Showing up as visitor with long-term plans for NZ

[MSK]

If I were to go to NZ as a visitor (don't need a visa), with the intention of applying for a longer-term visa based on partnership while there - what would be acceptable to tell the immigration officer upon arrival? Can I just say "I want to join my husband" and say that I am going to apply for a partnership-based visa from NZ? And acknowledge that yes, I do intend on spending more than 3-6 months there, but I will go through proper immigration procedures? Or do I say something different??

[JandM]

If I were to go to NZ as a visitor (don't need a visa),

Nobody gets into NZ without a visa - being from a visa-waiver country just means that you don't have to apply before filling in the form on the aircraft just before arrival, and the visa is what is stamped into your passport at Immigration. That being so, the little form is a legal document you put your signature to, saying that everything is the truth, and the conversation with Immigration is you meeting the legal force of the country.

5.Are you from a visa-waiver country, and intending to visit for no more than your allotted time of three months ?

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

And see here, reasons why an application can be refused include the officer having doubts about your purpose or the information given.
http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...isarefusal.htm

Knowing your previous thread, where you are trying to see a way through an awkward situation, I think you need to be very careful not to fail to tell the authorities the whole picture, since they're going to find out the rest in due course anyway when you apply for residence under the family stream and have to supply the police checks. If you aren't frank with them, anywhere along the line, this can be a reason for refusal all on its own - any visa already granted, if it was based on false information, can be revoked.

[MSK]

Knowing your previous thread, where you are trying to see a way through an awkward situation, I think you need to be very careful not to fail to tell the authorities the whole picture, since they're going to find out the rest in due course anyway when you apply for residence under the family stream and have to supply the police checks. If you aren't frank with them, anywhere along the line, this can be a reason for refusal all on its own - any visa already granted, if it was based on false information, can be revoked.

What I'm wondering about is if the police check turns out not to be a problem, i.e. I would legitimately be entering the country on a visitor's visa and not doing anything deceptive. How do I answer questions from the immigration official honestly and get legally admitted. I.e., I do intend to stay beyond the 3 months allowed by a visitor's visa, but I don't intend to do it illegally, and my purpose in NZ is to join my husband and to apply for a family stream visa from there. Am I allowed to just say exactly that, or is there anything I should know about how to word this, or what to say and what not to say?
If they asked, say, why I didn't apply for a family stream visa from my home country, I have a simple answer: because I want to join my husband as soon as possible.
I will probably call the embassy about this at some stage and hear what they say.
I've seen plenty of posts on here where people enter NZ as a visitor and then apply for some longer-term visa based on partnership or work or such, so I'm just wondering how to explain that this is exactly what I intend to do, while staying fully within the bounds of Immigration legality.

[G-Mo]

I've seen plenty of posts on here where people enter NZ as a visitor and then apply for some longer-term visa based on partnership or work or such, so I'm just wondering how to explain that this is exactly what I intend to do, while staying fully within the bounds of Immigration legality.

You apply for a Visitor Visa for partners of New Zealand citizens or residents.

[MSK]

You apply for a Visitor Visa for partners of New Zealand citizens or residents.

Great, thank you!

[MSK]

Another question: is it all possible to just go to NZ on a basic visitors visa, and then apply for a family stream visa from NZ? The temporary visitors visa based on partnership application is the same as the temporary work visa based on partnership application, and it's the medical checks and police certificates that I reckon would slow up the whole process of me getting to NZ and joining up with my husband, so it seems like I would be able to get there a lot sooner on a regular visitors visa.
I'm not trying to sidestep immigration rules or pull the wool over their eyes or anything, I just want to be able to get there as soon as possible and am wondering if this would be legitimate, because then if there were medical delays or whatever (going by this forum, they sound very common), I would at least be living with my husband during the whole "MA ping-pong."

[G-Mo]

Another question: is it all possible to just go to NZ on a basic visitors visa, and then apply for a family stream visa from NZ? The temporary visitors visa based on partnership application is the same as the temporary work visa based on partnership application, and it's the medical checks and police certificates that I reckon would slow up the whole process of me getting to NZ and joining up with my husband, so it seems like I would be able to get there a lot sooner on a regular visitors visa.
I'm not trying to sidestep immigration rules or pull the wool over their eyes or anything, I just want to be able to get there as soon as possible and am wondering if this would be legitimate, because then if there were medical delays or whatever (going by this forum, they sound very common), I would at least be living with my husband during the whole "MA ping-pong."

The question is, will immigration allow you in to the country on a visitor's visa if you are honest about your intentions... I believe it's really up to the discretion of the immigration officer on duty at the time and if he/she believes you are actually going to leave NZ after 3 months... So, subsequently, do you risk refusal and distort your true intentions to the IO to gain entry, and can/will that come back to bite you later on. It would seem, that in this scenario you cannot have your cake and eat it too... be honest and risk being denied, or don't and risk possible long term repercussions.