partnership visa and university fees

[rustyxb]

Hey everyone
This is my first time posting on these forums. After reading through many post on this website as well as INZ website and both the immigrations act and education act I still do not quite understand the requirements for becoming a domestic in NZ.

So here's the situation, I am a NZ citizen and have a German girlfriend which I met at the beginning of 2012 well she was in NZ for a year. We are currently researching options for our future with the preferred option being her moving to NZ permanently. The plan would be for her to enter under the work visa for partners so we could complete the required 12 months living together for her to be able to apply for NZ residency.

In the future she plans on undertaking a university degree within NZ. This is where things start to get confusing as from my research I find two different definitions of a domestic student. The education act describes a domestic tertiary student as a holder of a residency class visa then the partnership resident visa would meet this requirement where as the university site I have looked at ask for a permanent residency visa which if I understand correctly is obtained have having a residency visa for two years. From my understanding the reform of the immigration act renamed what was previously known as a permanent resident visa with conditions to a straight residency visa and a permanent residency visa with conditions was renamed to a straight permanent residency visa.

My questions are,

Does the difference in definitions results from this change in terminology?

And if so it it possibly to study as a domestic student in the two years before permanent residency is achieved with just the normal residency visa?

I have few more questions relating to her immigration but for the moment this is the biggest factor in deciding if she should move her or I to Germany.

Thanks in advance for any help

[JandM]

Does the difference in definitions results from this change in terminology?

Yes. There are plenty of even the NZ government websites which still have the old term up, not taking account of INZ's changes.

However, she won't be eligible for any student loan from the NZ government until she has been in NZ for two years. http://www.studylink.govt.nz/financi...oan/index.html

[rustyxb]

Thanks JandM
Awesome so she would count as a domestic student, student loan isn't needed as we will be able to fund the study ourselves.
My next question revolves around how to go about getting the partnership working visa, we met at the beginning of 2012 when she was travelling around and she spent alot of time at my place of residence in that year but we could not claim as actually living together in the terms INZ is looking for. Currently I am spending 3 months travelling around Europe with her and have been staying at her place of residence in Germany , I am assuming this also does not count as proof of a stable relationship in which we are living together for the process of applying for a partnership working visa.

What would be the options in this case?

Would she have to come back into NZ under a different visa and then apply for partnership visa once we have set up a permanent place of residence for both of us?

We already have both jobs and a place to live sorted, it is just a problem of obtaining a partnership work visa to allow her to work and live in NZ

Again thanks so much for the help

[JandM]

Currently I am spending 3 months travelling around Europe with her and have been staying at her place of residence in Germany , I am assuming this also does not count as proof of a stable relationship in which we are living together for the process of applying for a partnership working visa.

Actually, this can count, if you can amass some evidence. It doesn't matter where you are based, or even that the base is shifting, as long as you can prove that you are together. (I guess you will have found instructions on the INZ website about what evidence will count, and there are old threads on this forum to find.)

Would she have to come back into NZ under a different visa and then apply for partnership visa once we have set up a permanent place of residence for both of us?

Or yes, you could also do this. Your girlfriend could readily go in on a visitor's visa, or (presuming she is below 30) a Working Holiday Visa. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/visit/

[rustyxb]

From our travels (which we are in the first month of) we could provide hotel reservations and photos of us together but in terms of other evidence what would you suggest? And because we are travelling there are no household bills with in our names.

As we still have a few months together travelling before we intend to place the application for the visa any suggestions of evidence that we could amass well travelling very much appreciated

She originally came to NZ on a WHV so that option wouldn't work and the only thing that worries me with the visitor path is from my understanding when you apply for it she must show intent to leave at the end of the visa so therefore would be lying and would also require a return flight?

Thanks again for all your help , will spend some time researching evidence required in more detail

[JandM]

From our travels (which we are in the first month of) we could provide hotel reservations and photos of us together but in terms of other evidence what would you suggest? And because we are travelling there are no household bills with in our names.

Even if you don't have a joint bank account or other card account, you can make a point of EACH paying some bills which relate to BOTH of you. (Okay, there aren't any HOUSEHOLD bills, but you have to stay, and eat, and get shoes repaired or replaced, and do your washing - get creative.) Mobile phone records of calls and texts between the two of you (even if not that many). Have you got life insurance, each with the other as beneficiary? - you could look into getting some - or joint travel insurance?

...the visitor path is from my understanding when you apply for it she must show intent to leave at the end of the visa so therefore would be lying and would also require a return flight?

I'm afraid she may have to be selective with the truth on this one, yes, but she won't be the first or the last. It's a venial sin - 'reason for entry: tourism, visiting partner's family, looking at the possibilities for undertaking further study. And if you find a course you like, madam? - then I'll have to see about getting an appropriate visa.' She'd have to book a return flight or onward flight to somewhere else she has right of entry, but a) many return flights aren't more expensive than singles, and/or b) lots of people in this situation have found flights where the return leg is refundable if not used.

[Mayor]

we have a very similar situation and we still dont understand about the domestic student status. Do you still come under a domestic student with a parntership residency visa, or do you have to wait two years till you get the permanent residency.

[rustyxb]

Hey JandM thanks so much for the previous advice.

We took your advice and have been trying to collect over the last month and a half but I don't think it will be enough to get a partnership working visa before I leave Germany at the end of the month.

Current evidence includes
Receipts or booking references from hostels and hotels for 2 months of travelling ( although they only have one of our names on each of them but are a booking for two)

A German joint bank account that has only been recently opened as we have only recently arrived back in Germany

Photographs from both our travels around Europe and stuff we did in NZ last year

A statement from her family stating that I have been living with her here, there is not tenancy agreement or mail I have received here

A statement from my family in new Zealand stating our relationship

Possible a phone I brought in her name for her that was shipped to the current address using my credit card ( was thinking it might show some form of financial link)

And possibly our Skype logs from the two month we were in separate countries showing Skype conversations every second day, not to sure if Skype logs data for that long ago


I am this is pretty light on showing that we are in a stable relationship with the intent of staying together in the long term so am tending towards the option of her entering on a visitors visa applying from within NZ which leads me to my next questions.

She left NZ after spending a year here on a WHV at the end of october, will this stop her being able to come into the country on the default visa_waiver 3 month visitors visa in the next month or so?
What time frame do you thing is achievable for obtaining a partnership working visa , is 3 months achievable and if not can you easily extend the default 3 months from within NZ?

Once in NZ we would have a tenancy agreement straight away as well as set up and a joint account and possibly transfer one if my cars into both of our names and set up all account to do with our house in both names.

Thanks for all the help and I apologize for the poorly written post

[rustyxb]

we have a very similar situation and we still dont understand about the domestic student status. Do you still come under a domestic student with a parntership residency visa, or do you have to wait two years till you get the permanent residency.

Hey from my research and asking both on this forum and emailing New Zealand universities as well as talking to some students who have had experiences with this I am fairly certain that once you have partnership residency visa you are viewed as a domestic student but you are not entitled to receive the student loan in NZ until you are a permanent resident IE two years after obtaining partnership residency visa.

Hope this helps, sorry I can not say with complete certainty as we have actually tried it yet but let me know how you get on as we are planning on my partner studying after getting the partnership residency visa

[Mayor]

Thanks for the reply but have you tried to get this in writing from immigration new zealand.