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Booted or Booty: NZ Visas

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As an American, you can enter New Zealand with an NZeTA which will give you a 3-month visa (if you enter by airplane, cruise ship, or private yacht.)   If you plan to stay longer than 3-months, which most cruisers do, you have to then apply for a tourist visa which will give you an additional 6 month stay. Most countries will allow you to extend your visas, especially if you are spending money in their country.

However, NZ allows Americans to either stay 9 months in an 18 month period or 12 months in a 24 month period (see here).  Here is where we run into a problem and face possible expulsion from this amazing country.

Last season we arrived in early November and left in early July.  Matt never left NZ while I flew back and forth to the states several times (as my dad was very ill).  By the time we left, Matt had spent just over 8 months and I had spent about 6 months in NZ.  Well shoot.  Even if we got approval for the 12 months in a 24 month period visa that is not enough time for us.  It would have us leaving in February which is the peak of cyclone season.  So, we need to do something to fix our visas.

Booted or Booty?

Seems so strange to me that NZ would kick us out considering how much money we spent last season and this season on repairs and upgrades.  But thems the rules.  So, we had to decide…do we return and schedule a lot of work costing a lot of money with the hopes that we won’t get booted?

We decided to take the risk.  Here is what we had to do to get an extended visa.  It is a long process that wasn’t cheap.

Visit the NZ Immigration website.  You complete a very long online application, upload about a dozen documents, pay money, get a complete physical and medical check, pay more money, and wait.

Application Process

Reach out to us if you are interested in learning how to properly complete this application or hire an immigration agent to assist you.

The application inquires about standard information on you, your boat, and your spouse. They ask about your health, financial status, criminal background, and more.  Nothing is sacred.

It requires proof and uploads of financial status (past 3 months), proof of the value of the boat (insurance documents work), proof of marriage (if applicable and applying as a married couple), scans of passport bio page, boat registration, temporary import entry (TIE), and completion of the INZ 1224 form.

In addition you have to upload a photo of yourself in front of a non-white, solid color background, not smiling, with hair behind your ears, solid color shirt, and a very specific pixel size.  It was such a pain to get this just right.  The system rejected a dozen of our photos!

Medical

NZ is a socialized medicine country which means they don’t want their tourists to be a burden on their society. Our visas required us to get a complete physical.  We went to Rust Avenue Medical as they were able to get us in quicker than White Cross in Whangarei.  Even though it was quicker, it was still a 2-week wait.  This was rather a long process and took us about 2.5 hours and cost $300USD per person.  They did a urine test, checked our vitals, asked us a dozen questions, asked us to do basic physical activities (bend over, touch toes, etc…), eye exam, listened to our heart & lungs.

From there, we walked two buildings down the road to the pathology lab and had a full blood test run (including for Hepatitis B & C, HIV, Syphilis, HvA1C, and full blood count).  This took about 45 minutes, no appointment needed, and cost $250USD per person.

Next we went to TRG Imaging which is next to White Cross in Whangarei.  We had to get chest x-rays.  We walked in without an appointment and were done within 15 minutes, the cost $250USD each.

The medical facilities all uploaded the results to the immigration website.  Within 24 hours we were notified that immigration had all of our results.  Now that is fast!

The Waiting Game: Visas 

It is a bit nerve racking as you wait for your visa approval.  Supposedly, if your application is submitted and is in process you don’t have to worry, even if your NZeTA expires.  But that is a big “supposedly”

The other interesting thing is that our NZeTA visas are good for 2 years.  So, our NZeTA is valid until 29 September 2024.  Which means technically you can enter, leave and re-enter for another 3-months as long as this NZeTA is valid.  But what I don’t know is how this works when your standard tourist visa expires.  Surely their system shows that we have both an NZeTA and a tourist visa and we try to enter on the NZeTA with an expired Tourist Visa they will stop us?  So many questions….

