Love Is In The Air
Amidst all of the various categories of Visa we have (and the ones we are still waiting for) there is one that I particularly enjoy working on, primarily because it requires a lot more “out of the box” thinking than most and is often widely misunderstood. For those people looking to join their New Zealand partner in the land of the long white cloud (although today the clouds are considerably more grey) then the partnership category is the obvious way to go. What isn’t always so obvious is how this category of the instructions works and how in most cases, there are at least two applications that need to be made before someone secures the right to live here permanently.
First of all, let’s start with the basics - when we refer to ‘partners’ in the NZ Visa context we are talking about anyone who lives with a New Zealand citizen or Resident Visa holder. This includes married couples, civil-union relationships, defacto partners and same-sex couples - as long as you are in a relationship and meet the criteria then any flavour of relationship can work.
Applicants must also meet some basic requirements for the definition of being in a partnership which includes not being related, having met and both being 18 or older at the time of applying for a Visa. However the basic requirements are just that - basic. There is a lot more that goes in to INZ’s assessment of whether a couple are in fact a couple.