Visitor Visa or 'Partnership' Visitor Visa?

[Bekkasaurus]

Hi guys,

First time poster, long time lurker, hoping to get some advice/hear about other people's experiences .
I am a permanent NZ resident and my partner (US citizen) is hoping to move here this year.
I understand that we do not meet the 'living together' partnership requirement for him to be granted a work/residency visa yet, therefore we thought it would be best that he apply for a visitor visa initially and state our intention that this is so that we can fulfill that requirement and then apply for a partnership work visa, and then subsequently residency once we meet the living together requirements.

My questions are:

1. Is there any point applying for a 'Partner of a NZer Visitor Visa' when it is just more hoops to jump through for the same result as a general visitor visa?

2. Will he be required to get a chest X-Ray when applying for a visitor visa? I understand it is a requirement if you intend to stay for more than 6 months, however on the visitor visa (after 3-4 months of collecting evidence of living together) we will be applying for a work visa so would it be required then or now?

3. Do you have to wait for one visa to finish before the next can start? For example: If his visitor visa was granted for say 9 months and during that time we apply for the work visa, would he have to wait until the end of the 9 month visitor visa before he could start working?

4. And finally, once a visa is granted is it effective from the date of issue or from the date he arrives in the country?

It would be great to hear other people's understanding/experiences.

Thank you,

Rebecca

[JandM]

He could more simply come in on a visa waiver, then present the partnership evidence and apply for a temporary work visa in the last week or so of his time. INZ could then issue an Interim visa which would keep him legally in NZ during processing. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...a/interim-visa

1. No. The requirement for evidence of living together (for around three months, as we know from experience, though it's not stated in the regulations) is the same for both partner-sponsored visitor's https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-visa#criteria OR temporary work https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...lders#criteria visas.

2. At the time of the temporary work visa application.

3. No, you don't have to wait. Any visa granted while a previous one is still running takes over from it, i.e. the earlier one becomes null and void as a consequence of the new one's being issued.

4. If a visitor visa is granted while he is overseas, it starts running when he arrives in NZ and his passport is scanned at Immigration at the airport of arrival, BUT there is a "use-by" date, which I think (can anyone out there bear this out or correct me?) is three months after it is issued. (If he came in on a visa-waiver, this needs no notice. He would simply fill in the card on the plane just before arrival, and give "look, see and decide" as the reason for the visit, which means he's intending to look around NZ as a possible living environment, see what the prospects are for his career in NZ, and decide if he wants to apply for a work visa.)

[Bekkasaurus]

Thank you very much JandM! Very helpful, I didn't even think about him coming across simply on a visa-waiver.
One more more question; when he arrives if it is on a visa waiver would he be required to hold a return ticket out of NZ?

[JandM]

Yes, he would. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...aiver#criteria By the way, it doesn't necessarily have to be a RETURN ticket, but could be an onward ticket to anywhere else he has the legal right to go - however, two single journeys are often more expensive than a cheap return. Many people have also used a return ticket of which the return portion can be cashed in if not used, but those tend to be more expensive, so others are content to just 'throw away' the unused return.

[Bekkasaurus]

Thank you for all the help and advice JandM.
My partner arrived in NZ on the 28/06/2018 on a visa waiver and we waited 9 weeks to gather evidence of living together and submitted our application online. (Combined SO many PDFs)
We submitted our application 04/09/2018, got an acknowledgement that it had been received on 05/09/2018 and a 1 year work visa was approved on 07/09/2018! Was not expecting that quick a turn around. Absolutely ecstatic!

[JandM]

Wow, that IS fast! You must have put together a crystal clear application. Congratulations!

[SpotSpot]

Wow, that IS fast! You must have put together a crystal clear application. Congratulations!

