Partnership based work visa extension

[saintezreal]

Hello everyone,

I am a New Zealand citizen and my partner's partnership based work visa 1 year will expire soon so I am about to apply for 2 years partnership based work visa extension.

I am filling out the form INZ 1146 which Form for Partners Supporting Partnership-Based Temporary Entry Applications now and I am stuck at the Section C : Eligible sponsor requirements under our Residence - Partnership instructions.

C1: Have you previously supported or sponsored a successful principal applicant under our Residence - Partnership instructions or 'partnership-based temporary entry instructions', or did you include a secondary applicant partner in your residence application who was granted residence?
I wrote my partner's detail here. Partner who I am trying to apply for 2 years visa extension. (she is the first and only person I have supported for New Zealand visa in life)

C2: Were you a principal applicant under Residence - Partnership instructions or granted residence as the secondary applicant partner under another residence category?
No

C3: Have at least five years passed since
- you supported or sponsored a principal applicant under Residence - Partnership instructions, or
- you were granted residence as a principal applicant under Residence - Partnership instructions, or
- you were granted residence under any other category, if you included a partner in that application, or
- you were granted residence as the secondary applicant partner under any other category?

No? (I supported her 1 year partnership based work visa last year)

Is this how i suppose to do in this section?

Thank you.

[TheNewKiwi]

Your answers should be "No, No, Not Applicable" assuming this is the only time you have supported a partner's application.

If you have not supported any other partner but this one, ever, none of the "previously supported" statements apply to you. This is how my partner completed the forms based upon guidance from out LIA. There is a limit to how many partners a person can support (only one within the last 5 years and 2 total lifetime). INZ wants you to disclose if there are any others *besides* this one.

[Kelerei]

I am a New Zealand citizen and my partner's partnership based work visa 1 year will expire soon so I am about to apply for 2 years partnership based work visa extension.

Just to clear something up: it's 2 years total that one can be on a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa, not a 2 year extension (so, you'll probably only get a 1 year extension). See WF2.1.

If your partner's intention is to reside with you in New Zealand indefinitely, INZ's expectation is that your partner applies for the Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa as soon as your partner becomes eligible. Given the aforementioned currency limitation on the Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa, and given that a Resident Visa allows the holder to work, study and live in New Zealand indefinitely, you and your partner should familiarize yourselves with the eligibility criteria of the Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa, and make an application as soon as reasonably possible once all eligibility criteria has been met.

However, you are definitely going to need that further Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa in the short term, due to the imminent expiry of the current visa. This applies even if you apply for the Resident Visa before the current Work Visa expires: you must be on a valid visa at all times while in New Zealand. Only when a further temporary class visa has been applied for may an Interim Visa be considered.

[emaino]

My partner's work visa got approved just now (Aug 2023) for 12 months and we will apply for the Partnership Residency Visa in Feb 2024, when we complete 1 year of living together. I have a few questions:

1. Given that the current process times for this visa could go up to 15 months, does she get an Interim Visa when applying for Residency (partnership-based)?
2. If she applies for another Partnership Work Visa before her current work visa expires, did I understand correctly that this would not grant an Interim Visa (even if it's an application for a temporary visa)?
3. Is there any problem with having both Work and Residency visa applications active at the same time?

Thanks!

[Kelerei]

1. Given that the current process times for this visa could go up to 15 months, does she get an Interim Visa when applying for Residency (partnership-based)?
2. If she applies for another Partnership Work Visa before her current work visa expires, did I understand correctly that this would not grant an Interim Visa (even if it's an application for a temporary visa)?

It's the other way around. Your partner may be granted an Interim Visa if applying for a further temporary entry class visa; your partner will not be granted an Interim Visa if only applying for a residence class visa (except for the 2021 Resident Visa and, from October, the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa). See I1.5.

3. Is there any problem with having both Work and Residency visa applications active at the same time?

If you search this forum, you will find many previous posters who have applied for a further temporary entry class visa to maintain their legal status in New Zealand during the processing of their residence class visa.

[saintezreal]

Thank you.

[Hospo]

Hello everyone,

1) Do we need to translate SMS, Facebook and WhatsApp messages into English when providing them as additional relationship support evidence?

2) When the main applicant applies for 1 year work visa extension based on existing SMC application, do the partner (who is included in this SMC application) get an open work visa even if salary/wage of the main applicant is already considered lower than median?

[Kelerei]

1) Do we need to translate SMS, Facebook and WhatsApp messages into English when providing them as additional relationship support evidence?

See this general information around translating supporting evidence into English.

2) When the main applicant applies for 1 year work visa extension based on existing SMC application, do the partner (who is included in this SMC application) get an open work visa even if salary/wage of the main applicant is already considered lower than median?

As per WF3.1(a)(i), a partner of an Essential Skills Work Visa assessed as being paid below the median wage is not eligible for the Partner of a Worker Work Visa, except in two very limited cases specified at WF3.1.1. It makes no difference whether or not an SMC application is in progress.

[Hospo]

Thank you, Kelerei