[kerrijeansmith]

I was accepted into a university program at Massey in NZ, and thought it would be relatively simple to move my husband and children over so I can study in February 2009. Suddenly things seem terribly complicated! So I need to talk and read and get ideas and motivation, because I am very overwhelmed and stressed out right now.

Kerri

[kanatakiwi]

Hi Kerrijean

Tell us your concerns and we can help you sort things out. There is a wealth of knowledge on here including lots of expat Kiwis coming home, and yes there are a few Canadians too.

I am guessing the issue is that your OH needs a work permit or permanent residence? It should be relatively easy for him to get PR if you are an NZ citizen.

I am married to a kiwi and came in on a visitors permit, applied and got a work permit, and submitted my PR at the same time. The work permit I got in a month, and PR came through in 8 months, but only because there was some question about my Xrays which had to be looked over by an NZIS doctor.

Well sorry if I am way off base, but you havent given too much info, so I am guessing at most of this. But let me know if you have any questions I can help with, and as I say there are many much more informed folks on here who have "been through it all". I have some suggestions about getting your paperwork together in Canada.

Don't stress!!! It should not be too complicated if you have NZ citizenship.

Where abouts are you in Canada?

[Caniwi]

Hi, and welcome.

I'm a NewZealand/Canadian heading back with my Canadian husband in December. So what seems to be the trouble??? If you can elaborate slightly, maybe some of the members may have some insight for you.

Yep, it sure is daunting, but many have gone thru and come out the other side :)

[kerrijeansmith]

Oh wow, we must be twins or something. We're in BC too. Chilliwack, so we're neighbours. By Canadian standards anyway. ;)

Anyway, from what I can understand, the ways for him to enter the country seem impossible unless there's some loophole I'm not seeing?

It seems like can't sponsor him as a partner unless I'm already in NZ, and we want to come together in January if possible. Or for him to get a work visa, he needs a NZ job before applying? And it doesn't seem like he can just enter without being able to work and then apply from NZ unless he has a ticket booked to leave within a few months? What am I missing here?

I think our kids are NZ citizens by descent, but the NZ embassy in Ottawa said they still need visas. I get a different story whoever I talk to.

Thanks in advance if anyone has any hints. I was so excited to get a place in this degree program, and suddenly it all seems very difficult.

Kerri

[kerrijeansmith]

Why is the NZ immigration website so confusing? I seem to hit dead or incorrect links. The emails I'm getting back aren't altogether helpful either. I hate talking on the phone, but I just might have to make a big fat call to NZ on Monday.

[kanatakiwi]

Oh wow, we must be twins or something. We're in BC too. Chilliwack, so we're neighbours. By Canadian standards anyway. ;)

Anyway, from what I can understand, the ways for him to enter the country seem impossible unless there's some loophole I'm not seeing?

It seems like can't sponsor him as a partner unless I'm already in NZ, and we want to come together in January if possible. Or for him to get a work visa, he needs a NZ job before applying? And it doesn't seem like he can just enter without being able to work and then apply from NZ unless he has a ticket booked to leave within a few months? What am I missing here?

I think our kids are NZ citizens by descent, but the NZ embassy in Ottawa said they still need visas. I get a different story whoever I talk to.

Thanks in advance if anyone has any hints. I was so excited to get a place in this degree program, and suddenly it all seems very difficult.

Kerri

Hmmmmmn.... well for a start of course you can sponsor him as a partner as long as you have been in a relationship for more than a year, and if you have kids, its seems like it shouldn't be too hard to prove that. I've never heard that you have to be within NZ to do that. I am sure you can apply from within Canada. Or... you can get all the paperwork together in Canada, bring it with you and apply as soon as you land. I did this, see my previous post, I submitted for PR and a work permit as the same time, so that I woudl have the ability to work, while the PR application was progressing.

The kids may need visas if they were born in Canada and have never "activated" their NZ citizenship, but that shouldnt be too hard if you are an NZ citizen. And I think once again they are just included in your OH's partnership application. (would have to check on that for you)

Others might have more info on this, but its my understanding (and I can check on this on Monday as I have a friend who is an "expert", that your husband can apply for a work permit under partnership. He shouldn't need a job to do this. Unless there is something terribly wrong with his application, he is not going to be refused if you are an NZ citizen.

