[avil4723]

Hi everyone,

I am intending to migrate to New Zealand with my Kiwi-partner under the Family (Partnership) Category towards the end of the year from within New Zealand (will be on a WHV beforehand).

So I am already organizing all the documents I need for the application and also worked my way throught the residence application form (NZIS 1000), the self-assessment guide (NZIS 1003) and the application guide (NZIS 1002).

However, I could not find some information that would clarify the one or the other problem I have.

So I hope you might be able to help me out here a bit or at least point me in the right direction.


=============
QUESTIONS REGARDING RESIDENCE APPLICATION FORM NZIS 1000
(The form can be found here (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/D10B5CEA-318C-4E3F-88BF-FE8FDCFC7170/0/1000.pdf).)


A28 asks "Is your partner included in your application?"

What shall I answer here? I filled in all my partners details in A19 to A27 (as aked for in Section C), but my partner is a Kiwi - so do I need to include her or not?



A85 asks "Do you or any of your accompanying family members have a National ID number, or other unique identifier that was issued to you by any government?"


What is meant by that? Is it referring to my national ID card and its respective number? What kind of unique identifier could otherwise be meant?

A91 asks "List the countries you and/or your family have lived in for
12 months or more in the last 10 years, with the dates
you began and ended living there. If you do not know the
exact dates you began and ended living in a country, give
approximate dates. Please include your home country."


I have used 2/4 spaces for myself. Thus 2 more would be free - shall I use them for my partner? I guess given the statement "The following questions apply to every person included in
this application 17 years of age and over." this depends wether or not I should include her in the application (see A28 above), but I also read that she will have to provide police certificates anyway for her stays abroad. So do I list her here or not? :uhoh

B1-B13 are related to "Residence from Work Category"


Will I have to fill any of them out? While some do not seem to make sense to me in regards of my application, some actually could be filled out by me. So do I just leave the whole section untouched or do I have to fill some of it out?


C9 asks a)"Is your partner a New Zealand citizen?", b)"Does your partner hold a New Zealand residence permit?", c)"Does your partner hold a current New Zealand returning resident’s visa?" and d)"Does your partner hold a valid Australian passport?"


While a) is a YES and d) is a NO - do I leave b) & c) empty or do I need to choose one of the options YES/NO? Which one is applicable for a New Zealander?


C10-C17 is about parents/children sponsors.


Given that I do not have children and also my parents will have nothing to do with the sponsorship of my visa - will I have to answer any of these questions or leave them blank again?


Section D-F refers to refugee or pacific islanders.


Do I again just ignore this part? Or shall I tick boxes in any case (ie. NO)?

==========
Well that would be all my questions regarding NZIS 1000 for now - I hope they don't come across as too much of an avalanche ;-)

I am very greatful for any help with these questions and appreciate your time and effort on that.

Thank you and have a great day,
Antonio

[jeffanar]

"Is your partner included in your application?"
This question wasn't on the form when my OH applied, but I would probably say no, as your partner is not 'included' (as in applying for residence), someone else might have a better idea on this though!

"Do you or any of your accompanying family members have a National ID number, or other unique identifier that was issued to you by any government?"
My OH just put in his NZ IRD number. If you do have a national ID card number, put this in.

A91 asks "List the countries you and/or your family have lived in for
12 months or more in the last 10 years, with the dates
you began and ended living there. If you do not know the
exact dates you began and ended living in a country, give
approximate dates. Please include your home country."
I think you just have to put the countries you have been in here. There is a question on the sponsorship form relating to the sponsor providing police certificates.

B1-B13 are related to "Residence from Work Category"
You only have to fill in the section which relates to you, which is section C. "You must provide ALL the information requested for the category you are applying under"

C9 asks a)"Is your partner a New Zealand citizen?", b)"Does your partner hold a New Zealand residence permit?", c)"Does your partner hold a current New Zealand returning resident’s visa?" and d)"Does your partner hold a valid Australian passport?"
Just answer yes or no as appropriate - so I assume this would be yes to citizen and no to all others

Is there any reason you're holding off till you get here to apply? The processing time while you're in NZ is MUCH longer than if you are overseas (about 9 months vs 1-2 months), so if you have time I would recommend applying first.

