partnership 1/2 year working visa advice please

[stevekelly]

Hi there,

This is my first post on this great forum which so far has helped me a lot in clarifying things that have been causing me great confusion with regards to NZ immigration.

I wonder if anybody out there could help me with the points I have outlined below, as I'll be honest I'm so confused over the whole thing and keep getting conflicting information from different people. Any light the community here could shed on these questions would be so greatly appreciated!

I'll briefly explain the situation I'm in to give a better understanding. I'm a 35 yr old uk citizen who met and started a relationship with a lovely kiwi girl in the uk in September 2007 while she was over on her OE. Her visa expired and she had to head home to NZ in Dec 07 (I know it wasn't a great time to start a relationship with so little time left, but these things happen I guess) and after much discussion I decided to go back with her and spent until the end of Feb 08 with her in NZ on a uk visitors visa. I then went to Oz to visit some family and returned to NZ in early May 08 and spent another 2 weeks with her before heading home to the UK.

We decided we wanted to keep out relationship going as it was strong enough so embarked on the difficult task that is a long distance relationship. I returned to NZ to spend xmas and new year 08/09 with my girlfriend for a exactly a month before returning home due to work commitments. I then returned on another visitors visa in Oct 09 and I'm still here on this visa now, but only just as it expires on March 17th.

I have decided with my girlfriend that I would like to work towards making it a permanent move. During our 2 and a half years together we have plenty of evidence that we were in a relationship together (flights togther, hotel bookings, numerous photographs while I was in NZ and then phone calls every weekend, texts every day, numerous emails while we were apart) and can get plenty of testimonies to verify our relationship too.

The questions I have now which are causing me great confusion and concern are as follows:

1. Would I be right in thinking we have enough for me to apply for a partnership working visa, whether it be a 1 year or 2 year one that is issued? I keep getting told that we have to have lived together for at least 12 months and be able to prove this to NZIS to be able to apply, but after reading a lot of posts on this forum I'm sure that this is only necessary when you are applying for permanent residency. Am I correct in thinking this?

2. Do I need to get a job offer to apply for the 1 yr or 2 yr working partnership visa?

3. With my relationship history as I have described and the kind of evidence I have stated I can provide to prove it, do you think it would be likely we would be successful, or am I falling short somewhere and it's not worth even applying?

4. As my current visitors visa expires on March 17th I have only 1 month left, and I think I'm going to be pushing it to get the application in with all the correct evidence etc, especially as I want to apply for a police check from the uk and get the necessary medical certs in the hope of getting 2 years instead of 1 (I have no crim record or medical issues by the way so should be fine there). Would it therefore be advisable for me to apply for an extension to my holiday visa in order to give me enough time to do the partnership visa properly? I really dont want to risk overstaying while I'm waiting for the application to come back, especially if it's declined as I'll be in right hot water then I would assume?

I found this on the NZ Govt immigration website :

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...asavisitor.htm

Sadly it says nothing about how to apply. I was told I needed to complete form 1111 (I'm currently residing in Auckland at my girlfriends rented property) but when I looked at this form it's about 20 pages long and mentions nothing about visitors visa extension? Have I been pointed in completely the wrong direction? Can anybody tell me exactly what I need to do or point me in the right direction to apply for a uk visitors visa extension, with the view of using the time to apply for a 1/2 year working partnership visa.

Really sorry about the long post but I'm a big fan of carity (which is something that enrages me about the NZ Govt immigration website, it's a nightmare imho!). Any help or clarification would be more welcome than I can describe! I'll be honest it's starting to keep me up at nights with worry (hence posting this at 2.30 am!!)

Thanks a lot in advance

Steve

[JandM]

Hello and welcome, Steve.

