Are passports returned quickly?

[RFellen]

Our EOI was accepted June 4 and we are awaiting our ITA (fingers crossed!) but we have a trip to Africa planned in December - right in the middle of the time our ITA will be at the immigration office. Can we ask that our passports be sent right back? How long to they keep our passports?

[LilAmy]

Hi,

With your passports you can actually get them photocopied and get a Justice of the Peace to sign every page (even if they are blank) and then you dont need to send your actual passport away with you.

When you are getting the PR stamp it only took us a week or so to get ours back but we were already in NZ at that point so I'm not sure for other countries how long it will take.

Cheers
Amy

[MotherBear]

As Amy says, you can send in certified copies of your passport instead, although INZ will need the real thing towards the end when they put the blue PR stickers in them.

[Islander]

Also - cause this happened to me - if you let your case officer know you are traveling and provide a copy of the ticket(s), they will rush them back. I think the turnaround was 5 days for me in Auckland.