HTH :)

[avil4723]

Hi jeffanar,

Thank you ao much for your help. I really appreciate getting some feedback on my concerns. Sometimes its just reassuring hearing a second opinion on things.

The reason I am waiting with my application was based on multiple reasons. One was being able to pick and choose the date to actually go to NZ, as we have to stick to certain dates (also for visa reasons of my partner here in Europe). Waiting for immigration to give greenlight would have been to restricting for us at this stage. Second, I would like to have a proper look around first before make a definite decision - thus I am going on a WHV first.

But out of interest, what is your experience (9 month) based on? That's really quite a long time, especially in case I really want to stay and get a job. :(

[jeffanar]

You're welcome :D

My OH was in NZ on a WHV, applied for his residency in (I think) October last year, and got the approval letter in July.

He also applied for a work permit as his WHV expired in that time, this came a lot quicker and is pretty easy to do if you do it at the same time as applying for residency (you just have to filll in the application forms as you already have all the evidence etc. for the residency application) but it's an extra cost, especially if you are planning on leaving the country within that time as you have to apply for the visa as well as the permit.

If you don't want to have to do that then you will have to get your residency application in pretty soon after you arrive so hopefully you will get approved before your WHV expires

[avil4723]

You're welcome :D

If you don't want to have to do that then you will have to get your residency application in pretty soon after you arrive so hopefully you will get approved before your WHV expires

Thanks again! 9 month is indeed a long time for something like that.
But regarding your comment (see quote) - do I not get a bridging visa in case their process runs longer than my current visa? At least that was the case in Australia for those of my friends applying there for residency, while their current visa was about to expire.

[jeffanar]

I think that's an Australian only thing - here you have to apply separately for a visa to make sure you are covered for the duration of the processing time, and the easiest one in your situation will be a partner sponsored work permit (and visa if you're going to leave the country)

[BkyMonster]

When I spoke to NZIS last year they told me that as long as I had an application in, if my previous permit ran out I was entitled to stay until a decision was made on my new permit (I was going from 3 month visitor permit to 12 month partner sponsored work permit, they told me 9-12 months, took about a month iirc), but that I would be under basically visitor permit restrictions, i.e. no working, for the duration of the time one permit ran out and the other came into effect.

[avil4723]

Thanks for the answers. I guess BkyMonsters point seems logical - even though I will have to double check that with Immigration - but if they could just kick you out of the country by prolonging your visa decision, they would be able to get rid of a lot more people just by stalling. So a bridge visa should be a normal thing to get.

I will be on a 12-month WHV in NZ when I arrive - what would be the advantage of getting a partner sponsored workpermit for me? A company most likely would still not offer me a permanent employment, right? So in that case I may as well just focus on the partner sponsored PR as it looks to me that I would not be improving my employability.

[napiers]

I applied through partnership a while ago but this may/may not help.





=============
QUESTIONS REGARDING RESIDENCE APPLICATION FORM NZIS 1000
(The form can be found here (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/D10B5CEA-318C-4E3F-88BF-FE8FDCFC7170/0/1000.pdf).)


A28 asks "Is your partner included in your application?"

I put no for my Kiwi OH.




A85 asks "Do you or any of your accompanying family members have a National ID number, or other unique identifier that was issued to you by any government?"


I put my National Insurance number



A91 asks "List the countries you and/or your family have lived in for
12 months or more in the last 10 years, with the dates
you began and ended living there. If you do not know the
exact dates you began and ended living in a country, give
approximate dates. Please include your home country."


