Residency for Partner of Australian Citizen

[dan70]

Hi,

I'm trying to get residency for my wife before we move to NZ from the UK. My children and myself don't need a visa as we're all Australian citizens.

I'd like for her to have a visa before we leave the UK, but apparently, I'm only granted NZ residency in my Aus passport, once I land in NZ.

However in order for her to travel to NZ she need to have an onward ticket in order to be allowed to enter NZ. This seems a pointless expense if we intend to live.

Has anyone been in a similar situation?

Cheers,
Dan

[JandM]

Yes. Normally, people manage by getting a ticket EITHER to somewhere much nearer the UK, where they would have right of entry as a visitor (e.g. Australia), or else getting the kind of return ticket on which they can claim a refund on the return part if it isn't used. The second option isn't so popular, because you normally need to pay more for that sort of ticket, and just writing off the return part of a cheaper fare is less expensive.

[dan70]

Hi,

Thanks for that info ... seems rather cloak and dagger though!

Is there a more straight forward method to this, I think some people apply under a temporary work visa under partnership basis, and then residency once they arrive, could I apply for this as an Aus citizen BEFORE travelling from the UK, and then apply on a one-way ticket. Is it compulsory that she gain work before entry? or is that OK since I'll be sponsoring her?

Cheers again,
Dan

[JandM]

It's not at all cloak and dagger - it's just complying with the rules as stated, at EACH phase of your entry. And no, there isn't anything easier. Someone on a visitor's visa is expected to be going to leave the country after their *visit* and in the relatively short term - that's why there is the requirement to show a ticket out while going in! It's not their fault that your wife isn't wanting to be a visitor at all, and that you're just waiting for your arrival to become a NZ resident and sponsor her.

You will see on one of those old threads that one Australian talked to INZ and was allowed to sponsor the foreign partner before making the move. You would have to ask permission for either Residence OR the partner-sponsored temporary work visa to be issued before you go to NZ. In the rules as they are written, an Australian needs to be in NZ with their Residence before they can sponsor their partner for ANYTHING, but evidently, a personal appeal can, in some cases, get this relaxed, so the partner's visa can come through while still abroad. I can't tell you what makes INZ let this happen, because it's not in any publicly available information. But go ahead and ask - the worst that can happen is that they'd say no, and you'd have to play by the book.

Holding a partner-sponsored temporary work visa does not imply that the person is expected to work, necessarily - it just allows them to work (at any job they are offered - it doesn't need to be a skilled job) if they want to.