Applying for residency to stay with my Kiwi partner

[luce]

Hi everyone - I'm currently in the process of applying for a temp partner based work visa. My plan is to obtain one of these, and then apply for the 2nd year once we've been living together for 12months as required. I wish to remain permanently in NZ with my Kiwi partner and would like Permanent Residency but i'm completely hopeless when it comes to knowing what steps to take really!!
I know that residency can take up to 9months to be processed/granted (if that's correct?)
Would the best decision be to apply next year for residency while i'm on my 2nd year on the Partner Work visa?? Then i will still be on a valid visa while i wait for the residency decision. Well, that was my thinking anyway.
Any advice would be great as this is very new to me and i really don't know a lot about the whole process!!
Thanks
Lucy x

[JandM]

Would the best decision be to apply next year for residency while i'm on my 2nd year on the Partner Work visa?? Then i will still be on a valid visa while i wait for the residency decision.

That's exactly what they want you to do.

If you have been living together for less than 12 months, initially we can only grant you a work visa for up to 12 months. Later you can apply for a further work visa for a total stay of up to two years (including the time already granted on your initial partnership work visa) 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.

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

[luce]

Thank you for your reply!
With regards to the quotation from inz, if i apply for residency whilst i am on the 2nd year of my partner work visa - does that mean i will still get 2 years on a resident visa?

Does it mean that once i've used my 2 years partner work visa, my residence visa would then start afresh - not including the time already on a partner work visa?? Sorry, think the wording has just confused me :P

Thanks!
L

[eternalkiwi]

Yes, time spent on each visa is usually separate. The 2 years on your Resident Class Visa, before travel conditions are removed, starts once the Resident Visa has been activated.

[JandM]

if i apply for residency whilst i am on the 2nd year of my partner work visa - does that mean i will still get 2 years on a resident visa?

What people often do is to apply for Residence as a partner as soon as they have 12 months' evidence of partnership, even though this is before the end of their first year's partner-sponsored work visa (because they have to have had several weeks' evidence at least in order to get the work visa). Depending on how long evidence they had first, it's JUST possible the Residence might come through and save them having to get a second year's work visa. But anyway, the Residence application will be being processed asap. They get the second year's work visa if necessary. Whenever the Residence visa is put in the passport, it 'takes over' from the work visa. And, as eternalkiwi says, the two years' travel conditions are from the time you become a Resident (on a residence visa in NZ, not resident with a small r, as in living there).

Does it mean that once i've used my 2 years partner work visa, my residence visa would then start afresh - not including the time already on a partner work visa??

You don't always 'use' the time on a visa completely, life not being as tidy and convenient as that! As mentioned above, Residence trumps work visa and takes over, whenever it's granted and put in your passport.