How to Apply for a Partnership Visa for New Zealand

There are a few options available to bring your partner into New Zealand. In most cases, these applications will require you to show that you have lived with your partner for a considerable time prior to the application being made.

However, in cases where you have not lived with each other previously, there are still visa options available. This makes it important to seek advice before ruling out the possibility of gaining a partnership based visa.

To view our prices and complete Eligibility Assessment form for NZ Partner Visa, please click the button below.

Just think: You could soon have a far better idea of where you stand with your partner’s New Zealand visa application!

Visa Options for Partners of NZ citizens or residents

General Visitor Visa

A common issue with NZ partnership based visas is that immigration instructions state that the couple must have lived together at some point. This issue can extenuated by the fact that immigration may not consider the time spent living together while you had individual residence at the same time.

This affects a lot of relationships where the couple have met online or were travelling when they met.

A work around is to lodge a General Visitor visa application with the intention of travelling to New Zealand to meet the living together criteria of the partnership instructions. This may go against everything you know about visitor visas and bonafides. However, Immigration NZ have current policy in place that details that makes this type of application possible.

Once in New Zealand, we assist our clients by ensuring that there will be sufficient evidence on the relationship and of living together so that the following applications have a high chance of success.

This type of application is tricky and we do recommend that you use our services to manage the process.

Partnership Visitor and Work

If you feel you can prove that your relationship is genuine and stable, and that you have been living together, you have the option of applying for a partnership based work or visitor visa.

There is no real set length of time that you and your partner have to have been living together in a relationship  before you may apply for these types of visas. However, normally, we advise our clients that approximately 6 months would be a good starting point.

Partnership Residence

If you feel you can prove that your relationship is genuine and stable, and that you have been living together for at least 12 months, you may have the option of a partnership based residence visa.

Visa Options for Partners of Work or Student visa holders

In some cases, you are able to gain a visitor or work visa based on your relationship with your partner if they hold a current work or student visa. It is also possible to be included in your partner’s application for residency, even if you have not lived together for 12 months.

However, there are some circumstances where you may not be eligible for a visa based on your partner’s visa status so please, contact us so we can discuss your situation.