Australian & Korean want to move to NZ

[99percentbamboo]

Hey everyone,

My girlfriend (24) and I (21) haven't been together for that long (5 months as of today) and we're both currently living in Australia (side note: technically we've been living together since day 1). Her working holiday visa will expire soon with her flight back is on the 15th of May. We both want to continue our relationship and want to keep our time apart as brief as possible. Her only option to live in Australia would be a student visa but as she won't have financial support from her parents the total cost of everything would be too great, even if I were to offer assistance. We also don't meet the requirements for a partner visa here which would be the ideal option for us.

So we are currently looking at other countries we could move to to live in together. We've ruled out South Korea as an option due to the language barrier, cost of living and some societal difficulties as a result of the conservative culture over there. We are now looking at New Zealand as I would not need a visa to live and work there and the requirements for a partner visa appear less stringent.

I work as a barista here in Australia and currently have just over 2 years experience. My girlfriend completed a bachelor's degree in business majoring in entrepreneurship and completed several internships while studying including a 6 month internship with KOTRA (Korea Trade Promotion Corporation) which would make it easy for her to find a job in Korea but she is concerned that companies in NZ wouldn't place much value in her experience. She is also looking to study at a TAFE in NZ while we are there.

We really want to be together and hope that you guys could give us advice on what the actual process is like and how long this kind of thing takes so we can develop a more realistic picture of what to expect.

Thanks!

[JandM]

Hello.

You're right that you, being an Australian, can live and work in NZ. You can also sponsor your partner for a partner-sponsored temporary work visa, and then partner-sponsored Residence. To save me writing out all the details, have a look at this thread http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=43172 and the links off it, then if you have more questions, by all means come back. Your partner wouldn't be eligible for Residence straight away, but if you have evidence https://www.google.co.uk/#q=site:enz...tnership+proof of your five months together, you should be able to go for the work visa. Good luck!

[ice]

I personally think getting a partnership visa for australia is easier . reason being that they actually value being married or registering your partnership , if you have done that they waive the 12 months living together requirement for a permanent residence visa and you can apply straight away .

[ChrisMwn]

In you have 5 months living together and evidence of that then you should be apble to get a partnership work visa for your partner, once you as an Australian citizen can show you have settled in NZ.

In the meantime your Korean partner could apply online for a Koran Working Holiday visa (2016/17 quota opens 11 May ) or just arrive visa free(with an outward ticket.), as a visitor

[99percentbamboo]

Thanks for the responses everyone; the links were really helpful!