We finally had a reply three weeks after our medical records were submitted to immigration.  The email was non-descript and short.  It did not have any hints as to whether we will be denied and booted from NZ or accepted to stay.  I opened the attachment with such trepidation and anxiety!  

Kicked Out ?

We were ACCEPTED!  Thank God!  Not only that, but we were given a multiple entry (so I can fly back to the States).  Usually this type of visa is a one entry visa meaning you only can enter once and being that we were already here we could not leave and come back during this visa period.  So, lucky for us we got multiple entry so I can fly back to the states and return to my boat.

We feel so blessed to have been approved and look forward to exploring the NE shores of NZ!

Our blog posts run 10-12 weeks behind actual live events.  This blog took place in November.  Several beastly boat projects get completed in the last blog post.

Tourist or Alien?

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Is a tourist an alien or vice versa?  Like, the United States, all other countries require a visa to stay for an extended period of time.  We had a fun journey obtaining our long stay visas for French Polynesia.  We applied in Chile for the short stay visa (3-months) which is required before you arrive.  Well, actually you can apply for the short stay visa in Panama, Mexico, Canada, U.S.A, and a few other countries.  But this step must happen before you enter French Polynesia (FP).

In Chile, we completed a rather large application, submitted copies of our entire passport, provided a list of all the countries we have visited in the last 2 years (with dates of entry and exit), boat registration, boat insurance, proof of financial independence (last 3 months of finances), marriage certificate, and a letter explaining why we wanted to stay in the country for an extended period of time.  Not difficult, but time consuming.

Once we arrived in FP, we had to apply for our carte dejur (CD) which would allow us to stay for up to one year.  We used Tahiti Crew Agency as our agent to help facilitate the process and they were wonderful.  It took two months, but we received our CDs and were good to go for a year (12 April 2019 – 11 April 2020).  Tourist with a year visa!  Fast forward, to our renewals.

Renewals

The long-stay visa renewal process is very specific.  As an American tourist, we can only renew our CD’s (carte de juer’s) in Nuku Hiva, Marquesas or Papeete, Tahiti.  You can use an agent or do it yourself, but you have to show up in person once (either to drop off the paperwork or to pick it up).  Typically, you have to wait until 2 months prior to the expiry date to renew your CD.  That would mean we would have to wait until February, 2020.  But the problem was that we were planning on being in the Gambiers in February which is well over 1000nm from Nuku Hiva and Tahiti. 

Several of our cruiser friends renewed their CDs early (while in Tahiti).  Hmmmm, can you do that? I thought you had to wait until 2 months prior to the renewal date?  We waited to see what would happen and wouldn’t you know it, they received their renewals 3 weeks later.  Awesome!  So, while we were in Papeete in September we decided to give it a try (keep in mind this is 7 months before our expiry date).  We went to the Haute Commissionaire’s office in downtown Papeete with Agape, another boat, and all of our CD renewal paperwork.

Submission

When we met with the only English-speaking official, Teava, he stated that we could indeed turn in our paperwork early, no problem.  As a tourist, I am extra anxious to follow the rules, so I double checked again before handing him the documents and he ensured me that it would be no problem.  It is September and we were not supposed to turn the application in until February.  But he said really this is a good thing, we will send this to you in Nuku Hiva by mid-November.  Excellent!  We were supposed to receive an email telling us when they were ready.  After 8 weeks and no response, I sent a few emails.  No response.  Oh no!

Nuku Hiva, Marquesas

Matt and I arrived in Nuku Hiva (NH) right after Turkey day and I went straight to the Haute Commissionaire’s office to inquire about our CD renewals.  The official was extremely nice, but stated they were not there.  He offered to email his comrade in Papeete to inquire.

The Papeete official responded and it was not good.  He stated that the CDs were not ready and we should not of submitted our paperwork until February.  He did not tell me what to do.  Do I wait, do I submit another application packet, do I need an agent, or will they be approved as is?  Yikes.  I went back to the official in NH and asked what to do and he said wait, they should be ready by the end of the year.

