Separation Period after INZ's Partnership Recognision

[tedGG]

Hello everyone!

I’m new to post forum but have read and liked it.
Now I want to ask questions about my boyfriend's and my visas.

Simple Question:
AFTER their relationship is once recognised by INZ, if someone has some separated period from his/her partner, will INZ give negative consideration in their next visa application process?

The details of my situation is following:
My boyfriend got accepted from a university in NZ and started his master’s study in February 2017.
Both of my boyfriend and I are from China(, meaning not having citizenship or residency of NZ or Australia.)
When he started his study, he got a student visa and it will expire soon.
I came to NZ with him with a partnership based visa and the expire date is the same as his visa.

During the first semester, he lost his interest in the subjects in his course and he found another course which was level 7 and taught online. He applied for the course and got accepted again. Then he applied for the variation of conditions and it was successful. After the variation of conditions is accepted, he dropped his first master’s course enrollment. Therefore his and my visa are still valid until now.

Soon after he started his second course, he went back to China to attend his cousin’s wedding and planed to see his parents and relatives. He could do that because his course was an online one and study in China. I chose to stay in NZ at that time.

The problem is here. He originally planed to stay in China for about a month or so and come back to NZ soon. But he stayed much longer than his original plan. He returned this year and we had separated for about a half year. The reason he stayed for such a long time was not something urgent like medical reasons. It was because he wants to spend time with his parents and was purely comfortable with his life in China.
Of course we have regular communications when he was in China. We talked online.

While he was in China, I could not go to see him because I was desperately looking for a job and I got a job offer in NZ and started to work in October 2017. I am still being employed by the same company.

Now his and my visas are running out.
Because my visa is running out, I need to renew my visa. I am about to apply for Essential Skills Work Visa and my boyfriend is planning to apply for a visa based on partnership with me this time. He cannot expand his student visa or apply for new student visa unfortunately. Because his course is taught online, they do not offer a new student visa although they considered the variation of conditions.

Now I am a little worried about our separation time. We have not been married in China. The recognition as partners on the visa in NZ is the only official recognition by official authority.

Here’s more personalised questions:
Is it possible that INZ denies our relationship stability and does not offer him and me visas? Or will they recognise our relationship automatically?
Is it possible that INZ still requires evidences of one year living together in the "last" one year, which we did not have this time?
Will INZ find out our separation by checking his entrance and departure records or other things that other NZ authorities have?
Although there is nothing illegal and people have free rights to travel, is it a problem for INZ that a student visa holder spend such a long time outside NZ?
Will INZ think we abused the visa system?
Will we be in any other troubles?

Thank you for reading and I appreciate any advisces and comments.

[tedGG]

I am copying what JandM wrote another place, which I made mistakenly.
Thank you so much JandM!

Is it possible that INZ denies our relationship stability and does not offer him and me visas?
They may not recognize it. It depends on what evidence you can show of living together, before and after the absence. See old threads on ENZ with discussion and examples of partnership proof. https://www.google.co.uk/search?source= ... pr4nPTBb5U. And also, what you can show of how you kept your partnership going while he was away. See the relevant paragraph on this INZ website https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zea ... artnership Time spent living apart.

Or will they recognise our relationship automatically?
No, there is no automatic recognition. Partnership visas are the ones most commonly targeted by crooks getting people to lie to get them a visa (because there is no requirement for showing qualifications and skilled employment), so they are VERY closely verified by INZ. Just because they recognized your partnership ONCE does not mean that they will just assume (with no proof) that it is ongoing. The absence in the middle this time will not help with recognition for another visa.
Is it possible that INZ still requires evidences of one year living together in the "last" one year, which we did not have this time?
Yes, they will, with, also, how you kept in touch while he was away.
Will INZ find out our separation by checking his entrance and departure records or other things that other NZ authorities have?
Yes. His passport being scanned when he left the country and returned will show up in the INZ computer.
Although there is nothing illegal and people have free rights to travel, is it a problem for INZ that a student visa holder spend such a long time outside NZ?
I don't think INZ will feel that your boyfriend did anything illegal, but they will have questions which may be awkward to answer convincingly. Having a visa to be in NZ in order to study, then spending such a long time somewhere else does not look normal. In most cases, where attendance in person at a course is necessary, a student who went out of the country and therefore failed to attend would be dismissed from the university or college, which would then make their visa come to an end. That did not happen in this case because he (presumably) kept doing the work satisfactorily, so the course provider had no complaint about him. I have never before heard of INZ allowing a VOC for a distance learning course, so I don't know how they will view what your partner has done. See this INZ page on Bona Fide. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zea ... ide/slider
Will INZ think we abused the visa system?
Possibly. What he did makes your position difficult - your visa was granted so you could be with him in NZ, then he went away and stayed away. You can truthfully say that you expected him back - and he HAS now come back - but it isn't normal. It MAY be said that your situation was borderline illegal while he was not there: I don't know, because I haven't heard of other cases like yours.
Will we be in any other troubles?
The previous answers probably sum up the situation. If INZ choose to look at this case as showing that your boyfriend didn't keep to the terms of his visa, and that your position was false because of his actions, they could deny you both any further visas.

