One Stop Thread for questions related to "Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa"

[NZ029]

Hi People,

First of all, I would like to thank everyone in the group who provide valuable feedback and insight. I was an active member while I was in the process of getting my residency around 2 years back.

Moving forward in life, I have recently got engaged and was wondering if I can get some help from the knowledgeable people over here.

Type of Partnership – Long story short, for the purpose of this visa, consider it a “Culturally arranged marriage”, as I don’t have much evidence of the moments we have spent together.

Now, obviously, I would like to bring my partner as soon as possible after our marriage and I believe it is a good idea to prepare the base to avoid any delays.

Date of Engagement – 12th Jan 2019
Planned Month of Wedding – October 2019

Questions I have:

1. Is engagement considered as some sort of “start of a relationship” so that I can apply for a “Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa”? It was good enough event and I have got a lot of pics of the ring ceremony.
2. If not, would you suggest me to go back home and get the court marriage done, to start the visa application?
3. Or, I can only start the process after getting married officially?
4. What's the duration for “Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa”? INZ website states it is 3 months. Has it been changed recently?
5. Let us assume she gets a 3 months visitor visa, what do we do after that? Do we apply for Partner work visa or partner resident visa?

I hope to get a response soon.

Feel free to share your experiences as well

Thanks

[VedSaumya]

Date of Engagement – 12th Jan 2019
Planned Month of Wedding – October 2019

Hi,

Welcome back to the forum.

Quick question- are your dates correct? Should it be 2020

Thanks,
Saumya

[NZ029]

oops....i still haven't adapted to 2020.

[NZ029]

Date of Engagement – 12th Jan 2019
Planned Month of Wedding – October 2019

Its actually 2020

Date of Engagement - 12 Jan 2020
Planned Month of Wedding - October 2020

Thanks

[Gaylen1986]

Have you tried to ask for advice on your immigration office there?

[NZ029]

Hi Gaylen,

Haven't contacted INZ yet. Can i do this without having an application in place?

[Sean_patel]

Hey mate.i will share my experience..I think cultural arrange marriage visas are still work in process.not sure if you can apply for it.even if you can I think it has to be applied within 3 months of marriage..

I had applied for partnership visitor Visa last year..had to show evidence of rituals of the actual weeding and was granted a general visitor Visa..I am not sure if engagement will suffice unless you have lived together for couple of months..

[JandM]

NZ029, here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...e-visitor-visa is the INZ factsheet about the culturally arranged marriage visitor visa. Look also at the tab marked Criteria, and you will find headings with more details of the exact requirements.

1, 2 and 3. The application has to be made within three months of the marriage, before or after.
4. The visitor's visa is for three months, which enables the couple to collect evidence of living together.
5. The foreign partner needs to apply, just before the end of the culturally arranged marriage visitor's visa, for a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...s-visa-holders (in your case, as you are a resident). (To get a Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa will need 12 month's evidence of living together, so you should keep collecting evidence, and save all your early evidence, ready for this next step.)

[newarrival]

'Type of Partnership – Long story short, for the purpose of this visa, consider it a “Culturally arranged marriage”, as I don’t have much evidence of the moments we have spent together.'

Aren't there specific requirements for that type of visa?

[NZ029]

NZ029, here https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...e-visitor-visa is the INZ factsheet about the culturally arranged marriage visitor visa. Look also at the tab marked Criteria, and you will find headings with more details of the exact requirements.

1, 2 and 3. The application has to be made within three months of the marriage, before or after.
4. The visitor's visa is for three months, which enables the couple to collect evidence of living together.
5. The foreign partner needs to apply, just before the end of the culturally arranged marriage visitor's visa, for a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...s-visa-holders (in your case, as you are a resident). (To get a Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa will need 12 month's evidence of living together, so you should keep collecting evidence, and save all your early evidence, ready for this next step.)

Thanks JandM. Thanks for the precious advise.
I am still a little confused in the following:
1. Should i apply for a partner visitor visa or a Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa.
2. Should i go and get the court marriage done before the actual ceremony to show the evidence of marriage for expediting the whole process or I should wait for the actual ceremony. The question here is.....does the court certificates carry the same value as the wedding ceremony for INZ or not? We probably won't even have a big wedding ceremony as it incurs a lot of cost and I don't have enough spare dollars to waste, as the rest of my fellows.

I won't mind if you are unable to respond to these very specific and personal questions, but will appreciate any insight

Thanks