My girlfriend whom I love so much

[Boppy]

Hi guys, I've been reading a few posts and am amazed by the sheer helpfulness of this community.

I have an issue that I will explain now to give you a better picture of my situation. Sorry in advance for the long story.

I am a 28 year old male with permanent residence for over 25 years. I hold a bachelors degree with postgrad diploma. Currently own and run my company (a kitchen manufacturing business).
My girlfriend is a 28 year old female with an open working visa she obtained after her studies here in NZ. She holds a bachelors degree with some postgrad qualifications. So with an accredited employer, she will have 100 points.
We have no children together or with anyone else. We both have clean criminal histories and are of great health. EDIT: We are not living together at present but intend to very soon.

Her open working visa is expiring in mid August and her time is running out. She was initially employed by a company who promised they would sponsor her permanent residency application as the employer. After a successful 1 year of employment she has gone back to them to get the residency application underway but they refused and said they couldn't do it. So she quit that place. She now has around 2 months to figure something out.

We have been in a relationship for 6 months and I intend on marrying her though I have not proposed. So I don't mind going the partnership route.

I need your knowledgeable advice on how to proceed. She is currently looking for a job which will hopefully be able to sponsor her for a work visa so she can at least stay here in NZ.

I'm thinking last resort, I can hire her and sponsor her work visa without any issue. But where to go from there is the question. I don't think I can sponsor her permanent residence as an employer because my company is not an accredited one.

What do you think would be the best route to go in order to obtain her permanent residency given all the parameters I have just outlined?

Thanks again for reading! I look forward to any detailed advice you can give!

I'm happy to provide any more details you may need.

[ChrisMwn]

If you are living together, then partnership is an option.(you need only be living together at time of applications, if its less than 12 months a decision will be deferred). Or, you don't have to be accredited to offer her a job. it just needs to meet the skilled employment criteria, and you must be a "good employer"

[Boppy]

I forgot to mention we are not living together at present but intend to very soon.

Would a managerial position constitute skilled employment?

My company is completely clean if that's what you mean? How deep would immigration delve into the company sponsoring her?

[woodynz]

Living together and applying as partners is a far better choice than using your own company to sponsor her, so that you both benefit. I can't help but feel that that would seem somewhat dodgy, especially if you end up having the same address anyway and then go on to sponsor her for residency (as a partner), later on down the track. Residents get more benefits and the partnership route will get her there faster than the employment route too. So that is definitely the approach you need to be taking, if you are EXTREMELY confident that your relationship is solid.

Being together for only six months and not having lived together thus far doesn't exactly make things sound like they are totally set in stone yet anyway. Six months is not that long ..... !!! However, there is no issue with sponsoring a work permit via partnership in you position. Go for it, but start living together first and collect a bunch of evidence. Get her to change her address now and start putting utilities in both names.

All the best

[JandM]

My company is completely clean if that's what you mean? How deep would immigration delve into the company sponsoring her?

They look at the financial records to make sure that the business is on a sound footing, wanting to be sure that they don't give a visa to someone this month, and next month they're out of work because the business has gone bankrupt. They also want to be sure that the business complies with employment law.

[Boppy]

Thank you so much for your replies.

We now have a grasp of what route we should be taking.

Is anyone able to recommend a good immigration consultant in Auckland? I realise we can save money by doing it ourselves but I don't want that stress and rather have the peace of mind that we're doing it correctly.

[ChrisMwn]

Pm me and I'll make a suggestion. You'll need 2 more posts

[Boppy]

Ok sounds good thanks!6w

[Boppy]

Strange doesn't seem I can PM you :/

Edit: I see I gotta wait a while. Will do.