Break in 12 months partners living together condition residence visa

[DannyGreen]

Hi All,

My partner and I are living together in NZ since May 2017. He plans to visit his parents overseas next month (February) and will be back in March. We intend to apply for residence visa after few months. I am just wondering my partner going away for few weeks; will it break the 12 months living together condition. How long he should go away (2 weeks or 1 month) so that '12 months' condition cannot be broken. Experts and people with relevant situations can share their experiences.
Cheers

[JandM]

Even when people are living together (i.e. they have the same shared home because they are in an exclusive partnership), that doesn't mean they never spend any time away. (In the past, I had work that used to mean I spent periods of time in different places all over the country, but if someone said, 'Where do you live?' the undoubted answer would have been my home address.) So your partner making a family visit is not a bar to your application. But INZ will need an explanation for the reason for the trip (e.g. seeing family member who is in poor health, or sorting out personal property left with family), and also an account of how you keep in touch during your absence from one another (which can include phone records, print-outs of Skype conversations, etc., and possibly financial records showing purchases by either of you that will be for the benefit of both of you and your home). See here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...ly/partnership under Time spent living apart.