Permanent Residence query - Partnership based residence

[sarav1980]

I got residence in Sep 2018 and I am the only perosn in that applicant.

My Partner got partnership based residence in Jan 2020 in which he is the princiapl applicant along with my kids.

Is there any chance of getting permanent residence for all while I get my permanent residence in Sept 2020.

[Kelerei]

For the purpose of making an application for a Permanent Resident Visa (as well as a variation of travel conditions on a Resident Visa, or a second or subsequent visa), "principal applicants" and "non-principal applicants" are defined as follows (see RV1.20(a)):

• Principal applicants are the principal applicants of the original visa application
• Non-principal applicants are (you guessed it!) the non-principal applicants of the original visa application

Principal applicants are always assessed in their own right for a Permanent Resident Visa (RV2.5). Therefore, in a situation where two partners each applied for Resident Visas in their own right, they would then need to individually and separately meet the criteria for a Permanent Resident Visa, and make separate applications thereof. This situation will also occur if a dependent child was granted a Resident Visa separately from the parents (e.g. resident parents had to apply for a Dependent Child Resident Visa for the child).

Non-principal applicants will be assessed based on the eligibility of the corresponding principal applicant (RV1.20(b)), and can therefore be included on the corresponding principal applicant's application. This situation applies to anyone included on someone else's Resident Visa application (real-life example: I included my partner on my Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa application, and therefore her eligibility for a Permanent Resident Visa is solely dependent on my own eligibility, and she will be included in my future Permanent Resident Visa application). There are some exceptions to this though:

• Usually, a provision requiring the non-principal applicant to be assessed independently of the principal applicant applies (RV1.20.1 to RV1.20.20).
• Less usually:
  
  • The non-principal applicant is excluded by the provisions of RV2.1.
  • The non-principal applicant has never been in New Zealand as a resident, as required by RV1.5(d).
  • The non-principal applicant does not meet character requirements (A5), unless given a special direction or granted a character waiver; or the non-principal applicant falls under RV1.25.

[JandM]

Based on the rules that Kelerei has quoted, I don't think that YOU can claim PR for your partner and children, as they were on your partner's separate application.

[sarav1980]

Thanks a lot for the guidance Kelerei, JandM.