Partnership/work visa advice

[ukguy]

Hi,
I've been living in NZ for 7 years now and am a citizen. I have just very recently split with my partner and she is currently on a work visa that she applied for on the basis of our partnership

As we have now split, I will be contacting NZ immigration to let them know of the change in our circumstances. This will then mean that the current work visa my ex partner is on will be invalid due to the change of relationship.

Does anyone know what her options are to stay?

She currently has a permanent job as a graphic designer. Is she able to get them to complete a new work visa for her that would allow her to stay? Any other options or advice on this situation?

She has been living here for 3 years and now considers NZ home.

Many thanks for your help.

[JandM]

Hello.

Your partner is in a rather difficult position regarding visas, because graphic designer, while obviously a skilled job, is not on the INZ Essential Skills in Demand list. That means there are considered to be plenty of NZ citizens and residents who can do the job, so an employer wanting to employ a foreigner (already employing her, in your partner's case, because of her existing partnership work visa) would have to prove they had advertised the job and no suitable NZers had applied - that is, they would have to advertise her own permanent position out from under her. See here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra.../requirements/ under I have a job offer from a New Zealand employer, and the requirements link onwards.

However, as graphic designer is recognized as a skilled job, she could be eligible to apply for Residence under the Skilled Migrant Category http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...nt/default.htm on the basis of the job that she holds. http://skillshortages.immigration.go...phic-designer/ - see the detail if you click on the green bar there. If she would have 100 points or more from her qualifications and the job that she holds, her case would be selected at the next fortnightly draw, and would go ahead to the processing system as soon as she could submit her evidence. This could be possible for her if you were willing to regard your relationship as endING, not quite endED, so that her existing visa would remain active long enough to let her remain in her job while she sorts matters out. If the partner-sponsored temporary work visa is due to expire before the SMC residence application could go through, she would be able to get a temporary work visa on the basis of her job, WITHOUT the labour market check having to be done (that is, no advertising for NZ workers), once the SMC application is in. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread....098#post508098, a post from a Licensed Immigration Adviser, and http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/i34506.htm, the regulation he refers to.

[ukguy]

Many thanks for your help, greatly appreciated

One concern I have with that is that, once she puts in her own EOI or residency application, will immigration not question why she isn’t applying under partnership? And then question why she hasn’t told them that the partnership has issues?

[JandM]

There have been people on the forum in the past who did this, as far as one can guess reading between the lines, from a sort of pride that they wanted to be accepted for their own skills. Nobody ever mentioned the matter being questioned. As far as officialdom is concerned, the partnership isn't over unless both parties say so. 'Having issues', or what might be said to be giving each other space to think things over, can't be taken automatically to signal that the relationship is at an end.

[JandM]

... (Edited due to a posting glitch.)

[ukguy]

That’s great. Thanks again for your help

If applying for residency on her own, will she have any criteria to meet to prove her English is of an acceptable level? Her English is ok but not her first language

[JandM]

It's here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/6954.htm at SM5. (Given SM5.5 c. ii and iii, she probably won't need to do any tests, from what you have said about her working in NZ.)

This section is by far the best place to look for the SMC regulations. SM6 gives a chart with all the possible points that can be claimed, and shows where to look for the detailed requirements. (The points checker on the INZ website can be misleading.)