

--> As of now there are no plans to travel. However, I was under the impression that we need to have a current(non-expired) passport to get NZ citizenship. Couldn't find anything related in the DIA website.

Rmani:

 

freitasm: You don't need to cancel your other passport once you get New Zealand citizenship - unless you are renouncing the other one.

--> India doesn't allow dual citizenship, so I am planning to renounce it.

 

tchart: Also unless you're planning on urgent travel is there any need to renew your current passports?

--> As of now there are no plans to travel. However, I was under the impression that we need to have a current(non-expired) passport to get NZ citizenship. Couldn't find anything related in the DIA website.

Have dropped them an email, will update once I receive a response.

Rmani:

 

I applied in December 2020, nothing yet. Because of this delay, now I have to renew both wife's & my existing passport ($120 per person) and then transfer the visa to the new passport ($$) and then cancel the passport once the citizenship is approved :(

 

Do you need to transfer your visa to the new passport? We just carry both passports for my daughters UAE visa which is in her expired passport. The authorities here consider that totally fine.

Handle9:

 

Rmani:

 

I applied in December 2020, nothing yet. Because of this delay, now I have to renew both wife's & my existing passport ($120 per person) and then transfer the visa to the new passport ($$) and then cancel the passport once the citizenship is approved :(

 

 

Do you need to transfer your visa to the new passport? We just carry both passports for my daughters UAE visa which is in her expired passport. The authorities here consider that totally fine.

 

Yes, you do Transferring my visa to a new passport | Immigration New Zealand says "If you have renewed your passport, you need to transfer your valid visa into your new passport before you use it to travel. You must inform us if you get a new passport issued so that your records can be updated and you can travel to and from New Zealand."

freitasm:

 

...before you use it to travel...

 

...you can travel to and from New Zealand...

 

Key words here being travel. If youre not travelling then there is no need as far as I can see. The visa does not expire with your passport. The visa only needs to be in a valid passport if you are travelling.

Correct. I assume the OP's intentions of renewing their passport is for proof of citizenship and for travel, the main uses of this document.

Jr11: Citizenship office working on applications during the lockdown or not??

Yes I was contacted in the first week of Level 4 lockdown. The email asked to confirm details. Almost 3 weeks since that email and I haven't heard back.  I would say they are working through lockdown but I don't know at what capacity.