Offshore partnership visa – the hard reality faced by newlyweds

While NZ is seen as a multicultural country that places a lot of importance on families and the time spent together as a family, when it comes to migrants who are looking to bring in their partners to NZ, the story can be greatly different.

As per Immigration instructions, partnership visa can be granted to people who have demonstrated that they are living together in a genuine and stable relationship. The intent is to allow partners of either temporary visa/residents/citizens to come and spend time and establish a life together. Most migrants go back to their home country to get married, spend couple of days living together and return to New Zealand with the hope that their partner will soon join them.

However, few days after marriage is not sufficient for INZ to establish that you have been in a genuine and stable relationship. INZ expects couples to at least live for 4 months together with shared responsibilities and financial interdependence before they decide whether or not to approve a partnership visa. It is here that newlyweds often feel lost, since being in a new country and having work commitments mean that they can only take a maximum of 2 months break – What would you do in such a situation?

For partners of residents/NZ citizens, there is an internal circular that allows for Immigration to grant a general visitor visa in case the living together condition is not met. However, the same is not true for temporary visa applicants; and most migrants believe that their partnership visa can be converted to general visitor visa – This is definitely not true; hence it is best to check with a qualified and experienced adviser before lodging the application to ensure you have the best chance of success.