Partner of a Worker Work Visa Conundrum!

[welshinnz]

Hello Everyone!

first of all - huge thank you to contributors of this forum, it has been invaluable for gathering info and just reading about other peoples experiences.

I will jump straight in -

After some failed attempts on my behalf of gaining a work visa, my partner and I are going for a Partner of a Worker Work visa. He is also a UK citizen on an essential skills visa, and I am coming to the end of my extended WHV. the problem is - he is currently on the lower skill band, but with his promotion, he is able to hop onto the mid tier which allows partners to join him. He has been advised by his immigration advisor that a job advert will have to be posted for his new role and be up there for a month to prove that they have looked for kiwis for the role.

This means that my current visa will end (sept 7th) before we are able to lodge our visas together, as we must wait at least a month before he can put his in. After reading through the forums and calling immigration for advice, who told me to be 'careful' about timing, and didn't seem too enthused about me applying for a tourist visa. Any advice on this would be great - I will include a cover letter outlining my situation. does this mean I am not a bona fide tourist in their eyes?

Ideal situation is to be granted an interim visa while they make a decision on partnership - but I don't think I can lodge my application if my partner is still on his lower skilled visa - I am happy to go home to see family in the UK, but obviously this will cost money, and mean we are not living together for a little while, and so unable to build evidence that we live together in a stable relationship - as I will be many miles away!

and just for more info - we met in NZ and have been living together since the end of 2016 with other housemates - however at this place I wasn't on the tenancy. As of July 1st '18 we moved in to a one bedroom place together. have recently opened a joint account - but with proof we put money into each others accounts over the last year - evidence of lots of trips together, air bnb reviews about us being a lovely couple, lots of camping trips together, and letters from loved ones and employers attesting to us being a couple (thanks to past posts which have informed my gathering of evidence!) I also have my medical, police certificate at the ready.

In conclusion!! here are my queries
-what are your thoughts on 23 month WHV to tourist visa? Anyone had experience with this? (outlook looks grim in my eyes!!) could applying for this visa and being denied reflect badly on my application for partnership?
-Would I be able to lodge my partnership visa before he lodges his Mid-skilled Essential work visa and so have chance of interim visa? Outlook seems a bit grim here too..!
-thoughts on applying for partnership while I am in the UK? I am doing it in paper form just because it is easier for me to organise all the evidence this way.
-Does anyone have any idea of how the process works for lodging work and partner visas at the same time? Would they require a few months to make a decision on his visa, and then after saying yes (fingers crossed!) then look to my partnership application?
-Does a Temporary Partner of a Worker Work visa require only 2-3 months of living together?

Thank you in advance! I worry about leaving my life here with the possibility of not being able to return.

[JandM]

-what are your thoughts on 23 month WHV to tourist visa? Anyone had experience with this? (outlook looks grim in my eyes!!) could applying for this visa and being denied reflect badly on my application for partnership?

They are unlikely to grant this. The INZ attitude tends to be, 'S/He has been here almost two years - what on earth is there left to do in NZ that they couldn't have done before?' And answering your further thought above, putting in a letter explaining why you want the visa wouldn't be any help at all. A visitor's visa isn't there to be a catch-all for someone who can't find another visa that they might be eligible for - it's specifically for a stay in NZ for a limited time, with the person having a demonstrable life and responsibilities in another country to which they will return at the end of the time. (It's not a substitute for some other visa UNLESS INZ themselves decide to issue one in a particular case, and that isn't done because an applicant asks, for their convenience.) Telling INZ that you DON'T want to go "home" effectively rules you out for a visitor's visa. Applying for a visitor's visa and being refused wouldn't put any black mark against you when applying later for another visa for which you DID qualify, but it would just be a waste of time.

-Would I be able to lodge my partnership visa before he lodges his Mid-skilled Essential work visa and so have chance of interim visa? Outlook seems a bit grim here too..!

No. When you apply to iNZ, the application is a legal document, and submitting it is an assertion that everything on the form is true at that time, which it couldn't be.

-thoughts on applying for partnership while I am in the UK? I am doing it in paper form just because it is easier for me to organise all the evidence this way.

That is perfectly possible. From what you say, you have collected a solid amount of evidence of partnership, and you have two perfectly believable reasons to leave your partner temporarily for the time being - that your visa is running out, and that you haven't seen your family in the UK for a long time. You can continue to collect evidence of partnership by keeping your phone and social media records, showing how you maintain the relationship while apart, and record how any joint decision-making, e.g. about purchases for your home, and receipts when either of you buys anything or arranges anything for you both. Incidentally, you may be able to use some of the time before you moved into your shared one-bedroom accommodation, although you weren't on the tenancy of the place with housemates, as long as you can produce letters bearing witness to the fact that you shared a private space within the shared house (notably sleeping space) - if the landlord or e.g. either employer knew this and will say so, that would be better than letters just from friends.

-Does anyone have any idea of how the process works for lodging work and partner visas at the same time? Would they require a few months to make a decision on his visa, and then after saying yes (fingers crossed!) then look to my partnership application?

Even if you each put in your application from a separate place, if you link the applications with a covering letter (e.g. if you're in the UK and send in your application to whichever office the system asks for for that, and include a letter giving details of your partner's personal details, the date of his application and where it has been sent, and any reference number he was given, saying this is your partner who is sponsoring you) INZ will work it as all one case, supplying information you don't know to start with, such as his visa number, as it becomes available.

-Does a Temporary Partner of a Worker Work visa require only 2-3 months of living together?

Yes. This isn't written anywhere in the regulations, but we know from experience that INZ take any application seriously that has that amount of GOOD evidence. See old threads for discussion and examples. https://www.google.com/search?source....0.RCmSMHGkcJg Bear in mind that you will need to keep collecting evidence that you are keeping up your partnership all through the processing time, and still continue after obtaining the visa, because you would need all this time to include in the 12-months' evidence for partner-sponsored residence, or inclusion in his application for SMC, whichever you may decide to go for, in due course.

[welshinnz]

Thank you for your time! It all feels much clearer now. Appreciate your work on this forum!