I just put my countries - or in my case country


B1-B13 are related to "Residence from Work Category"


Don't remember doing anything in this section (it may be new but my assumption would be that because you're applying through partnership you won't need to



C9 asks a)"Is your partner a New Zealand citizen?", b)"Does your partner hold a New Zealand residence permit?", c)"Does your partner hold a current New Zealand returning resident’s visa?" and d)"Does your partner hold a valid Australian passport?"


I put a) yes b) no c) no - because he's a NZ passport holder and therefore those two don't apply. I guess you could just as easily leave them blank.



C10-C17 is about parents/children sponsors.


Without looking at my form I can't comment. But on my form I did put my mum and brother on it somewhere (I think it's something to do with recording them in case they apply for residence in the future - someone else will know better than



Section D-F refers to refugee or pacific islanders.


I ignored those questions.

[avil4723]

Thank you napiers for your answers.

How long did the whole thing take for you? Did you aplly from within NZ?

[napiers]

I applied from UK back in 2007.

Lodged application in London late July and had Approval in Principle by late August. We're still in UK because we've pushed our time limits to the max (ie waited the full 6 months after approval before sending off passports etc). It was a pretty painless process for me, I guess that's the benefit of partnership - so hopefully it will be for you too. :D

[Jo Jo]

Hi, my answers were pretty much the same as napiers'...

=============
QUESTIONS REGARDING RESIDENCE APPLICATION FORM NZIS 1000
(The form can be found here (http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/D10B5CEA-318C-4E3F-88BF-FE8FDCFC7170/0/1000.pdf).)


A28 asks "Is your partner included in your application?"

Like Napiers, I put no.



A85 asks "Do you or any of your accompanying family members have a National ID number, or other unique identifier that was issued to you by any government?"


I ticked no for this question as I assumed it was referring to ID cards.

A91 asks "List the countries you and/or your family have lived in for
12 months or more in the last 10 years, with the dates
you began and ended living there. If you do not know the
exact dates you began and ended living in a country, give
approximate dates. Please include your home country."


I put down only the countries I had lived in.

B1-B13 are related to "Residence from Work Category"


I left this section blank, and just wrote "N/A" on the top of each page, so they knew it was intentionally blank.


C9 asks a)"Is your partner a New Zealand citizen?", b)"Does your partner hold a New Zealand residence permit?", c)"Does your partner hold a current New Zealand returning resident’s visa?" and d)"Does your partner hold a valid Australian passport?"


I answered yes, no, no, no.


C10-C17 is about parents/children sponsors.


Again, I left them blank, and wrote "N/A" at the top of each section.


Section D-F refers to refugee or pacific islanders.


As above.

[avil4723]

Thanks Jo Jo for the answers. Do you mind me asking how long your approval process took and if you applied from within or outside NZ?

[Jo Jo]

I applied in the UK. I submitted my application on 17 May 2007, and received approval in principal on 14 June 2007 - it was very quick!

[James 1077]

On the "in NZ applications" a friend of mine applied whilst in NZ and it took over a year to come through. In the end she had to give up her job as her working visa ran out (she was allowed to stay in the country though).

Another friend managed to finally get her residency last week - it took over 2 years for her though!

When my OH put her application in when in the UK we had the stamps in her passport within 3 weeks.

I would therefore advise saving the extra money on getting the WHV or other visas and get the PR. You have up to a year after it has been granted to come to NZ.

[avil4723]

I would therefore advise saving the extra money on getting the WHV or other visas and get the PR. You have up to a year after it has been granted to come to NZ.


Thank you for the advise James - problem is that my Kiwi GF can't stay in Europe much longer given visa related issues for her here. :(

One year? Two years? Wow, that is tough. I can't understand it!
Looks like its almost worth going to Sydney for a while ;-) and apply from there.

Has that been standard processing time or did these partner have any issues in proving their relationship?

[James 1077]

Thank you for the advise James - problem is that my Kiwi GF can't stay in Europe much longer given visa related issues for her here. :(

One year? Two years? Wow, that is tough. I can't understand it!
Looks like its almost worth going to Sydney for a while ;-) and apply from there.

