Residence Submitted, what next?

[David12345]

Hi all,

Recently my partner has just submitted her partnership based residency application, we posted it to the Auckland branch as Christchurch branch does not process residency applications anymore, and it arrived to them on Tuesday. We got an email yesterday (Thursday, 2 days after they got it) basically saying "thank you for your application, we will contact you again shortly to advise progress" and they have taken the payment from our bank account.

My question is can anyone tell us what things we should expect next? like what are the next things that happen to her application and what emails we should expect from them?

My understanding is that it will go into a queue to be allocated to a CO then it will join the queue in the officer's applications and we will get an email each time any of these little steps happen? but I also understand some or all documents get sent back to the applicant before the decision is even made? how does this work as the CO needs to see the evidence?

Also I was hoping to be able to track the progress of her application with her online, however after looking on the website you can not track online with a paper application? you can only track progress by calling them, perhaps this is why the queue to get someone to talk to is always far to high, I was number 145 in the queue on the phone yesterday and requested a call back which I did not get until hours later

If someone could provide us with a step by step on what we should expect and how the process works in detail it would be great, also if someone else has also just applied or recently applied for partnership based residence at Auckland it would be great if you could share your timeline, my partners current visa expires in April and we are hoping not to have to go threw the hassle of applying for another temporary visa.

All that info would make the waiting just a little bit less concerning for us

[JandM]

My understanding is that it will go into a queue to be allocated to a CO then it will join the queue in the officer's applications and we will get an email each time any of these little steps happen?

Yes, it will join a date-order queue to wait its turn to be allocated to a CO, but you will not necessarily be contacted at all. It often happens that COs don't routinely email people to announce themselves as 'your CO', and the applicant thinks they are still waiting to be allocated, while in fact the CO is getting on with working the case. There have been some people on the forum in your situation who had evidently provided all necessary information, because they thought they didn't have a CO yet, and the first contact they had was when the visa was about to be granted.

but I also understand some or all documents get sent back to the applicant before the decision is even made? how does this work as the CO needs to see the evidence?

Evidence is checked by clerks, noted as 'the originals have been seen,' and scanned. The qualified case-working COs don't do all the paper-pushing routine work in the INZ office.

however after looking on the website you can not track online with a paper application?

Another forum member posted this.

I sent an e-mail with my info to immigrationonline@mbie.govt.nz and got an e-mail few days later with a link and a pin to be able to check for the status of my application online.

As to what happens, processing the application involves the CO verifying everything your partner has said about herself, in many cases by contacting whatever person or organization is in a position to know that the evidence is true. The CO is responsible for checking that every requirement in the regulations has been met. They don't contact the applicant unless they need extra information, or unless they have something to tell. You have to expect that there will be a lot of times when you don't hear anything - that doesn't mean anything is wrong.

It can happen that the CO decides he wants to interview both partners, to make sure that they know personal details about one another. Don't take this as being insulting. Partnership visas are the ones most often targeted by fraudsters, getting people to lie to get them a visa, so they are very carefully checked. Just occasionally, INZ officials call at a couple's home to see that they ARE both living there. Obviously, such a visit is a surprise, but for a genuine couple, it is something to be welcomed, because the officials will have seen with their own eyes that they have this home together.

[acejas]

Am the same as yourself my partner is from Philippines. We submitted her partnership based residency application direct to Auckland as we are in ChCh as well. Couriered on 23rd June confirmation email received on 25th confirming it had been received. Received email on 9th August to confirm residency had been approved all paper work arrived back by courier on 10th.
We sent every bit of evidence we had from the day we meet. Also I obtained a NZ police clearance for myself, put it in pack so was there if required by INZ.

[Amy35]

https://onlineservices.immigration.g...ure/status.htm

that's the link, if your partner is already registered just choose the "check the status of your application"

mine was transferred in INZ Wellington, my documents had been sent back and still waiting for CO

@acejas that's really fast decision, congratz

[David12345]

Thanks for the answers everyone, especially the amount of detail you went into J&M, its so helpful

[David12345]

https://onlineservices.immigration.g...ure/status.htm

that's the link, if your partner is already registered just choose the "check the status of your application"

mine was transferred in INZ Wellington, my documents had been sent back and still waiting for CO

@acejas that's really fast decision, congratz

Hey my partner just registered on that site but when clicking the "My Application" link we just get a pop up saying "This page provides details about your applications..." and nothing else happens, weird????

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[JandM]

Because it was a paper application, the link wasn't automatically set up like it is for online applications. That's why you have to email in, then they will activate the link and send you the PIN, etc..

[David12345]

Because it was a paper application, the link wasn't automatically set up like it is for online applications. That's why you have to email in, then they will activate the link and send you the PIN, etc..

Thanks J&M,

I have called and they have emailed me the pin etc, I am now properly setup but am having trouble trying to find out how to find the status of my application. On the new website when I click the logon button I get a drop down menu which has things like visitor visa, work visa, student visa etc, but nothing about residence or tracking an application.

It seems so complicated compared to when I applied in Moscow and used the tracking system on the tts website.

[Amy35]

now that your registered use the link

https://onlineservices.immigration.g...ure/status.htm

[David12345]

now that your registered use the link

https://onlineservices.immigration.g...ure/status.htm

Thank Amy35!

I was a bit disappointed with that amount of detail, it just says "decision" and "pending" underneath it. I thought it may have small things like when a CO is allocated etc