New checklist on INZ site ( Partnership / Work Visa )

[doris2181]

Dear all,

New member here and I had some questions hope you guys could give me some help, thanks.

Background:

I'm from Hong Kong, me and my partner who is a NZ citizen met about 2 yrs ago when I'm on holiday visiting my friend in Auckland, although for short time but we quickly fall for each other and I stayed for abt 3 weeks with him in AKL that time.

2 months later, he came to HK visiting me, since then we travelled together on holidays and I went to NZ 4 times in between this 2 years to be staying with him, we try our best to make time together despite living in two different country. Since we met we've spent 4.5 months living together and been in touch by phones, emails, Skype since we met, quite stable throughout the time.

Lately we've decided I should move to NZ to be living with him, I like NZ a lot and there're so much I'd love to do with him and do for him if I can come.

Since we had that in mind, I start to search for more details on INZ official site about how to get to NZ. But I was confused by the information I got and lately I found out the Immigration NZ ( HK branch page ) website has changed and new requests had been added to the application( in my case work visa under partnership ).

We have the form NZIS 1015 ( For Temp Work ) and INZ 1146 ( Partners supporting partnership-based temporary entry ) ready.

The new checklist said we must provide the followings or application will be returned unprocessed if any item is missing.

1.Valid passport and a copy of your identity card
2.A fully completed and signed Work Visa Application Form (INZ 1015)
3.A recent passport-sized photograph
4.Application fee of HKD1,580.
5.Evidence of funds
6.Health requirements, if applicable
7.Character requirements, if applicable

Now based on the new checklist, my questions are:

1) Will they consider our relationship genuine & stable ( for apply a work visa under partnership)?
For the time we spent together, we have emails, air tickets, passport stamps, phone bills, all contact details copy from Skype, photos ( not much only about 20, we together or he and I at same place ) , but we don't have marriage certificate, banks account, shared property.

2) I had most of them ready except the " Evidence of funds " which I never saw it mentioned on other pages, does anyone know what's that? is it details of cash in hand for me and my partner? is there any minimum requirements for funds?

3) The checklist mentioned supporting documents :
1.Evidence that your partner supports your application, in writing
2.Evidence that you and your partner are intending to be in New Zealand for the same period of time applied for by you.

He write a letter tells of our relationship enough? We didn't spend time with each other family coz his is not in NZ and he hasn't meet my family yet, so not photos or letters from them, will that be really important? How to provide evidence of intending to stay in NZ for same time?

4) For our relationship and evidence we had so far, is it enough for me to get a Work Visa to come to NZ for 12/24 months as a start?

5) If I got a work visa from INZ, do I have to come in very short time? can I come a bit later like after 2-3 months? as I will have to finish my current work and organize the move.

Thanks very much for such long post. Any information will be big help.

Cheers
Doris

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

On the point of whether you have enough to gain your temporary work visa (partner), only NZIS can tell you. You may be interested to see you are not the only person with a similar situation at the moment. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....919#post357919 The comment is made there that all the proof of connections while living apart will certainly HELP to show that you have a genuine and stable relationship, but NZIS definitely look for proof of living together. Do you have letters addressed to you both at the same place, or is there someone like a landlord who could write a letter to say that the other partner regularly stayed there?

If they find you are short of this proof, could you go to NZ on a visitor's visa, or a Working Holiday visa http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...dayscheme.htm? Once in NZ, you could immediately start to add to your 'living together' proof, to submit in support of the partner sponsored work permit.

[doris2181]

Dear JandM,

Thanks very much for your quick reply.

Actually I got the same advice from my very best friend who's originally from HK ( now living in NZ for 15+years ). She strongly recommend that I should come to NZ on visitor visa ( HK is visa free country and my HKSAR passport allow me to come for 3 months min ), and then send my application for Work Visa ( under partnership scheme ) at NZ immigration office in AKL.

She suggested that I should extend my visitor visa about a month after my arrival to a 6 months or possibly a max 9 months stay limit.That should be enough time for me to obtain the Temp Work Visa under partnership and to be working here and really " living with my partner " under the same roof, which now I understand it's crucial for my application.

