Hi all,
Our situation is as follows:
Last year me and my partner got Silver Fern JSV. It expires on 21/DEC/15.
In June we applied for SMC visa based on my partner's job. He works as a web developer in Wellington. Our SMC visa application is processed in Auckland. We are in a regular contact with our CO as we have been asked to supply additional documents a few times which we've done.
We understood that our SMC visa won't be decided until our JSV expires, so on 18/NOV we applied for work visas (my partner applied for Silver Fern practical experience and I applied for partnership sponsored work visa). Our applications are processed in Wellington and the decision is "pending".
We are travelling out of NZ to our motherland on 17/DEC/15 and planning to return to NZ on 11/JAN/16.
We are getting a bit worried that our work visas also won't be decided until we fly out of NZ. I read that interim visa could be granted for us. Unfortunately, in our case this type of visa won't do the job as we'll get visitor visas and we won't be able to get back to NZ in January, and my partner won't be able to continue working. Thus, it should also have an effect on our SMC visa.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Is there any suggestion on what we could do in this situation? Should we call INZ Wellington explaining our case and ask for a solution? We'll appreciate any advice.
Thank you very much!