Partner-sponsored immigration: important requirements that are easily overlooked

A recent announcement from Immigration New Zealand comprehensively revised the requirements for work visa applications. In the March 2019 issue of YIJU New Zealand, I discussed possible work visa changes. That article interpreted Immigration New Zealand's indicative guidance, and most of those interpretations have now become official measures. As details emerge, I will provide further analysis of the changes in my magazine column.

Meanwhile, partnership visas are attracting considerable attention, and many readers have requested analysis. In this article, I will therefore discuss circumstances that warrant attention when applying for a partnership visa.

Please note that, because immigration policy allows for many exceptional cases, this article cannot cover every situation.

 

 

Immigration New Zealand has clarified a point about the period of living together required for partnership visa applications: the applicant and sponsor must have lived together for the 12 months before applying.

 

Even if you have lived together for 364 days, being a day short will not do. We therefore cannot help clients submit documents early as we did previously, and instead advise them to wait patiently until they have lived together for 12 months before applying. This requirement may reflect the fact that the number of people applying for residence visas in New Zealand currently far exceeds Immigration New Zealand's planned intake. For more on immigration numbers, see the July 2019 issue of YIJU New Zealand.

This relatively recent change may seem very unfair to applicants who fall just 1 or 2 days short of the required period of living together, but immigration officers do not intend to be more lenient towards these families. In fact, in some cases, even where a couple have lived together for more than 365 days, Immigration New Zealand will question whether this period is genuine on the grounds of insufficient evidence.


In most cases, a second application may be approved because the time requirement has been met.

What does this mean?

Before applying, carefully consider and prepare all material that could support your application.

This depends on each family's circumstances. Decisions by higher authorities, such as the IPT or ministerial intervention, are beyond the scope of this article. Please contact the author for further information.

 

 

New Zealand's marriage system is monogamous. If someone who is already married marries the person they are sponsoring, the sponsored person's immigration application will be declined.

 

This can be a long-standing problem. For example, an applicant from the Philippines had separated from their former spouse 15 years earlier but could not obtain a formal divorce because of restrictions under Philippine divorce law. The applicant later married a New Zealand sponsor in New Zealand. When an immigration officer discovered their previous marital status, all their partnership-sponsored residence applications were declined because they had not divorced their former spouse and were therefore in a bigamous marriage.

 

The applicant eventually obtained permanent residence through the Skilled Migrant Category.

If you have not formally divorced, you should not remarry. The restrictive nature of this rule means that, even after 10 years or longer, someone in a bigamous marriage still cannot immigrate to New Zealand through the partnership sponsorship category.

Interestingly, if the previous relationship was a de facto relationship, meaning a man and woman lived together without obtaining a marriage certificate, Immigration New Zealand tends to approve the application because, strictly speaking, this does not breach the law.

 

Possibly. Each family's circumstances need to be assessed individually. The IPT has issued differing decisions in this particular area, and the law is still developing. Please contact the author for further information.

 

 

 Immigration New Zealand requires residence visa applications to include everyone who obtained a temporary visitor visa on the basis of their family relationship with the principal applicant. If an application does not include all sponsored people, it may not be accepted or assessed.

However, this requirement applies only where a partner or child holds a temporary visa sponsored by the principal applicant. For example, it does not apply to a couple who both came to New Zealand on working holiday visas. As people coming to New Zealand hold different visas, you should always confirm your position with your lawyer or immigration adviser.

 

 

 

If you sponsored someone for a temporary visa, such as a visitor, student or work visa, on the basis of a family relationship, you must include that person or those people when you apply for a residence visa.

 

Some immigration officers, such as managers, have authority to waive mandatory requirements. Again, this depends on the circumstances. Contact your lawyer or immigration adviser for more specific advice, for example if a partnership has ended or a family has particularly unusual circumstances.