At the very worst (and you probably dont want to consider this route) he can come in on a visitors permit with a return ticket(which can be cashed in later) and apply from within the country for a work permit on the partnership category. He might well have a job offer in hand by then. If he has not spent a lot of time in NZ before he can come in on an initial 3 month visitors visa and get it extended for 9 months if needed while he waits for his PR partnership application to go through.

Does he work in an area that is considered a skill shortage? If so that would help.
I am sure there is a way to sort this out.

[kerrijeansmith]

We've printed off the big 24-page application, and it seems like for me to sponsor him, I have to be currently living in NZ? Or he needs a job beforehand. It's on the first page of "am I eligible to sponsor?" or something.

It just seems like there are several avenues, but for some reason they all need something we don't have. We don't know if he will even be able to work, because we have four young children and I'll be studying pretty intensely so will probably need him to be the homemaker at least part of the time. But we want to know that we can at least come all together and figure it out as we go along. If he was the student, it wouldn't be so complicated it seems.

We've been married almost 12 years and have 4 kids. So yeah, we're legit as far as our relationship goes. But I would love to know how to pull it all together. This forum is already a life-saver. Sanity-wise anyway!

Kerri

[kanatakiwi]

We've printed off the big 24-page application, and it seems like for me to sponsor him, I have to be currently living in NZ? Or he needs a job beforehand. It's on the first page of "am I eligible to sponsor?" or something.

It just seems like there are several avenues, but for some reason they all need something we don't have. We don't know if he will even be able to work, because we have four young children and I'll be studying pretty intensely so will probably need him to be the homemaker at least part of the time. But we want to know that we can at least come all together and figure it out as we go along. If he was the student, it wouldn't be so complicated it seems.

We've been married almost 12 years and have 4 kids. So yeah, we're legit as far as our relationship goes. But I would love to know how to pull it all together. This forum is already a life-saver. Sanity-wise anyway!

Kerri


OK. what you need is the Application for Residence in NZ..... and you fill that in applying under the Family category. In there it asks if the person applying under the family category is applying for partnership, and it asks:
Is your partner or sponsor an expatriate New Zealander ? (which you are) . so it then goes on to say that you must be able to prove you have been lviing together for 12 months (which you can). So just be clear that you are applying in the Family Category under the Partnership Policy.

Your husband is the principal applicant, for residence, you are the partner.;

You also fill out the Sponsorship Form for Residence. You fill that one out with your details. Make sure you are looking at the sponsorship of a person under the partnership category, NOt the sponsorship of a person under the family category.

To sponsor, it asks you if you are an NZ citizen, and you are the partner of the person you wish to sponsor. Yes Yes. Easy.

As long as you have not previously sponsored someone under the Partnership Category and youhave not been the perpetrator of an incident of domestic violence, or you were an applicant for partnership yourself previously, you are OK. As near as I can see they want to know if you an NZ citizen, they ask if you are in NZ or not, but it doesnt matter whether you are or not. You also have to fill in Section D of the sponsorship form, which is to get a document notarized that you meet the requirements outlined above.

As all the various categories are on the one document, dont get confused by all the questions, you are only answering the ones that apply to Partnership under the Family categoy.
After you have done a few more posts you will be able to send me a private message if you have more questions.

good luck.
Gloria

[kanatakiwi]

One more thing......

Your husband does not need a job if he is applying for a work permit under partnership.

I did this , sent it in at the same time as my PR application. I did not have a job. I was not even looking for a job. But I applied because by getting the 2 year work permit (and I figured Imight as well go for the 2 year one, as I had to do the medicals and police certificate anyway for the partnership application ) I was then eligible for medical coverage here in NZ, etc.

So it would be perfectly fine for him to be the stay at home partner.

[kanatakiwi]

and one last point.... I promise:yes

for your kids.... there was a big push by NZ a couple of years ago to let expat kiwis know that they now need to register their kids if they were born abroad and you want them to have NZ citizenship. If you haven't done that , that will be why they say your kids need a visa. HOwever you should reigster them right away, it takes a while, but get it underway and then we they travel with you to NZ, they will be granted a visa without any problems, they will likely be given a students visa so that they can attend school.

