Under the Partnership Category of the Family Categories, a New Zealand citizen or resident can support the application for his/her partner. However, in order to be able to do that the partnership that exists between the two must be genuine and stable. Besides, there are other requirements that both the partners need to fulfill before the non- New Zealand partner is granted a residence class visa. Let us have a look at some of the definitions, concerning the partnership accepted by INZ:

Genuine & Stable Partnership: A genuine partnership refers to a union where both the partners have entered into the union and intended to maintain the partnership on a long-term basis. And a stable partnership refers to the one which is likely to endure.

New Zealand Partner: In order to support a partner application for residence class visa under the Partnership Category, a New Zealand partner has to be a citizen or a resident of the Kiwi country.

Who is a Kiwi resident for the purposes of supporting a partnership application?

• NZ resident is an individual who holds or is deemed to possess a current NZ residence class visa; OR
• NZ resident is an individual who possesses a valid Oz passport.

An individual is also defined as a New Zealand resident for the same purpose of supporting an application under this family category, given;

• He/she holds a valid Australian passport who does not possess a current NZ residence class visa; OR
• He/she holds a current residence class visa which has been issued, taking the fact that the individual possesses a current Oz PR visa or an Oz resident return visa into consideration.

In either case, the immigration officer must be convinced with the fact that the Kiwi country is the primary residence country of the sponsor at the time the petition under Partnership Category is filed, as well as at the time of assessing the petition.

If you are interested in applying for a residence permit to New Zealand, mail following information ASAP at ajay@abhinav.com for a free of charge assessment by Ajay Sharma, principal consultant,Abhinav.

• Your updated resume if skilled professional, or if businessmen, then brief on business profile along with information on your current personal net worth.
• If married, provide the resume for your spouse as well.
• If applicable, please provide information on children and their age.
• Information on any blood relatives residing in New Zealand. This is not a compulsory requirement to qualify for immigration to New Zealand, but serves as additional positive assessment and suitability factor.