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Thread: Australian citizen moving to NZ with German partner?

  1. #1
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    Default Australian citizen moving to NZ with German partner?

    I am an Australian citizen currently living abroad in Switzerland with my German partner. We have been living together for one year and have been considering moving to NZ now that the economy there seems to be picking up.

    Seeing as though i'm an Australian citizen and able to live and work in NZ, could she move to NZ with me on a partner visa? Are partner visa's for NZ citizens only, or do they also apply to Australian citizens? I heard that I would have to be living in NZ for at least 12 months and only then is she able to apply for an onshore partner visa. Is this the case?

    Is the partner visa process similar to Australia? if she applies onshore in Australia then it can take about a year to process, so in the meantime she is given a Bridging Visa, which gives her full working rights. Is it the same with NZ? Also what are the costs for this visa? In Australia it is very expensive - $4500 for onshore. Anyone know what it is in NZ?

    Is an offshore application possible (like with Australia), or only onshore for NZ? If offshore is also possible, what is the average processing time? In Australia it is about 6 months.

  2. #2
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    Trying to answer your questions:
    @Australian citizens can apply for non NZ / AUS partner under family category:

    Details from INZ manual:

    2.10.5 Definition of 'New Zealand resident' for the purposes of Partnership Category
    New Zealand resident means a person who:
    holds, or is deemed to hold, a current New Zealand residence class visa; or
    holds a valid Australian passport.
    Despite (a) above, the following people are defined as New Zealand residents for the purposes of Partnership Category only where an immigration officer is satisfied that New Zealand is their primary place of established residence at the time the application under Partnership is made and at the time of assessment of the application:
    holders of valid Australian passports who do not hold a current New Zealand residence class visa;
    holders of current New Zealand residence class visas that have been granted on the basis that the person is the holder of a current Australian permanent residence visa, or a current Australian resident return visa.
    Where (b) applies, evidence must be provided that the eligible New Zealand partner’s primary place of established residence is New Zealand. The evidential requirements are set out at F2.20.5


    @Period spent in NZ is not necessary , I don't see 12 months stay in NZ as eligibility. All you need is Australia passport.

    Details from NZ Manual:

    5 How do partners of New Zealand citizens and residents qualify for a residence class visa?

    To be granted a residence class visa under Partnership Category applicants must provide sufficient evidence to satisfy an immigration officer that they have been living together for 12 months or more in a partnership that is genuine and stable with a New Zealand citizen or resident.
    For the purpose of these instructions 'partnership' means:
    a legal marriage; or
    a civil union; or
    a de facto relationship
    and 'partner' means one of the parties to such a partnership indicated in (i), (ii) and (iii) above.
    In each case the onus of proving that the partnership on which the application is based is genuine and stable lies with the principal applicant and their New Zealand partner.
    An application under Partnership Category will be declined if:
    the application is not supported by an eligible New Zealand citizen or resident partner; or
    an immigration officer is not satisfied that the partnership on which the application is based is genuine and stable; or
    the application is based on marriage or a civil union to a New Zealand citizen or resident and either that New Zealand citizen or resident, or the principal applicant is already married to or in a civil union with another person; or
    both the principal applicant and the New Zealand citizen or resident partner cannot satisfy an immigration officer they comply with the minimum requirements for recognition of partnerships (see F2.15); or
    the applicant(s) does not meet health and character requirements (see A4 and A5).
    Applications for residence under Partnership Category will also be declined if the principal applicant was a partner to the eligible New Zealand partner but not declared on the eligible New Zealand partner’s application for a residence class visa (if applicable), unless an immigration officer is satisfied the non-declaration occurred with:
    no intention to mislead; and
    would not have resulted in a different outcome in the eligible New Zealand partner’s application.
    If both these clauses are met, an immigration officer should continue to assess the application and may approve it if all other requirements are met.


    @ Application proces for NZ visa:

    Link to details on application process:
    http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra.../live/partner/

  3. #3
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    @2.20.5 Evidence that New Zealand is the primary place of established residence
    Evidence that New Zealand is the New Zealand partner’s primary place of established residence may include but is not limited to original or certified copies of:
    correspondence addressed to the sponsor
    employment records
    records of benefit payments from the Ministry of Social Development
    banking records
    rates demands
    Inland Revenue records
    mortgage documents
    tenancy and utility supply agreements
    documents showing that the New Zealand partner’s household effects have been moved to New Zealand.

  4. #4
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    Here are some old threads from people in similar situations.

    http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42529
    http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....741#post475741, which refers to this thread. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40660

    Notice, the processing time is unpredictable. You will find each INZ offices has a "processing times" page on their website, but these are only based on recent averages, and never a promise. The flow of applications isn't even. Partnership evidence is always rigorously checked out, because these visas are the prime target for fraud, and every case is unique.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by shawankit View Post
    Where (b) applies, evidence must be provided that the eligible New Zealand partner’s primary place of established residence is New Zealand. The evidential requirements are set out at F2.20.5
    This is not what i'm sure about. Does this mean that to apply for a partner visa, I would have to have a residence in NZ first? Could she move over with me on a tourist visa, then as soon as I get somewhere to live etc, we could make an application for a partner visa? I'm assuming there is no time frame on how long you have to be a "resident" and "established" in NZ before doing this?

