Non-partnership residency application - Do I have to include my partner?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Hello!

I wish to submit a residency application based on a work to residence visa. My partner is an NZ citizen. The generic residency form requires partner details, and also partners' family details.

My partner and I agree that we do not wish to include her mother's information on any immigration application as my partner was abused by her mother as a child and understandably wants nothing to do with her.

Do I have to include my partner's details on a residency application if that person is not actually included in the application? If so, must we include her family details also?

Of course I could just not include my partner's details at all but should my application fall through we'd like a partner-based option to fall back on and it wouldn't look good if I withheld any information initially.

[JandM]

As you have realized, that is a generic form, and INZ asks for all the details of "partner's family" so that a FOREIGNER's family connections will be on record in case in the future any of these people applies for a visa, claiming the present applicant as a connection in NZ to boost their chances. So, for your NZ citizen partner's relatives, you can just put N/A. I think what you thought yourself, that you should state your partnership in case you later want to rely on it, even though that probably won't arise.

[diallta]

I applied for, and ultimately received, a partner-sponsored residency visa. Like you, my partner wasn't "included" in the application in the sense that she's already a citizen, and I didn't really understand why they would want information about the family of my NZ citizen partner, especially considering they are all NZ citizens (excepting her father, who has lived there since childhood but remains a proudly stubborn British permanent resident!), but I decided that it was better to include everything, and not give them any possible reason to think that I willfully omitted any information.

If it makes any difference in your thinking, at no point did any one from INZ contact any of my partners family for any reason during the application process.