I'm sorry not to be able to give a clear and simple answer to your questions. You aren't going to know what INZ will make of all this until you put in your applications and they get processed.

[JandM]

I see you've arrived here - welcome to ENZ.

[tedGG]

Thanks a lot!

[tedGG]

Hi,

I am nervous about the bona fide conditions.
I knew it and realised that our “relationship” must be genuine(bona fide). But I was not aware that it requires that the purpose of our stay must be bona fide like purely working or studying. I was supposed to stay with him all the time but I was not. It seems serious mistake.
I understand following is not a good attitude, but I want to ask some more questions.

Will our next applications will endanger our “current” visas?
It means, will our application invoke INZ to realise our separation period and our current visas get rebuked?

What happens if we do not apply for new visas and leave NZ?
Is there no trouble now and future applications or will they find our separation period when we apply next time and recognise that we were not bona fide?
(Although, because I have a job, so this will be my final option...)

Plus, if my boyfriend does not apply for a visa(= leaving from NZ soon), or apply for a visa which does not need our partnership like a visitor visa, will INZ still check our separation period?

[JandM]

I don't think anyone here can tell you the answers to all of this. We are not INZ officials, but members of the public. We know about how some NZ immigration law works out, because of what people have told us in the past about their applications. But I don't remember any story exactly like yours.

[Gaida]

tedGG

JandM is right -- no one can tell you what INZ will do in the future or how they will view your situation. These are the things to bear in mind. You cannot change the facts of your situation, but understanding how your situation interacts with usual situations can be very helpful. Your messages sometimes combine what YOU do with what your PARTNER did. Remember you are on different visas with different purposes. Yours is a work visa. Your partner's is a study visa. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Your partner had a study visa for in-person study. He changed his programme to online study. This is not common, and is not what is expected. I also understand from what you posted that it is not illegal.
2) You had a work visa based on being with your partner. You worked on that visa -- this is common and legal. You were not with your partner -- this is not common, but also does not sound illegal.
3) In order to get a partnership visa, you must demonstrated that you have lived together for previous 12 months. If you don't live together for 6 months, this is not common, but also does not sound illegal.
4) INZ is only likely to revoke your current visa if they think you are violating the visa rules. No one knows how they will decide this.
5) Future visas will look into the not common things: your partner's switch to online coursework, your partner's 6 month absence overseas, your 6 month separation.

Doing things that are not common make visa processing harder. It does not mean you broke the law, but it may affect your ability to get a visa. However, people have uncommon situations all the time. This is why only INZ can tell how they will look at an uncommon situation.

Here is an example based on my friends in NZ:
1) They lived together for 13 months.
2) They lived apart for 7 months because Partner 2's family member was very ill in a foreign country..
3) Partner 1 started studying in NZ on a student visa while Partner 2 was with ill family.
4) Partner 2 got a partner work visa based on Partner 1 student status after the 7 months was up. They showed documents from living together for 13 months, plus hospital records for the family member, plus all their Skype calls, emails, and a trip by Partner 1 to visit Partner 2 while overseas.

In this situation, even though they lived apart, INZ believed their relationship was real. They are still together now 2 years later, and still in NZ on partnership-sponsored visas. The difference with your situation is that for my friends, 1) the reason for living apart was medical; 2) the student partner did not leave NZ, and did an in-person course. But you can see that it is possible to prove a real partnership, even if you live apart.

It is important to remember that no country must give you a student or work visa, even if you qualify. Doing something illegal is of course a problem. But even if it is not illegal, but just unusual, you should remember that the more unusual the situation, the harder you must work to show you are valid. I am applying for residency under SMC. Even though I meet all the rules and regulations, I am in a very unusualy category, so it has been a very difficult and very long process. If I worked at a job in NZ in IT, I would have had a decision long ago. The more unusual the situation, the harder it is.

[JandM]

There is just one thing there that I would alter: for a partner-sponsored work visa, which is all that the partner will be able to get with tedGG on an Essential Skills Visa, no length of time spent living together is specified. It's a partner-sponsored residence visa which requires them to have lived together for 12 months.

[tedGG]

Hello,

Thank you so much, both of you!
I really appreciate your comments.

There may be a possibility that they do not see our separation period a problem. That is a relief!
I will wait for the results at the moment and will talk to the lawyer or immigration advisor if I get PPI.

Now I want to prepare the worst.
If someone knows, would you tell me what happens to my assets in NZ when I becomes unlawful and be liable for deportation.

Examples are:
Bank account
Personal lending (for my car, 10,000 NZD)
Car, not a luxury one and a consumer good
Bicycle(5,000 NZD, I am a big fan of cycling)
Some furnitures.

[JandM]

IF that happened, which may well NOT...

...your assets are still yours. It would be up to you what arrangements you made, for instance, storage, sale, entrusted to someone's care.