That's fantastic, congratulations. And very fast. I wonder if INZ has added staff recently, as we were in a similar position. Slightly different approach, but a US citizen and NZ resident finding a path in. We were told the first visitor visa with special conditions would take 2-3 months, and it took two days to turn around. Filed the Temporary Work Visa (partnership-based) upon arrival, which we were told might take 2-4 months - it was approved in about 4 days! We were super-organized and clear with our documentation, as you must have been, and this was all South Island. INZ told us processing times are faster in CHCH.
We'll see how long the Residency visa takes to process in Auckland. Hope the traffic jam up there has cleared somewhat. Good luck to you!

[ml12791]

Hello everyone,

I have been lurking here for a very long time, just need your opinion with our application.

Some background: I am on a WTR and my partner was previously a WHV holder and went back home last October 2018.
We tried applying for Work Visa based on partnership last September 2018 but it was declined. We lived together for almost three months at the time of application.
Met him February 2018. We submitted a lot of evidences to prove that our partnership is genuine and stable. Submitted a reconsideration but was still declined last October 2018.

Now we were advised by our LIA to submit a visitor visa instead under partnership, he'll be lodging from the US this time. We have been together for over a year now.

Do you think this is a good move, he can go back here on a visa waiver but do you think applying for a visitor visa under partnership this time will be better? Or is it worth submitting a work visa under partnership? Is the rule must be living together during the time of application a hard rule because we have reasons on why he needs to back home (e.g. visa declined)? We have so much more evidence as of the moment, I even traveled to the US for a couple of days. Reason for our decline was our relationship is "not likely to endure" but relationship has been stronger that ever now even if we're living apart. Appreciate your response as well based on your experiences because we just want to be really careful this time.

Thank you very much.

[JandM]

It's hard to give a definite answer to your questions. With a partner-sponsored visa, so much is down to the CO's judgement of the impression made by the couple's evidence. If you read the instructions for both the partner-sponsored work visa and the partner-sponsored visitor's visa, the requirements for proof of partnership are similar. No time is mentioned, but we know from experience that applications with 2 - 3 months' good evidence are taken seriously by INZ.

When a couple has solid evidence (see old threads with discussion and examples https://www.google.com/search?source...10.hbM14o9vHSs), and they can also show various ways they have kept in contact during an unavoidable absence from one another (see Time spent living apart here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...ly/partnership), INZ will sometimes accept the separated time as a continuation of the relationship. But if they haven't accepted the first lot of evidence, it is much more difficult to convince them that the separation isn't a break-up.

I'm sorry - there isn't an easy answer.

[TheNewKiwi]

Maybe try just a regular sponsored visitor visa, to give you more time to accumulate evidence than the visa waiver would allow, but with no proof of relationship needed. I am not sure if the previous denial of a visa will affect things, but this is the route I took, at the instruction of my LIA.

When I moved to NZ (from the US), my partner and I had been in a long distance relationship. We had actually never even met in person!

He sponsored me for a visitor visa, agreeing to support me financially and pay to send me home before my visa expired. I made it very clear to INZ upfront that I was looking to check both him and NZ out, to see if I wanted to make it a permanent deal. My visa was granted for six months.

As soon as I arrived (as in the next day), he added me to all his bills: phone, electric, internet. He owns our home outright, so we could not provide a joint tenancy agreement. We also opened a joint bank account, which we used to pay for all our expenses. (You need to find one that allows you to open an account on a visitor visa.) Everything we did, was with a mind to show proof of the relationship's integrity. We travelled to see his family a couple times, and we kept boarding passes, receipts, took group pictures with them, even had them mail an invitation to both of us when we went for his sister's birthday. The evidence from each trip was put in its own envelope, and labelled with the dates and event.

After 4 months together, with a solid 3-4 months of bills and bank statements to show, I applied for the partner work visa. I included a timeline of our relationship, all our evidence, a reference letter from his sister and one from his best friend. My visa was granted with no issues.

After we had been living together for a year, I applied for residence. I had kept accumulating evidence, and submitted it all (old and new) along with two new letters vouching for our sustained relationship. Residence was granted no problem.

Like I said, I am not sure it would work for you. I might be inclined to ask your LIA. They're supposed to know what's best.

Good luck!