Temporary Work Partnership Visa-- Declined.. please help!

[leighify]

I am from the U.S. and my boyfriend is a New Zealand citizen. We have known each other over the internet for 9 years BUT met each other in real life on August 13th, 2011 when I went to New Zealand on a Working Holiday Visa. I lived with him when I moved there and we became official August 17th, 2011 (not wanting to strain my moving their with an official title).
I was not having a large amount of luck with jobs and, though my boyfriend was happy to support me, was feeling a bit guilty. I moved back to Washington state, U.S. on June 26th, 2012 to a job offer I received not realizing that leaving a mere month and a half early would cost me any future visas.
Because I have not lived with my boyfriend for at least a year we do not qualify for any relationship visa and I have no particular skills that New Zealand would want of me. I cannot afford the student rates and do not yet qualify for the visitor visa to the best of my understanding (I am a little hazy on the concept but am under the impression that because I left June 26th, 2012 I cannot return at least until June if not August 2012- when my visa expired).

I am yet to find out the reason I was declined, only that I was declined but am fairly confident that it was because I did not live with him for the full year. With that being the case what are my next steps?

If my boyfriend came to the U.S. on a Working Holiday Visa, would he only need to live with me for another 2 months before we lodged a successful visa?

If I applied for a Working Holiday Visa for Australia and he, being a New Zealand citizen, simply moved there and we lived together there for a few months, would that also meet the minimum requirements?

Is there another visa that I might qualify for that I am oblivious to?

Any suggestions or answers would be most appreciated!

[dharder]

Can't really say a lot about the different possibilities you are listing.

But I do know that in general, they look at the 12 months immediately prior to your application. So six months in one year, then another two in another, and another three yet again probably won't lead to residence based on partnership.

So ideally, you will find a place to live together and stay there as long as you can of those twelve months before you make your next application.

Good luck,
Daniela

[G-Mo]

dharder is right, you need to prove the relationship for the 12 months immediate to applying.

You should apply for the partnership visitors visa, you can enter NZ, live with your partner for 12 months (but not be able to work) until you meet the requirement to apply for a partnership work visa or residence.

[JandM]

would cost me any future visas

we do not qualify for any relationship visa

This is too sweeping. Just because you did not qualify for a visa ONCE does not mean you cannot qualify at some future time. And although you may not qualify right this minute for a visa on account of your relationship does not mean you cannot do if you study the rules and take care to supply the correct evidence.

I am yet to find out the reason I was declined, only that I was declined but am fairly confident that it was because I did not live with him for the full year. With that being the case what are my next steps?

Your heading says that you applied for the partner-sponsored work visa. There is no requirement on that visa that you should have been living together for 12 months. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...milystream.htm In fact, many people on these threads have told of gaining this visa when they have evidence of living together for 2 - 3 months. But as dharder mentioned, it is normal for INZ to look closely at the most recent timespan, so this MAY have been the downfall in your case this time. Or perhaps there was some other reason - you need to see what INZ tells you.

Anyway, wherever in the world you can be together, if you gather the proper evidence (see the details on the INZ website, and old threads on here), you can qualify for the partner-sponsored temporary work visa. It is the partner-sponsored Residence visa which requires 12 months' evidence.

[Suz]

The living together for 1 year applies to residency visas under partnership category. If you had applied for a residency visa, you would have been declined due to not living together for a year. There are definitely other short term visa options under partnership for those that haven't lived together for 1 year.

Given that you have lived together in the past but less than a year, you should be eligible to apply for a work visa under partnership category. I came to NZ, from America, on a visitor visa and during this time applied for a work visa (had to apply for visitor visa extension which was approved to give time for work visa to be processed) - had a work visa in less than 5 months from date of arrival. The work visa was granted as we showed sufficient evidence of our partnership. Just make sure to have documents showing time lived together, evidence of time spent apart (good reasons - ie job) and evidence of communication, etc while apart (my husband and I spent about a year apart in the beginning). Typically if you haven't lived together for a year, they will grant you a 1 year work visa (no conditions on employment). From there, that gives you time to live together and then apply for residency. But you should definitely have options and because you have lived together in the past, you should be able to apply for a work visa from the US (granted you have evidence). Otherwise you can come to NZ on a visitors visa (3 months is what you get upon arrival which can be extended - unless you want to do the partner sponsored visitor visa and then you do need to apply for a visa) and then start applying from there.

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

[leighify]

As an update to this: I was declined because I am not currently living with him. I was suggested by Leon Grice to go on a visitor visa and live with him while lodging the same visa again.
As most of you stated before, it doesn't matter that I didn't stay the year, just that I wasn't currently with him.

My one new question remains:
Am I allowed to visit (not visitor visa, just visit) for 3 months or less as of June 6th,2013 if I left June 26,2012 or must I wait for the full year before visiting? I know that I can successfully apply for a visitor visa but just want to confirm that my simple action of booking a ticket and staying for under three months won't cause any issues.

Is there anything I'd need to do before simply vacationing there for three months (and hopefully reapplying and getting approved for the work visa)?

Thank you for the help everybody. I apologize for my lack of understanding with a lot of this and just don't want to cause any issues.

[leighify]

Thank you so much! How do you go about a visitor visa extension? If I go to NZ without a visitor visa but just as a visit, can the visitor visa extension still be applied for?