[Leanne]

Hello from another Canadian. Good luck with everything! :)

[kanatakiwi]

Here is the application form for Citizenship by Descent for your children.
http://www.dia.govt.nz/Pubforms.nsf/URL/ApplicationforRegistrationofNZCitizenshipbyDescent .pdf/$file/ApplicationforRegistrationofNZCitizenshipbyDescent .pdf
It says on the Dept of Internal affairs website that it takes abuot 20 working days to process this application, so if you get these filled in for your kids and send them in, you should have them registered in plenty of time.
G

[kerrijeansmith]

Oh wow. You guys are an absolute blessing. Thank you SO MUCH. I feel alot better.

Where it asks if I was in NZ (as a sponsor on the forms) I thought it was mandatory that I say "yes." It seems hard to navigate their website, and there was/is alot of contradictory info for a million different scenarios.

I do have those forms, and I will fill them all in asap. I'm hoping to have it all figured out before we leave, if possible. I wonder if it would be quicker/easier/cheaper for me to include the kids on the same application form, or to register them as citizens by descent which is $200 each I believe. We'll see. It's all seeming a little easier now. I only found out on Wednesday night that I was accepted, so it's all very new in my mind. You guys are fantastic.

Kerri

[dharder]

I wonder if it would be quicker/easier/cheaper for me to include the kids on the same application form, or to register them as citizens by descent which is $200 each I believe. We'll see.

Well the good thing is that you can register their citizenship and get their passports in one go, so you just send all the stuff and get back a piece of paper confirming their citizenship (by descent) AND the passports.

I think that was quite good. Course you have to pay for both, and send double the amount of passport sized photos, but at least it all happens in one go and quite quickly. If you do it now-ish, you should be fine timewise.

And no, you definitely don't have to be in NZ to sponsor your partner. From what I read, most people on this forum have been living somewhere else when they were sponosored by their partners (me included).

Good luck with everything,

Daniela

[kerrijeansmith]

I was figuring we could just all use our Canadian passports, at least to get there. And if we included them on my husband's PR application, it could be all done in one go? It's just really hard to figure out fees for all this stuff. Oh well. We'll get there. Just a day or two makes a big difference as far as wading through all this info.

Thanks for the welcome! What a great forum this is.

Kerri

[dharder]

I was figuring we could just all use our Canadian passports, at least to get there. And if we included them on my husband's PR application, it could be all done in one go? It's just really hard to figure out fees for all this stuff.

If you put all the children on the application, you will have to get medicals for them and you will have to pay all fees for them, including migrant levy for all (or rather, the maximum amount). When we calculated this for ours (we have four as well), it was cheaper to get them the passports than to include them on my application, iirc, but it was definitely less hassle (and took about four weeks until we had the passports in hand).

I have found the immigration website to be quite straightforward, even where fees are concerned, and the citizenship registration and passport fees are all on the net, as far as I remember. For citizenship questions, embassy website will be your point of call.

Daniela

[kerrijeansmith]

Okay then. I guess we'll do passports for the kids. That shouldn't be too complicated I guess. Or NZ citizenship registrations at least. I'll work on this today.

Kerri

[dharder]

Okay then. I guess we'll do passports for the kids. That shouldn't be too complicated I guess. Or NZ citizenship registrations at least. I'll work on this today.

Kerri

Just take it one form at a time :) It can feel quite overwhelming, and I can't even remember how many 'recent, passport sized photos' I sent off during the whole process...

I also found myself cursing the day we decided to hyphenate our children's last names instead of concatenating them so something short and snappy, and giving all my kids middle names seemed totally excessive by the time I got to the fourth application for a passport after doing four times the application for the citizenship registration...

Good luck with all this,

Daniela

[Mrs Pony]

welcome & good luck with the move!

[kerrijeansmith]

Update:
I've now sent off the citizenship registration forms for the kids.
My NZ passport renewal application is in the hallway waiting for the courier to pick up today.
My husband's medical forms have all been dropped off at the doctor for him to look over and then call us to book the tests/exams/etc. for his PR application.

