My first of many questions ;-)

[bodisaffa]

Hi all new to this great forum, I am going to start my barrage of questions now, OK my situation in brief is I have just married my kiwi partner Now starting the immigration process, my initial questions are......

1. what kind of visa should I go for?? a perm residency based on my spouse?
2. my wife is under the impression that as we are married and been together over a year in the UK living together etc that me getting residency is just a formality and I wont get refused, is this the case?
3. whats the best place on this forum to post questions regarding PR on a family spouse Visa?

Thanks all in advance

[Carl]

Hi,


From Immigration NZ website-

What is required? - Residence
You need to meet a number of requirements to have your residence application approved under the Family Category (Partnership Policy).
You must be living together (and have been for a minimum of 12 months) in a genuine and stable relationship. You must also:

meet our partnership requirements
be in good health
be of good character
be sponsored by your New Zealand partner who is eligible to sponsor you.

With your application you must supply:

evidence that your partnership is genuine and stable
evidence of your sponsorship by attaching to your application
a properly completed, signed and witnessed Sponsorship Form for Residence in New Zealand (NZIS 1024) PDF.

Your sponsor will have to supply:

evidence of their immigration status
(if aged 17 or over) police certificates from any country (except for New Zealand) in which they have lived 12 months or more in the last 7 years before the application is made.



Here is the partnership eligiblity stuff:
Eligible sponsor
An eligible sponsor is a New Zealand citizen or resident who:

meets the character requirement for partners supporting Partnership policy applications (see below)
has not previously supported or sponsored more than one other successful principal applicant under Partnership policy
or
has not supported or sponsored any other successful principal applicant under Partnership policy in the five years immediately preceding the date the current application is made
or
was not the perpetrator of an incident domestic violence which has resulted in the grant of a residence permit to a person under policy for victims of domestic violence in the seven years prior to the date the application is made.

If a sponsor was a successful principal applicant under Partnership Policy they will not be considered eligible unless:

at least five years has elapsed since the date they were granted residence under Partnership Policy
and
they have not supported or sponsored any other successful principal applicant under Partnership Policy.

Character requirements for partners
Partners supporting a residence application under Partnership policy are not eligible if, in the 7 years before the date application is made, they have been convicted of any offence involving domestic violence or any offence of a sexual nature (unless they are granted a character waiver).

Evidence the partner meets character requirements
A partner (aged 17 and over) supporting a Partnership policy application must provide police certificates from all countries (except for New Zealand) he or she has lived in for 12 months or more in the 7 years prior to the date the application is made.




I have no idea if it is just a "formality" but this is just a good starting point for you i guess. There are probably people that have been around a whole lot longer and have a better idea.

Good luck!
Carl

[MotherBear]

Originally Posted by bodisaffa

1. what kind of visa should I go for?? a perm residency based on my spouse?
If you had particular skills that NZ wanted badly you could apply off your own back under the Skilled Migrant Category but, as you are married to a kiwi it would be a shame to miss out on the chance of applying under the Partnership Category .
2. my wife is under the impression that as we are married and been together over a year in the UK living together etc that me getting residency is just a formality and I wont get refused, is this the case?
It is more or less a formality and a lot easier than for the rest of us, but you still have a couple of hoops to jump through, like proving your relationship is genuine and stable and that you are of good character and health.
3. whats the best place on this forum to post questions regarding PR on a family spouse Visa?
On this section will do just fine .

Carl, great answer.

[bodisaffa]

Thanks Carl and mother bear, all the requirements should be no problem genuine stable relationship etc good health and character also no problem, my wife is a teacher so her side of things are also good! guess I had better start filling out those forms then!! the partnership forms that is! as you say would silly not to just go for the family visa!!

Thanks again, I will post again no doubt when I get the forms