Delays, delays, delays

At the beginning of January, I went to see the local NH official again.  He told me he was scheduled to go on holiday until the end of the month but would send another email.  The official was very nice, but not very optimistic.  He stated that I should NOT resubmit another application or use an agent to assist me.  I should just “wait.”  However, he was concerned about completion of the application because FP was holding their huge election in March and the ENTIRE government would be working on the election.  What, are you kidding me?  He said it would not be surprising for our tourist application to be unfulfilled by the expiry date of April.  OMG!

1-Month Later

Our friends (on Agape) who dropped off their CD renewal application on the same day as we did received their approval email.  Super excited for them, but we got nothing.  The local official said he could get us a letter that would give us an extra 6-months, but it would not allow me to leave the country.  was made to just ride it out, be patient and wait to hear from the main office.  I will email the Papeete office if I have not heard from them by the end of February (decision made early February).

Letter: A Recepisse de Demande de Renouvellement de Carte de Sejour:  Good or Worthless?

This header translates to “Reception of Renewal of Carte de Sejure” (our long-stay visa).  Does that sound like an authorization to stay in the country longer?  It reads to me as “hey Christine we received your application and we are working on it.”  In fact, several French people translated the letter for me and confirmed that it indeed states what I thought “we received your application and it is in process.”

So, what’s the story of this letter?  After we left the Marquesas, the Nuku Hiva official, Raimano Lucas sent an email to us with this provisional letter called “Recepisse de Demande.” He said it will allow us to stay in FP for an additional 6-months.  It will NOT however allow us to re-enter the country if I leave after our original expiry date of 11 April.  However, I sent the letter to Kevin at Nuku Hiva Yacht Services (an agent) to ask him what he thinks and he said that the letter should allow me to leave and re-enter, even if I do not have my Carte Dejour (CD) renewal stamp.  Hmmmm.  Communication issue maybe? 

I asked another agent, Tahiti Crew to translate my letter and basically it states that our CDs are in process and we can legally stay in FP until 11 Oct. However, it will not allow us to re-enter the country if we leave after our original expiry date of 11 April.  Great fun being a tourist in need of a long-stay visa.

Tracking Down the Original Letter

Considering I still have not heard back from the Tahiti official, I asked Kevin to pick up the original letters and air freight them to Tahiti Crew in Papeete, Tahiti.  I can at least pick them up before I leave and have them on my person while I travel.  It’s unfortunate, that it took Raimano 3 months to get this letter and he receives it 2 days after we leave.  So, now I have to pay two agents and shipping to get the original in my hands.

For whatever reason, after six weeks from my original request, Kevin was unable to collect our original letters.  He informed me that Raimano, the Nuku Hiva official, sent them to his colleague in Tahiti.  Great, now I need to track a stranger down.  This is just a $hit $how!  At least I don’t have to pay for the two agents or the shipping fees.

I realize that the letters will not allow me to travel and they are not an answer to our visa issue, but it is all I have right now.  And if it is all I have; I at least want the originals.  Ugh.

Tahiti Crew to the Rescue

We used Tahiti Crew as our agent when we applied for our original tourist visas (long-stay CDs).  I reached out to Tahiti Crew in early March to ask them if they could help me with our CD renewal.  She asked that I reach out to her 2 weeks prior to my trip if I had not heard from the officials.

Fast forward a month and we are waist deep in the corona virus chaos.  Tahiti Crew instructed us to use the “letter” that we received as proof that we can legally be in FP.  However, she confirmed that I cannot return to FP if I leave.  So, she visited the Haut Commissionaire’s office in Papeete to inquire about our CD renewals.

What she learned is troublesome.  Because of the corona virus, the French Poly Govt. has stopped issuing tourist visas (new and renewals).  No more, nothing.

I’ve stopped worrying about it as we cannot leave FP right now.  In fact, even if we could leave, we cannot go anywhere as the countries we want to visit are closed (Palmerston, Niue, Tonga, Fiji, and New Zealand).  So, we will sit and wait to see what happens with the Covid-19.