Little by little. We are making progress. Getting all the photos and witnessing was a pain, but we're on our way. My stress levels are extremely high still, though.

If things go smoothly, is it possible we could have my husbands PR before we arrive in NZ at the end of January? Or if we're not in a hurry for him to work (he'll likely be the primary caregiver for at least the first couple of months) can he enter just as my partner without a work permit or PR?

Kerri

[Oregonkiwi]

Or if we're not in a hurry for him to work (he'll likely be the primary caregiver for at least the first couple of months) can he enter just as my partner without a work permit or PR?

yes, but be aware that he'd need a return ticket if he came in as a visitor.

Have you considered getting him a short-term work visa? It only took about a week for the LA consulate to process my husband's work visa application (under the partnership category), and it meant he could come to NZ on a one-way ticket.

[kerrijeansmith]

Would he need a job offer to get a short-term work visa? We're not planning on him working, so I don't know if we could do it that way. Good idea, though. I'll look into it. Going through the Washington embassy could potentially be quicker than sending it to NZ. I'm a total stress case, though.

Kerri

[kanatakiwi]

Would he need a job offer to get a short-term work visa? We're not planning on him working, so I don't know if we could do it that way. Good idea, though. I'll look into it. Going through the Washington embassy could potentially be quicker than sending it to NZ. I'm a total stress case, though.

Kerri

Hi Kerri, nice to see your photo:clap

I applied for a work visa without a job offer and had no plans to work. I did it to enable me to get medical coverage etc while waiting for PR. If he is applying for a work visa under partnership he does not need a job offer.

Things will all start to fall into place soon.
KK

[kerrijeansmith]

I wonder if I could send that all in the same envelope as the PR to the Washington embassy? Is this the one we're talking about? http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/0B483D64-261E-42F9-A023-B3C5F00D10D1/0/1146.pdf

It almost looks TOO easy. ;)

Kerri

[kanatakiwi]

hmmmn, I submitted a proper work visa application. looks to me like that is the supporting document to accompany the work visa application, best you check.
KK

[kerrijeansmith]

Damn. I figured it was too easy. Okay, I'll keep plugging away. Would I have to do multiple medicals, or submit it all together? And really, I appreciate all insight. It's really noone else's job to figure this all out for me, so thanks.

Kerri

[kerrijeansmith]

I think we will go that route after all (temp work permit - partnership category) because the embassy got back to me and said there's no real chance of getting his PR done by January. So now I know, at least, and can move forward. Have printed and filled in the temp work permit. Woohoo!

As soon as we get the medical forms back from our family doctor, I'll be able to courier this stuff to Ottawa. Relief with a capital R. We've done our RCMP criminal background checks, all the photos, etc. I think I've figured out all the documents to be included. Things are looking good, finally. And it's helping that alot of the stress I've been facing is starting to lift as various dates, events, get behind us. This has been a very busy couple of weeks, regardless of immigration stuff.

Kerri

[cani]

Happy to see things are moving forward for at a good pace. :clap

[canajanz]

Update:
If things go smoothly, is it possible we could have my husbands PR before we arrive in NZ at the end of January? Or if we're not in a hurry for him to work (he'll likely be the primary caregiver for at least the first couple of months) can he enter just as my partner without a work permit or PR?

Kerri


WOW that was quick work

You are very efficient

The only thing that could hold you up now is Christmas and the time it takes for DC to process PRs

[mcacmartin]

Welcome to the forum! You'll get lots of good advice from here.....

I'm heading down there in January with any luck...and I too will be sponsoring my OH. I've got permanent residency there and it's all alot of forms but I think it'll be worth it.

I'm sort of your neighbour too! We're in Victoria. Where are you heading to??

[danw]

Hello KerriJean and all the other Vancouver/BC folks on this forum. Kerri, sounds like you are getting handle on things. I went through the same thing 4 years ago when we moved down - it was a slow process but it all worked out well in the end. I found the NZ immigration people very easy to deal with once we actually arrived.

I will post an intro to this forum, we returned to Canada eariler this year and now regret that decision. We are making plans to return to NZ in 2009. More details in intro.

dan