 

 

Immigration applications under the partnership visa category do not usually require applicants to meet English language requirements, but there are exceptions:

 

For example, one of our applicants obtained a residence visa through the Skilled Migrant Category in 2018 and later wanted to sponsor his fiancée under the partnership visa category. After reviewing and considering the case, the immigration officer concluded from the relationship evidence submitted that he should actually have included his fiancée in his original residence application. She could have applied as his partner under the Skilled Migrant Category, but was required to meet the English language requirement of IELTS 5.0 or equivalent, or demonstrate English proficiency equivalent to IELTS 5.0.

 

Before applying, consider carefully when your relationship began. Depending on your timeline, English language requirements may apply even under the partnership visa category.

 

Yes. It depends on the circumstances of the case, and immigration officers can make mistakes. Seek professional help to assess the options.

 

 

A new measure Immigration New Zealand is about to introduce is post-visa verification. For example, after issuing a residence visa, it can investigate again to establish whether the relationship is genuine.

 

In some cases, new information may emerge indicating that the partnership is not genuine or stable. This is because there is a two-year wait before a residence visa can be converted to permanent residence, and much can happen during that time.

If an immigration officer considers the partnership to be ungenuine, or believes the application may have been based on false material, the residence visa may be revoked and the applicant deported.

A genuine and stable partnership is a basic requirement for a partnership visa application. A potentially difficult situation arises, however, when the relationship lawfully ends after residence has been approved. I would like to share a real case: an applicant could apply for a permanent resident visa only two years after obtaining a residence visa, but had already separated from their sponsor.

Immigration officers asked the applicant for an explanation and, based on the evidence provided, concluded that the partnership between the applicant and sponsor had ended before the residence visa was issued. The applicant should therefore have notified Immigration New Zealand of the change in circumstances. Immigration New Zealand ultimately deported the applicant for failing to disclose the relevant information.

 

It is best to confirm with your lawyer or immigration adviser that all the documents and information you provide are correct.

 

Yes. Mistakes do happen, and life is unpredictable: partnerships can change in unexpected ways. In such circumstances, it is best to seek professional help.

 

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 Tips: requirements and documents for partner-sponsored residence visas

1. Meet the partnership requirements: have lived with the sponsor for more than 12 months; both partners must be at least 18 years old, and if you are aged 16–18, you need financial support from a parent or guardian; have met each other before applying; and not be a close relative of the sponsor;
2. Be in good health;
3. Have no criminal record;
4. Have a genuine relationship with the New Zealand sponsor;
5. Meet English language requirements, where applicable.

 

1. Must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident;
2. Have previously sponsored only 1 partner, meaning a lifetime maximum of 2 partnership sponsorships;
3. Must not have sponsored another partner within the past 5 years. If the New Zealand partner has previously successfully sponsored someone under the partnership category, they must wait at least 5 years after their former partner obtained New Zealand permanent residence before sponsoring another partner;
4. Must not have committed domestic violence in the 7 years before the visa application;
5. If the sponsor obtained permanent residence through partnership sponsorship, they can sponsor you only 5 years after obtaining residence, and can sponsor a partner only 1 time;
6. The sponsor must not be married.

 

1. A notarised marriage certificate;
2. Joint bank accounts;
3. Letters sent to the same address;
4. Photographs together at different stages of the relationship;
5. Letters exchanged with each other;
6. Evidence of jointly owned assets;
7. Bills paid jointly;
8. Evidence of purchasing property or other assets by instalments;
9. Home or health insurance;
10. Letters of support from both partners' parents or from friends.

 

About the author

Sonny Lam
With 10 years of litigation experience and experience as a former Immigration New Zealand immigration officer, he now works as an immigration lawyer at Forest Harrison Lawyers.

After leaving Immigration New Zealand in 2015, he began specialising in immigration, bringing a distinctive perspective to specialist immigration issues and the effective preparation of application documents. He can offer sound professional advice from the perspectives of both applicants and the immigration officers assessing their cases.