The reason why I'm worry and didn't go for this way yet is because:

~ I wrote an email to INZ on-line help, and they replied as follow, so I thought I can apply from HK office. ( now it seems a bad idea )

My Qs : I noted that in the form INZ1015 Section N, there's a must requirement of " living together " if applying for temporary work visa, since I'm trying to apply for visa to be able to come to NZ living with my partner, will this be a issue for the application?

Answer from INZ : " In this question you will need to write that you have not lived together with your partner for a certain of time but you have lived together while travelling around with him. So if you provide evidence such as airtickets to show where you have travelled together with him that will be fine. "

~ I'm worry that I have no idea of how long it'll take for me to obtain the work visa? / can I really get my work visa? with my visitor visa time limit.
It'll be starting to get difficult for me to spend more than 2 months waiting with no income in NZ and still need to pay for the apartment and bills back in HK.

~ For the application I've just did my Medical and Chest x-ray check ( result will come out in about 1 week ) and the doctor said the report will be sent directly to INZ office Hong Kong branch, if I apply when I'm in NZ, how they gonna do with my medical result in HK?

~ Similar situation with the Police Certificate in HK, not sure if I will collect my document my self, will double check later.

~ I'm older than 30 so cannot apply for working holiday visa, but on the link page you gave me it said a min of NZ$4,200 as funds for those visa, can I consider it the same suggestion of funds if I'm coming on visitor visa?

~ If I come aim for the plan of all this, should I get a return air ticket valid for 1 month or 3 months? what if they Q me at the airport why I stay such long time? ( my longest one time visit in NZ so far is 1 month ).

After visiting NZ several times in past 2 years, I've been taking into a room, ( the INZ office ) when I landed on NZ airport last month.~~ a bit scary~~ They ask my reason of visiting, where I stay etc, I told them abt my partner and so they call him to ask and check, luckily he's just outside the custom waiting for me and I think I answer all questions properly so I'm let go after 2 hours ( incl customs ).

Now, should I suspend my job in HK and start plan to come to NZ ?

Thanks for your help!!

Doris

[JandM]

I sympathize with all the uncertainty you must be feeling. Be assured that EVERYBODY feels nervous, whatever kind of application they are making - feeling the jitters is perfectly normal.

Answer from INZ : " In this question you will need to write that you have not lived together with your partner for a certain of time but you have lived together while travelling around with him. So if you provide evidence such as airtickets to show where you have travelled together with him that will be fine. "

You have the official answer that the proofs you have will be good. I don't see that you need to be concerned, then, about applying right away in HK. They have actually TOLD you you can get your visa based on things as they are right now. So the visitor's visa idea only needs to be a Plan B, or if you get fed up with waiting.

Your friend is right that many people have done as she suggested, entered NZ on a visitor's visa, and applied for the partnership work permit from within NZ. I don't know how long it would take - perhaps your friend does? If your visitor's permit expired before your work visa was granted, I suppose you would need to leave the country to wait. However, we often hear that NZIS are very pro-returning Kiwis and their partners, so this might mean they would try not to have this happen.

If you did decide to apply from within NZ, and your medical and police check had been submitted in HK, I believe that if you let the NZ office know, they can get things sent from HK. Certainly, other forum members have had their whole case transferred from one office to another (for instance, when they moved countries while their application for Skilled Migrant was being processed).

Maybe someone else will know what is the usual level of funding expected on a visitor's visa. When I was about to visit, my son who lives in NZ said if I had a valid credit card, that would be enough proof, and that he'd never heard of anyone arriving on a NOT budget airline being questioned about money - and indeed, the officials didn't mention it.

It must have been frightening to be questioned about your reason for visiting NZ, but like you say, you gave all the right answers, which have the advantage of being true. If anybody wanted to know why you were intending to stay for a long time, IF you end up going in on a visitor's visa again, having your partner there is the best possible reason.

Please notice, nobody is allowed to advise you about this http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=24859, so we definitely don't advise on this forum. But when you've got a big decision to make, it can help to see what other people have done, and what they know. Very best wishes while you make up your mind how to act, and for a really happy life in NZ in due course.