Has that been standard processing time or did these partner have any issues in proving their relationship?

The two year one had issues proving the relationship (although I would have thought that after a year it would have become easy!) - she is a 25 year old Chinese girl who is going out with a 57 year old Kiwi guy ... which may ring some alarm bells!

The other girl was told that up to a year is pretty standard for applications in NZ!

You can always put the application in from the UK and ask them to deal with it quickly due to the various issues; we did that with my OH and they were on to it right away.

[avil4723]

You can always put the application in from the UK and ask them to deal with it quickly due to the various issues; we did that with my OH and they were on to it right away.

Thanks for the advice... I will try that! Can I actually launch a PR application, while just having been granted a WHV? Or is that not an option anymore?

[sophiedb]

I'll be submitting my partnership visa application soon, whenever the police checks all come back basically. I expect mine to take a little while due to certain referral to the medical assessor. Hopefully not too long though, as we want to move in Jan/Feb :)

Regards a WHV, if it works for you go for it. Hubby and I have both used them (first he came here to the UK for 2 years, then when his ran out I got one for Australia). When my Aussie WHV ran out I got another visa - 5-year temp - as the partner of a Kiwi, so we ended up staying in Australia for 3 years altogether. That one came through in about 2 weeks *lol*

Best wishes, whatever you both decide :)

[Jolie]

If I recall correctly -- and I'm sure someone here will correctly me if I'm wrong -- but I seem to remember that there is a place where they ask you to list your parents, siblings and children even if they are not a part of your visa/residency application.

Whereever that place is, it is important for you to list all of those people even though they are not coming with you, because if at any point later on you try to bring them over as relatives and you hadn't mentioned them before, NZIS will figure that you're running a scam.

Hopefully someone else here can clarify that for you.

:)

[Jo Jo]

If I recall correctly -- and I'm sure someone here will correctly me if I'm wrong -- but I seem to remember that there is a place where they ask you to list your parents, siblings and children even if they are not a part of your visa/residency application.

Whereever that place is, it is important for you to list all of those people even though they are not coming with you, because if at any point later on you try to bring them over as relatives and you hadn't mentioned them before, NZIS will figure that you're running a scam.

Hopefully someone else here can clarify that for you.

:)


You do recall correctly - it's at question A18.

[PonyGirl]

Hhhmmm, this thread has me concerned about my plans. We called NZIS and they recommended I come into the country from the US on a WHV and apply for PR once here, so that is what we are doing. Now I'm concerned that it will take a long time and my visa will run out. I'm applying for PR based on partnership as my hubby is a kiwi. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Good luck filling out the application. Just take your time and read it thoroughly and you'll be fine!

[avil4723]

Thank you all for your help so far!

Regarding PonyGirls statement - I experienced the same.

Hhhmmm, this thread has me concerned about my plans. We called NZIS and they recommended I come into the country from the US on a WHV and apply for PR once here, so that is what we are doing. Now I'm concerned that it will take a long time and my visa will run out. I'm applying for PR based on partnership as my hubby is a kiwi. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

Good luck filling out the application. Just take your time and read it thoroughly and you'll be fine!
We all enquired with NZIS and they told us to come to the country on an WHV. Thats why I got that in already and approved and was already starting to focus on the partnership application, just to have everything setup already.

Even though we wouldn't have had that much of an option anyway - as I said before visa restricitions over here are pushing us to get things done fast ;-)

[jeffanar]

Now I'm concerned that it will take a long time and my visa will run out. I'm applying for PR based on partnership as my hubby is a kiwi. I guess we'll see how it turns out.

If it does look like you are going to run out of time, or you just want to be sure, you can apply for the partnership work permit which is pretty easy if you've already got the partnership PR application in as you've already got all the evidence etc. submitted. You've really just got to fill in the form and pay the fee!

[PonyGirl]

Good to know, thank you!!