Right of Abode Expiry

[rick110]

I’m a NZ citizen and currently have a right of abode visa through my mother for the UK. My passport expires in April next year. I wish to renew my passport now however as it is not in great shape following a run in with some water and I am traveling in October. As the certificate of entitlement to the right of abode in my passport expires when my passport expires my question is will I need to apply for a new right of abode certificate when I get my new passport or can I wait until my current passport expires in April? I don’t plan to stay in the UK past April next year so would rather not have to apply for a new one.

[Mr Rusty]

As you say, the RoA certificate expires upon expiry of the passport in which it is endorsed. Normally, when a new passport is issued, the old one is cancelled, i.e. it's expired, and the passport authority puts a stamp in it to that effect. If this is the case, then you couldn't rely on the certificate's continued validity. Perhaps you should give the NZ Consulate a ring and ask them what their practice is.

If you are going away in October and planning finally to leave in April, depending on how long your trip is in October, you might just return then for 6 months as a visitor, although I guess you may be working, which would disqualify you on that score.

The irritating thing is that although you have a bit of paper which will "expire", your Right of Abode acquired from your mother's ancestry doesn't change and shouldn't be denied to you. Unfortunately the level of document abuse has brought in the limitation on validity, and it might not be rewarding to try and argue your rights with an Immigration Officer on the basis of an expired document. If you want to return for anything other than a holiday, you may just have to bite the bullet and apply for another certificate.

Moral:- don't put your passport in the wash, drop it down the bog, whatever.

[wf]

As you say, the RoA certificate expires upon expiry of the passport in which it is endorsed. Normally, when a new passport is issued, the old one is cancelled, i.e. it's expired, and the passport authority puts a stamp in it to that effect. If this is the case, then you couldn't rely on the certificate's continued validity. Perhaps you should give the NZ Consulate a ring and ask them what their practice is.

When renewing a NZ passport (did it late last year), you do not need to send the old one it, they just send you a 'cancelled' sticker to put on it, though they have no way of ensuring that you do so.

The irritating thing is that although you have a bit of paper which will "expire", your Right of Abode acquired from your mother's ancestry doesn't change and shouldn't be denied to you. Unfortunately the level of document abuse has brought in the limitation on validity, and it might not be rewarding to try and argue your rights with an Immigration Officer on the basis of an expired document. If you want to return for anything other than a holiday, you may just have to bite the bullet and apply for another certificate.

Made worse by NZs ridiculous 5 year passport validity period, with start date of new passport as the date of application, rather than expiry of old one as in the UK.