Partnership Visa Help

[IT_GUY]

Kia Ora Everyone!

Please help me get some direction with Partnership Visa.
My partner and I both live in NZ but in different cities and both are on work visas, I'm on a Work to Resident Visa (Talent Visa) and planning to get married in a few months.
In order to live together in the same city, she needs to apply for a Partnership Visa and come live with me.
My question is does she apply for a Partnership based Visitor Visa or Partnership based Work Visa?
Also, can she quit her job and move in with me after applying for the Partnership based Visa?
Any help is highly appreciated.

Thanks.

[JandM]

I'm sorry to say that the situation is rather more complicated than you have seen.

Have you and your partner ever lived together before this?

For INZ, partnership IS a live-in relationship.

Notice the criteria for a partner-sponsored work visa https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...lders#criteria, or a partner-sponsored visitor visa https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-visa#criteria. In each case, the heading Your relationship with your partner states, "You and your partner must be living together in a genuine and stable relationship." Although INZ understand that circumstances, e.g. study, family emergency or work, sometimes mean that one or other partner has to be away for a time (https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...ly/partnership Time spent living apart heading), a live-in relationship has to be proved to have existed BEFORE that separation.

If you haven't previously lived together, therefore, your partner won't be eligible for any kind of partner-sponsored visa.

A possible next step, depending on the kind of visa she has, might be for your partner find a similar skilled job to what she has now, in the area where you are living, then to apply for another work visa based on that job. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...c-are-changing Notice, if she leaves her present job she will bring her present visa to an end and will be illegally in NZ unless she has already been granted a new visa to take over from it - simply applying for a different visa does NOT count.

[IT_GUY]

Hi JandM,

Thanks, for your reply, No we haven't lived together before and due to my partner's family's religious values, they don't approve of us living together before getting married.
It's impossible to live together anyway due to being in different cities.
I was under the impression that based on the fact that a couple is married they can be granted a visitor visa to physically spend time together and gather proof to apply for long tern visa?
Is there any other option that might be applicable other than changing jobs as it's quite hard for her and impossible for me.

Your help is highly appreciated JandM

[JandM]

Is your marriage going to be a culturally arranged one? - that is, were the first moves towards bringing you together made by your families, or a matchmaker?

[IT_GUY]

Hi JandM,

No, it's not a culturallly arranged marriage, the first moves towards bringing us together were made by me.
We have been dating for more than a year (living in the same city but separate houses) but I had to move to a different city because of my job :-(

Thanks.

[JandM]

Unfortunately, this situation

I was under the impression that based on the fact that a couple is married they can be granted a visitor visa to physically spend time together and gather proof to apply for long tern visa?

is for the special visa for culturally arranged marriages. See on this page of the factsheet https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...e-visitor-visa, and the Criteria tab.

As I said above, INZ regard partnership as being proved by a live-in relationship; they can't take account of what a couple say their feelings and intentions towards one another are, since people can SAY anything, and partnership visas are often targeted by crooks paying people to lie to get them a visa. That's why there is the insistence on "prove it by your actions".

I understand that this isn't going to be easy, specially as you had hoped the simpler route would be available to you.

[IT_GUY]

Hi JandM,

Thanks for sharing your insightful knowledge.
Indeed it's quite unfortunate that there is no straightforward option for me in this scenario.
I will explore how feasible is the option of a general visitor visa is as it's the only option I find close enough.
I will update the post once I have any news to help someone who might be facing a similar issue.

Cheers.

[JandM]

A visitor visa will not fit the case. Many people think that a visitor visa can be a fill-in for any situation for which there is no actual visa that fits what they want to do, but that is not so - it is for someone who has an established life, home and commitments in another country, to which they can prove they will be returning after a limited, specific, time in New Zealand. Every INZ applicant has to show that their application is Bona Fide https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...tity/bona-fide. Your partner is very obviously NOT wanting to leave the country after a short time - INZ know she's living and working in NZ, and she wants to marry you, who are in the process of setting up a life there.

[Kelerei]

There's only two options that come to my mind (and neither of them may be suitable or even feasible for you). The first is that your partner obtains a job offer in your city, then applies for a new Work Visa based on that job offer (care needs to be taken though that your partner is always covered by a valid Work Visa). The second is that your partner is granted a Resident Visa in his/her own right (e.g. SMC -- I see you're already on the Residence from Work pathway), which gives your partner total freedom, but the processing times are totally ridiculous at the moment.

This is a scenario where I would strongly urge you to find a good LIA -- a good LIA will know what the best option for you and your partner are. The very best ones don't come cheap, but the cost of getting this wrong could be far higher.

[IT_GUY]

A visitor visa will not fit the case. Many people think that a visitor visa can be a fill-in for any situation for which there is no actual visa that fits what they want to do, but that is not so - it is for someone who has an established life, home and commitments in another country, to which they can prove they will be returning after a limited, specific, time in New Zealand. Every INZ applicant has to show that their application is Bona Fide https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...tity/bona-fide. Your partner is very obviously NOT wanting to leave the country after a short time - INZ know she's living and working in NZ, and she wants to marry you, who are in the process of setting up a life there.

Thanks JandM,

This makes the situation even more complicated than what I initially thought it will be.
I'm thinking about the suggestion by Kelerei to engage a good LIA to get some specialized advice, Egoodhue is on leave otherwise I would have requested her to handle my case.
Hope there is some light at the end of the tunnel

Cheers.