Replacement Visas

We got my wifes passport back and today I nipped into New Zealand House on Haymarket in central London to get a replacement Residence Visa and Returning Resident's Visa (RRV). Fortunately my firm has an office on South Bank, only a few minutes walk away, so I didn't have to take a half-day off work . It was a beautiful day to walk across London though, with blue skies and warm, maybe a bit too warm, temperatures.

The staff at Immigration New Zealand were very friendly and helpful and within half an hour, relieved of £35, I was out of the building with a fresh set of Visas.

For anyone wanting to call in person you can just drop in and talk with an Immigration Officer, though I made an appointment. When I was there mid-week there were only a handful of people in the entire time I was waiting, but I bet that gets a lot busier at other times. They have a desk for Temporary Visas (which includes transfers of RRV to new passports) and one for Permanent Visas. You take a ticket, colour coded red or blue according to which desk you need to visit, and wait while watching a big plasma screen flashing up facts about NZ. If you do have an appointment, I'd suggest you mention that to security downstairs as when you get up to the Immigration section there isn't a reception desk to report to, just the ticket machine.

Something I learnt today, New Zealand House stands on the site of the old Carlton Hotel and a blue plaque marks the fact that supposedly Ho Chi Minh worked there in 1913! I'm not quite sure how most Kiwi's feel about this, given the countries history inVietnam, and given the apparently unverified nature of the assertion I wonder if there are politics in play.