About your question 1, you're correct. Look at this page from NZIS http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...milystream.htm about getting a partner-sponsored work permit under the family stream

If you have been in this relationship for less than a year, initially we can only grant you a work visa or permit for up to 12 months. Once you are here, you can apply for further work permits for a total stay of up to two years from your arrival, if:

you and your partner want to stay longer in New Zealand and can show us that you are still in a genuine and stable relationship, or
you apply for residence as a partner.

Your question 2. There's no requirement for a job offer.

Your question 3. Compare what you have with the details in the links from that page above. From what you have said, it looks like a worthwhile thing to do.

From your question 4.

in the hope of getting 2 years instead of 1

In the light of the quote above, I don't think this is going to happen - for a relationship of less than one year's duration (living together) they will only give 1 year initially. So there is less to get together than for a full partnership PR application, which ought to mean you are less pushed for time.

Look at kanatakiwi's post near the bottom on this old thread http://www.enz.org/forum/archive/index.php/t-15859.html - the situation isn't exactly like yours, but they're talking about NZIS saying that once you have an application in progress, overstaying is not going to be an issue. This is something you could check out for yourself directly with an NZIS office.

I found this, here (my bolding). http://www.nzholidayheaven.com/trave...quirements.htm

You may, however, qualify for a further three month extension to your visitor permit after spending the maximum of nine months in New Zealand if:

You have financially supported yourself and you have not been sponsored.
You have lodged a first-time application for residence that has been accepted for consideration, and a decision is unlikely during the currency of your existing permit.
You cannot leave New Zealand because of circumstances beyond your control.

My GUESS is that the details of how to do this are not out and about because it's a fairly rare thing to be granted. Maybe you will only get told how to go about it when you are in direct contact with NZIS about your other application, and if they think that that is not likely to go through in time.

[Flutterby]

there is a clause in the wording somewhere relating to if you cannot spend all your time together which may be relevant, but its fairly unlikely that a work permit will be processed in time so its best to be prepared to return to the uk before aquiring your visa.

Are there age requirements on a WHV as that may be another option to extend your time together.

[Nikki_d72]

Yes, there are age limits on a WHV - it used to be 30, you'd need to check on the website now though.

Given what you've told us, I think your best bet may be to apply for the one-year WP through partnership, I think they can actually process these pretty quickly and you won't have to go through all the Police certs/Medicals etc that take so long. At the end of the year, provided your partner and you are still in a stable relationship, and she meets all the character requirements, as do you, along with the health requirements -then you'll be eligigable to apply for residence. I think given that you are in Auckland, you should go down to the NZIS office and have a word with them, ask them what your options are, they're there to help you. DO NOT OVERSTAY as it will affect any future work or residence application. Good luck, the work one isn't too hideous a form to fill out, I've just done mine. Put in all the evidence you have mentioned and a covering letter basically telling them what you've told us. If you get it, for your year to count towards residency, you need to be able to prove living together, so keep all your bills, rent books etc for your residence application, keep healthy and crime-free and I'm sure you'll be fine!

(all in my opinion, not to be construed as immigration advice)

Good luck!
Nikki

[stevekelly]

Hi everybody,

Thanks to JandM, Flutterby and Nikki for your very helpful advice, it's very much appreciated. Sorry for my slow response to your help, things have been a little hectic as I will explain.

Things have changed slightly now in that I didn't apply for the holiday extension as I had to return to the uk quickly before my normal 6 month holiday visa expired. My mother fell ill unfortunately (everything's ok though) so as a result I needed to get back to see her.

I was in the in the process of getting all the evidence togther with my girlfriend to apply for the 1 yr relationship work permit as discussed, but didn't get it completed and submitted before having to return to the UK.

My question now would be can I can continue with this application when I'm based here in the uk? I think I remember reading somewhere that you have to be living together at the time of the application, or again is this only for PR applications? I don't really have the option of returning on another holiday visa as I've pretty much had my limit on these over 18 months or whatever the period of time is, so I think my only entry back into the country anytime soon will be on a successful 1 yr relationship work permit.

Any advice would be gratefully received

Regards - Steve