Partners
As per Immigration New Zealand any person whom you are married to or are in a civil union or in a de facto relationship is considered to be your partner.
Work/ Visitor visa eligibility
You are eligible to apply for New Zealand dependent visa based on your spouse. Your visa eligibility depends upon the visa status of your spouse and of course the assessment of your relationship. The partner of a student visa holder may apply for work visa or a tourist visa depending on the course they are enrolled in. If your spouse is enrolled in a level 8 qualification or above, in a PhD program, level 7 qualifications in an area of a long term skills shortage, New Zealand aid scholarship program you may apply for work visa. For all other courses you may apply for visitor visa as a dependent of a student visa holder. If your spouse is a work visa holder or a New Zealand resident or citizen you are eligible to apply for a work visa.
Duration of your work visa
The duration of your work visa/ visitor visa will be the same as the duration of your spouse student visa or work visa.
Factors on which spouse visa application is decided
Your New Zealand spouse visa application is decided based on the case officer’s assessment of four factors of genuineness of relation, stability of your relationship , credibility of information provided and living together criterion. There is requirement of lots of documentation to be submitted to prove these four factors. For more information on this please refer to our article on factors influencing decision of dependent spouse visa application New Zealand
General Visitor visa for New Zealand dependent cases
Immigration New Zealand needs to be satisfied with the genuineness and stability of your relationship and credibility of the information and documentary evidence submitted with your application. In some cases the visa officer may asses that the applicant does not fulfil living together criteria but is satisfied with other 3 aspects. In these circumstances the visa officer may grant you General Visitor visa in the interests of customer service and in order to provide you with an opportunity to meet that criteria of instructions to allow you and your partner to live together in New Zealand. This visa conversion is strictly in accordance with current processes and in the interest of family reunification. You get general visitor visa to stay with your spouse and fulfil the living together criterion. You can apply for subsequent partnership visa by providing evidence of living together in a genuine and stable relationship. You get an opportunity to live together with your partner.
Character requirements
Any person entering New Zealand must be of good character. If you have any serious character issues your application won’t be approved unless there are very special circumstances. There are some other character issues which may prevent your visa being granted unless given a character waiver. So it is very important that you provide only authentic information and documentation with your application. Providing false and misleading information is one of the character issues which Immigration New Zealand takes very seriously and this needs to be addressed and waived before any visa can be granted.
Health requirement
In order to be eligible for New Zealand spouse visa you must have an acceptable standard of health. You need to provide medicals along with your dependent visa application to asses standard of your health.
Immigration History
You need to have a clear immigration history. Being deported, removed or excluded from any country is a serious issue and you are ineligible for a visa grant unless INZ gives you a special direction. Any previous refusals must be declared in your present partner visa application. If you have ever overstayed in any country or breached visa conditions of any country you must declare this in your application. Hiding any information or providing false information is very seriously taken by Immigration New Zealand.
Dependent Children
You school going dependent children are eligible for domestic student visas if you are a PhD Student or a New Zealand Aid Program Scholarship student or are a New Zealand work visa holder. A student on a postgraduate level 8 or level 9 cannot support the student visa application for their school going children. But they can support work visa application for their spouse who in turn can support student visa application of the children.
Reasons for refusals
There are many reasons which could lead to refusal of your application. If you do not meet the four fold test on the basis of which your dependent visa application is assessed your application will not be approved. So it is very crucial to prepare your application which depicts your circumstances of passing the four fold test supported by documentary evidence. There may be some character issues which may lead to refusal of your application. Contradictory information from couple or closely related people may also result in incredibility and thus refusal of application. Other reason may ne unlicensed advice. Immigration New Zealand is very strict about unlicensed Immigration Advice and refuses the visa application. As per the Immigration Adviser Authority New Zealand – any person who provides you with New Zealand immigration advice must be licensed by the Immigration Advisers Authority, unless they are exempt. This includes people providing New Zealand immigration advice from China, India or anywhere in the world.
Processing time
Processing time of dependent visa application for New Zealand is between 27 days to 5 months depending upon the visa status of your partner. For more information on processing time and factors resulting in delay of application processing please refer to article New Zealand spouse visa processing time
How to successfully file your application
For your dependent spouse visa application to be successful it is mandatory to fulfil all the above conditions. You need to pass the assessment of four fold test of genuineness, stability, credibility and living together. Your personal circumstances must depict all the above factors. You must tell about your relationship history and provide supporting evidence. . For accurate assessment of the spouse visa application for New Zealand it is very crucial to have in depth discussion with the clients to asses all the above 4 factors and accordingly give visa checklist to the applicant You must provide complete and accurate information to assist the case officer in making decision about your relationship. Your Consultant must be licensed Immigration Adviser.
Why West Highlander
Ms Parwinder Kaur, one of the key personnel of West Highlander is a licensed immigration adviser licensed by Immigration Adviser Authority – IAA, New Zealand and have till date successfully served hundreds of clients. West Highlander is the best consultant in Chandigarh making your process of your New Zealand partner visa application smooth and an easy experience. We pride ourselves in achieving successful visa outcomes for previously refused cases. Our success rate with New Zealand dependent spouse visa applications is one of the highest in the region.