Do I have any options?

[KatieNZ]

My husband and I have been living together since the end of 2014, we got married in November 2016. He is a USA citizen and I am a NZ citizen. In 2015 he was successfully issued a 12 month partnership based work visa for NZ(as we had been living together for less than 2 years when we applied). We used 8 months of this visa then returned to USA, where we got married and I went through the long process of obtaining a greencard.

The situation: we have made the spontaneous decision to go back to NZ on July 15th (about 6 weeks away) for 5 months so I can finish my degree. We plan on living together during this time, me studying and working part time and him ideally working if his visa will allow.

The issue:
He misplaced his passport with the old NZ visa in it (which is now long expired anyway) and we wont have the replacement passport until at least 15th June. From what I can gather, there is no way to get a work or visitor visa based on our marriage approved in less than a month, furthermore, if application is still pending when we leave for NZ he cant enter the country on the 3 month visitor standard visa waiver visa due to not having intentions of leaving within 3 months. What are our options, if any, to travel together to NZ in 6 weeks.
Please help! I used this forum for advice getting my husbands previous visa and it was so helpful!

[sks]

:...Please help!...

If your finances allow, you travel alone and he follows when his passport and visa situation permits.
If not, you reverse your "spontaneous" decision and finish your degree in the following semester, delaying your departure accordingly and sorting out your passport and visa situation in the interim.

I know neither of these suggestions allows you to travel together in 6 weeks, but I reckon either is more rational than trying to fit NZ visa policy to suit your whims, rather than the reverse.

[dragstrut]

As far as I can see, there is no problem.

Husband enters the country with no visa (USA nationals get a visa waiver for 3 months of stay). He'll likely go through the electronic gate at Auckland without talking to anybody. Once in the country, apply for a 3 month tourist visa extension. there is 6 months you have to sort everything out.

Explain the situation to the customs officer should you get stopped. bring copies of your bank statements, to show you can support yourself and buy husband a ticket out should he not sort his visa in time. (assuming you have enough money to support yourself in NZ for a few months, I hope)

[sks]

So you can enter NZ as a tourist and even apply for a tourist visa extension, all the while never intending to leave (meaning, you're not a bona fide tourist)?

I never knew that...

[dragstrut]

So you can enter NZ as a tourist and even apply for a tourist visa extension, all the while never intending to leave (meaning, you're not a bona fide tourist)?

I never knew that...

technically its not a tourist visa, its a visitor visa.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...a/visitor-visa

With this visa you can:
Visit friends and family, explore New Zealand or enjoy amateur sports, or adventure activity.

He'll be technically visiting his wife, until plans change.

people visit other people in other countries all the time. visiting another country doesnt always revolve around tourist activities

[JandM]

sks - There is also another accepted reason to give for wanting a visitor visa, either visa-waiver (filling in the card on the plane) or applying directly - "look, see and decide". This means that the person is looking around at the NZ environment and lifestyle, seeing what the prospects are in their line of work and how that career works in NZ, and deciding if they want to try it. Someone doing this IS a bona fide visitor.

[sks]

...the person is looking around at the NZ environment and lifestyle, seeing what the prospects are in their line of work and how that career works in NZ, and deciding if they want to try it...

The OP said those decisions had already been made -- he's lived and worked in NZ before, and his intention is to stay "for five months" and work "if his visa allows," whereas on a visa waiver entry he can stay for three and not work.

I will not comment further. I can well understand that someone who only wants to stay for five months (and whose wife is a Kiwi) wouldn't want to go through the expense and bother of a visa, but given the facts we know I can't say whether a visa waiver entry is appropriate unless he really intends to leave when he should under its terms. The OP seems to acknowledge this, BTW -- surely she understands he can enter merely on a US passport, so it's the length of stay, the entry timing, and whether he can work that are the real issues.

[JandM]

Oh, I didn't realize you were commenting on these people's lives. I was just pointing out an extra permissible reason for a visitor's visa which you appeared not to be aware of, in an attempt to help.