No News is Good News

Here we are a month after our original expiry date and I feel like an illegal alien.  I guess technically, we are not illegal as we have a letter allowing us to stay until 11 October 2020.  The sense of urgency has dwindled since my April trip to the States and Italy was cancelled.

Tahiti crew followed up stating that I could return if I need to leave during the interim 6-month period.  However, we are not comfortable traveling after hearing “no” from multiple sources.  

As of May, a month past our expiry date with a letter allowing us to stay until 11 October.  The French Government is starting to go back to work so maybe we will receive our official CD renewal in the next few months.  Become a legal tourist??

Of course, in a perfect world, the quarantine will be lifted.  The islands between French Polynesia and New Zealand will open up and accept pleasure vessels.  If this happens, we would leave FP in July. With a stop in the Cook Islands, Tonga, and Minerva Reef before arriving in New Zealand by early December.

Yeah!  Score!

We arrived back in Tahiti July 2020 and stopped by the Haute Commissionaire’s office.  It took some sweet talking, lots of smiles and a little patience, but we finally got our renewal paperwork.  We are official until 11 April 2021

Official CDs with stamps

Official CDs with stamps

Paso Canoas in Costa Rica

Visa Renewal To Become a Tico

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Costa Rica allows U.S. citizens to remain in their country for a 90-day period.  We arrived at the end of April so our 90-day period was set to expire at the end of July.  However, by mid-July the repairs on our boat had not commenced, so we had to think about visa renewals stat!

Technically, my visa started over when I flew back to the states to see my doctors in June, but Matt needed to renew his visa. So, we decided we needed to make a road trip to Panama for an out of country small shopping trip.  We rented a car from Economy which was a small pain in the a$$.  We did a lot of research online only to be told completely different information upon picking up the car.  You can rent the car for $6/day but the insurance required brings up the daily total to $60/day. And there is a 3-day minimum.

We got up early the next day, hopped in our little SUV and started our 3 hour journey to Panama (time: 0515).  It was a relatively easy route, hop on hwy 34 to hwy 2 until it ends at the border.  We traveled through beautiful country, palm tree farms, lush, green hills, and beautiful coastal villages.

Hwy 34 Costa Rica to Panama

Hwy 34 Costa Rica to Panama

Average speed limit was 60-80 kilometers which is roughly 40-50 mph.  Not very fast, but the roads are curvy with lots of twists and turns.  In addition, you are dealing with motor bikes, bicycles, pedestrians, horse back riders, tractors, and 18-wheelers in your lane.  Made for an interesting trip for sure.

0900.  Upon arrival, we missed our designated secure parking lot.  But, a very eager and aggressive parking attendant encouraged us to park on this corner with about 10 parking spots.  He put a large construction barrel (cone) in front of our car – encouraging or scary?  We paid him $10 to watch the car (the parking fee was $6).  We later found the elusive secure parking lot.  It had been blocked by charter buses and its sign was half falling down.  Oh well.

We are in the small border town of Paso Canoas in the Costa Rica.

Paso Canoas in Costa Rica

Paso Canoas in Costa Rica

One of our local friends told us to pay our “exit fee” first, then go to clear out of the country.  So, we searched for the little office across the street.  Had we not known to do this step, we would have missed it for sure.  This little window handled copies, public service, internet, and the exit tax.

Exit Tax Payment Center Costa Rica

Exit Tax Payment Center Costa Rica

The “impuesta de salida” or “exit tax” is only $8/pp, but you have to pay it before going to immigration.  Then you take your receipt across the street and head to the salida line.  They were very efficient in processing people in and out.

Once we cleared out of Costa Rica, we walked across the border to Panama.  The Panama border was elaborate with a huge wall marking the entrance and exit into the country.  There were not many people there when we arrived so our visa process was relatively easy.