[doris2181]

Thanks again for your quick and such setails reply JnadM,

Now I'm quite clear that there're 2 ways I could go;

1) Apply from HK with all documents I had and wait and see if I can get a Temp Work Visa ( safe financially and better planning for the move ) ; OR

2) Come to NZ again on visitor visa and apply at AKL, prepare some cash in hand and hope to get my visa in time, this seems easier for approval in terms of " Living together " at the time I apply.

Option 1) is my 1st priority for now, I shall discuss with my partner first.

Based on some stories I saw from this forums, I found that some people got different answers / instruction from different officers, so before I go to lodge my application, I think I better do the following:

1) Write an email to INZ on-line help service again, tell them what documents and evidence we had, ask if anything I still needed? Ans see what's they gonna reply to me.

2) Ask again if not living together with my partner at the time will be an issue while I apply for temp work visa under partnership steam. And ( test the water again ) by asking if I could do what many others do by coming to NZ on visitor visa to be "living with my partner" and lodge my app in AKL.

I have to recall one Q's I've asked INZ on-line back last month here:

Q's is: I'm visiting my partner next month, can we go to the NZ immigration branch to get more details and send in our application? or I can only go to HK branch?

They reply to me : You need to submit the application to your nearest Immigration branch. If you come here for a visit with the intention for submitting application for work permit under partnership they may refuse entry as you are travelling to NZ as a tourist and people travelling on this are only here to visit and leave the country. You will not be able to submit application in NZ if you are only visiting for couple of weeks. You will need to submit this application in Hong Kong.

Do you think it's ok to do this way?

I'll continue my story here and hope to give some ideas to others with similar situation as mine.

Thanks again and Cheers
Doris

[JandM]

Q's is: I'm visiting my partner next month, can we go to the NZ immigration branch to get more details and send in our application? or I can only go to HK branch?

They reply to me : You need to submit the application to your nearest Immigration branch. If you come here for a visit with the intention for submitting application for work permit under partnership they may refuse entry as you are travelling to NZ as a tourist and people travelling on this are only here to visit and leave the country. You will not be able to submit application in NZ if you are only visiting for couple of weeks. You will need to submit this application in Hong Kong.

Once again, they have told you quite plainly, submit in HK while you are based there. Only IF you are staying longer term would it be all right (according to their manual, although people do do it) to submit in NZ.

You know, I think you are suffering (like many people do) from a kind of stage fright about starting the process. A fear of the unknown holds them back from setting everything in motion. All your questions to INZ are like trying to see into the future where you HOPE someone is going to be putting those blue stickers in your passport. As you found for yourself on old threads, different people get different replies from different offices at times, depending on how an official interprets what they have said. The only reply that really matters is the one you get from a CO with your actual application and evidence in front of him/her, and the sooner you get those papers in, the sooner you'll have THAT reply. You already have the reassurance that HK office knows about cases like yours and has told you 'that will be fine'. Maybe they won't grant you the longest visa/permit at once, but once you have ANY length of permit, you can renew it from within NZ, all the time adding to the 'living together' time. Good luck!

[doris2181]

Thanks again JandM for your patience and explanation here.

Will figure out what to do and get the ball rolling!!

Cheers

[JandM]

You're welcome.

Do let us all know how you're getting on.

[hoping2win]

Ni Hao Doris! We are in same position as you, my beautiful HK girl came to visit NZ and fell in love with the country and me! She stayed for 7 months and in that time we conceived a lovely little boy! I went to HK for 6 weeks for the birth and now we are planning her return.
We visited the NZ Immigration in HK and they were v helpful, I am filling out forms 1025 and 1146, not sure if she will need a return ticket but no doubt all will be revealed. I console myself with the thought that many couples have done all this before so it is possible?
We plan to rent her apartment in HK out and I think we can manage on my income so no need for a work permit.
Good luck to you and your partner, I can understand wht you want to live in NZ!!

[tweetyhk]

Hi Doris,

I am from Hong Kong too.

This checklist may help: http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=29390

I don't have all the proof they listed in the checklist in my 1st partnership WP application nor the 2nd one. But I gave what I had at that moment to prove. If you don't have those evidence, just explain it in letter. My Work Permit is under my bf's WP. He isn't NZ's residence or citizen.

If you don't have family letters to support your relationship. You can provide letters from your or your bf's friends or work colleagues who know and met you two as couple.

Good luck with your application.

Cheers