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by JandM View Post
    Here are some old threads from people in similar situations.

    http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=42529
    http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....741#post475741, which refers to this thread. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=40660

    Notice, the processing time is unpredictable. You will find each INZ offices has a "processing times" page on their website, but these are only based on recent averages, and never a promise. The flow of applications isn't even. Partnership evidence is always rigorously checked out, because these visas are the prime target for fraud, and every case is unique.
    So if it were to take say 9 months to be processed, how would she live there with me in the meantime? Is there some sort of temporary visa she could get while the application is being processed? In Australia she would be given "Bridging Visa A" which gives her full working rights until the partner visa is processed.

    Originally we were going to move to AUS with the partner visa, but after hearing NZ is now possible we are thinking of giving that a go instead, as I have always wanted to live there. It also seems like it is MUCH cheaper to get a partner visa in NZ compared to Australia. According to this http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rd.../0/INZ1028.pdf it would only cost 360 NZD? Would that be correct? Much cheaper than $4500 in AUS!

  7. #7
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    Ok so I found something called a "temporary work visa" which also applies to partners. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...y/howdoiapply/

    Therefore, could she first apply for a resident visa AND a temporary work visa at the same time? In theory this means she could apply for the resident visa (processing time of 6 to 9 months), but in the meantime move there on a temporary work visa (processing time up to 25 days?) which would allow her to live and work in NZ straight away?

    http://www.immigration.govt.nz/branc...ocessingtimes/

    In the table it says work visas are processed within 25 days. Does this include temporary work visa for partners?

    For resident visa it says:

    Family Partnership and Dependent Child applications (under Family Category) will be processed before other categories. We expect to allocate your Family Category application for residence (under these criteria) to a case officer within six to nine months of acceptance of your application.
    Also found this:

    http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=29390

    by the way, why u don't think it in different order. U can apply residence while you are oversea. once u submit all docs incl. police cert. and medical. they are valid in the INZ system for one year. if u wanna move to NZ and work while u r waiting ur residence approval, u can apply WP under partnership policy, then u don't need to submit police cert. and medical again (within a year when u submit those docs).
    So would this be my best option? Can you confirm that the temporary work visa only takes up to 25 days to process? If this is correct then it almost seems too good to be true as it is much easier and cheaper than the process in Australia!
    Last edited by ISTJ; 12th January 2014 at 05:50 PM.

  8. #8
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    Alternatively, could she apply for a temporary work visa (via partnership) while in Switzerland, move to NZ with me then after 1 year apply for PR which *should* get processed before the two year temporary work visa expires? That way we could see if we want to live in NZ long term in the first year, and if so she can apply for PR and we stay. If we decide not to live there, we would move to Australia instead after one year, meaning we wouldn't have to apply for a PR in NZ.

    Also if she has PR in NZ does this automatically give her PR in Australia as well? If so, moving to NZ first is actually like a cheaper and quicker backdoor to get into Australia for PR. Normally you have to wait 2 years before getting PR in Australia, but in NZ it would only be 9 - 12 months. Therefore you would actually save a year of waiting, plus save about $3500, as PR in NZ costs $930 as opposed to $4500 in Australia.

    I'm surprised more people haven't done this if they just wanted to move to Australia?
    Last edited by ISTJ; 12th January 2014 at 06:19 PM.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by ISTJ View Post
    Also if she has PR in NZ does this automatically give her PR in Australia as well? If so, moving to NZ first is actually like a cheaper and quicker backdoor to get into Australia for PR. Normally you have to wait 2 years before getting PR in Australia, but in NZ it would only be 9 - 12 months. Therefore you would actually save a year of waiting, plus save about $3500, as PR in NZ costs $930 as opposed to $4500 in Australia.
    I'm surprised more people haven't done this if they just wanted to move to Australia?
    I think what you refer to as PR is actually residence in NZ (obtained through SMC stream it can take a few months to a year) and after two years of being granted residence one gets PR (residence without travel conditions). However, having NZ PR does not qualify the visa holder to live in Australia. One needs to be a NZ citizen to be granted what is called a Special Category Visa (SCV) upon entry in Australia. So for a migrant taking the NZ SMC route it takes over 5 years to be eligible to actually live and work in Australia based on NZ their immigration status.

  10. #10
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    INZ timings are elastic - they're based on averages, and can't be taken as a promise. ALL applications have their evidence thoroughly checked out, and if someone doesn't reply to a CO's query, it can cause delays, so everyone has to accept, it takes as long as it takes.

    As it says on the second and third threads I linked to above, although the regulations say the Australian partner should be established in NZ, when that poster explained his situation to INZ, they allowed his foreign partner to put in for partner-sponsored Residence straight away, before arriving in NZ. So that's something you might want to check out for yourselves.

    It is certainly possible to have two kinds of application in simultaneously, and the evidence doesn't have to be duplicated if it's recent enough. Check on the INZ website about police certificates and medicals for details.

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