Partner Visa query

[AussieMick]

hi all:

I'm an Aussie citizen intending to take up residency in NZ.
My partner of 1.5 years lives in Kuwait, but due to their complex citizenship laws, travels on an Iraqi passport. I might add that he was born and raised in Kuwait and has never been to Iraq.
We've met twice but have never lived together. I want to bring him to NZ so that we can live our lives together.
My question: I know there are a couple of partnership visas we could apply for, but is there ANY way we can get around the "12 months living together" criteria? He had a visitor visa application to Australia refused once as the immigration dept here expressed concern that he'd overstay his visa. He's a student.
Also - is there an option to "permanent residency" for me? I don't want to have to wait 2 years for permanent residency before bringing him to NZ.
I'd appreciate any help on this.

[JandM]

There is absolutely no way round the 'living together' requirement. See this old post, where part of the explanation will apply to your case. http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47263 And note that in the first instance, for the first partner-sponsored visa, you only need around 3 months' evidence of living together.

You don't have to be a permanent resident in order to qualify to sponsor your partner, and you, as an Australian citizen, can get a stamp on your passport at entry giving you NZ residence. See the 'If you intend to stay in New Zealand long term...' pagraph here. http://glossary.immigration.govt.nz/...dresidents.htm So after going through that process, you will be on an equal basis with any NZer or NZ visa holder, to sponsor your partner, once you can meet the conditions.

So for yourself, it is probably going to be straightforward to get to live and work in NZ, with the right to sponsor your partner. But you are going to need to get evidence of living together for at least three months, in any country where you both have the right to be legally. Your partner might have the same difficulty getting a visitor's visa for NZ as he did for Australia, though.

Also, be aware that INZ investigate applications for partnership visas very thoroughly, since they are often used by fraudsters, getting strangers to lie to get them a visa. Any application needs a whole breadth of evidence - see here for ideas on old threads. https://www.google.co.uk/#q=site:enz...tnership+proof

[Karen Phillips]

For a temporary partnership-based visa, you will need at least 3 months ' evidence of living together. Is there any chance you could go to Kuwait and spend time there with him? He is unlikely to get a general visitor visa because of the difficulty in proving that he would go back to Kuwait before the visa expired. The alternative is that he transfers his studies to New Zealand and gets a student visa. You don't have to be a "permanent resident" to bring a partner to NZ. As an Australian citizen, you would just have to prove that you had made New Zealand your permanent place of residence. See INZ1002 Guide pages 12 - 13.

[Karen Phillips]

Glad we agreed, as we seem to have made simultaneous posts JandM

[JandM]

Yes, Karen - snap!

[AussieMick]

Thank you, guys, for your help!

[AussieMick]

One last question - once I'm in NZ, and assuming me and partner have lived together somewhere for the specified three months, any ideas as to how long it would take for a visa for him to be issued, once we applied?

[JandM]

Have a look on Google at "Immigration NZ (whatever branch) processing times", and you will see their current best guess based on recent averages.

[Karen Phillips]

You can usually work on around 4 weeks for temp visas unless there are complications such as medical assessment or missing documents.