I happened to look up at the clock and realized that Panama was an hour ahead of Costa Rica.  So, we cleared in at 0945 which is important as we need to stay in Panama for 5 hours and we wanted to catch the World Cup games that started at 12.

Immigration Costa Rica and Panama

Immigration Costa Rica and Panama

The only snag was with Matt’s passport.  He has an “extended” passport with extra pages and a few countries skipped a few pages.  So as you flip you have a dozen stamped pages, then a few blank ones, then a few more with stamps.  The immigration officer did not like this and took a good 15 minutes to exam each page.  After speaking to his manager, he took Matt’s fingerprints, asked his profession, and gave him a visa stamp.  Luckily, for me, it only took 4 minutes to process my visa.

Now, it was shopping time.  It is about a 50-60% savings when you purchase items in Panama vs Costa Rica.  Unfortunately, we do not need a lot right now with the boat on the hard, but we can always find something.

There are two malls on the border: Mall Jerusalem de Panama and City Mall.  In addition, there are hundreds of small vendors along the way and on many side streets.  We started at Mall Jerusalem de Panama as it was closest to the border entrance.  It was basically a two-story building with a market, clothing, furniture, housewares, and hardware.  A little bit of everything.  We made notes of what we might want and their prices and set off to City Mall to compare prices.

As we headed to City Mall, we realized we were uncertain as to what country we were in.  Each building lies on the border, so you enter in on the Panama side and exit on the Costa Rica side.  We were so confused one time, that we had to refer to the license plates on the cars to figure out what country we were in!

We finally made it to City Mall and it was more of the same.  A giant two-story building with a market, clothing, furniture, house wares, and hardware.

City Mall in Panama

City Mall in Panama

We were getting hungry and figured it was close to game time, so we asked a tico where we could find a place to eat with a TV.  She told us to go back to Costa Rica, down the street, to a place called Pizza Fabo.  It was 12n, not a soul in the restaurant and a soap opera on the TV.  Hmmm.

After a lot of back and forth, we realized that the game started at 1300 in Costa Rica, so we sat down, ordered a pizza and waited.  Good thing too as it as storming and we really did not want to walk around in the rain.

Pizza was fabulous and Croatia beat England!  Now, it was time to purchase our items.  We stopped by a liquor store where we picked up (5) liters of Stoli for $10/ea and (5) bottles of Rose for $8/ea.  Huge score considering the liter of Stoli is $30 in CR.  We walked across the border, dropped the liquor off to the car and headed back to Panama.

Next, we hit the market and stocked up on a few essential items.  We loaded the car up again and headed back to the Panama Immigration station to clear out of Panama.  Simple enough process, a lot of please and thank yous and we were done.

We walked back to the Costa Rica immigration station where they asked to see our return tickets back to the U.S.  Luckily, we had anticipated this and purchased one way tickets from CR to MIA earlier in the morning.  We showed our itinerary and she stamped each visa with another 90-days.  Whew.  Some countries, require you show proof of leaving their country (so you don’t stay indefinitely).

Armed with new 90-day visas, we headed back to the car to make our 3-hour drive back to Quepos.  On our way back, we stopped in Domincal for a well deserved drink at beach bar during sunset.  Tortilla Flats caught our eye, so we bellied up to the nearly empty bar.

Tortiall Flats in Domincal, Costa Rica

Tortiall Flats in Domincal, Costa Rica

What a long day!  But a successful adventure.  Not sure why GoogleMaps shows it as over 5 hours, it was only a little over 3 hours.  Of course, we may have bumped up our speed to 100 kilometers a few times (62 mph).

As most of you know, our blogs are several weeks, if not months behind “real time.”  As it turns out, we will have to renew our visas a third time in early October.

Travel to Panama

Travel to Panama

In foreign countries, you often find things that make you ask “why” like this pairing of a juicer with toilet paper.

What the heck??

What the heck??

In case you are wondering what a “Tico” is – a local.