One of the issues immigrants face is applying for visas to work and stay in another country. In the years past, it was not too difficult for migrants to get a visa to stay permanently here in New Zealand. Unfortunately, we came at a time when a lot of the processes and requirements have changed. As for me, here is my experience of the whole process. Bear in mind that this is not a comprehensive one since everything is already a blurry for me.
What visa do I apply for?
I came to New Zealand through a Visitor’s Visa that will last for 59 days. We opted for this one because it was free. We knew that once I get here, I will apply for another visa, thus we chose not to have any additional spend for this. Note that Howell is already a Permanent Resident visa holder since 2011 so we did not have to worry about his visa here.
When we were already here, we did not know what options we had for my visa so we consulted Immigration NZ. They have confirmed that with our specific case, given that we were already living together for more than 12 months during the time of application, we can opt to apply straight to residency (which can take up to 9 months at the time we called) or if we wish to have a visa that would allow me to work soon, then we can choose the work visa (with processing time of 25 days max) instead. Given that there were more opportunities for me at that time, we decided to apply for the work visa since its processing time is shorter.
After I got a job, we pushed for the application of my residency visa. We needed to save up for another application (because fee$$$ haha) so we postponed it until I had my own job.
Timelines
My visitor’s visa was approved in 10 days if I can remember it right. Processing time was shorter perhaps because it was my second visit already.
My work visa was approved 4 months after I submitted my application, in contrary to the 25 days stated in their website then. This was the toughest visa I had to apply for because I had issues with my urine test. I had to retake because they found traces of sugar in my urine sample (which was not normal). It went downhill from there. For some reason, it was difficult for them then to confirm what stage my application was but it was approved nevertheless.
My resident visa was approved 5 months after my application. Should we have known that the timelines for the work and resident visa would be the same, we would have opted to apply straight to resident visa since we spent a significant amount for both applications.
Requirements
All requirements can be found on Immigration NZ’s website. Their list of requirements are pretty comprehensive and straightforward so there is no guesswork, especially for the visitor’s visa.
The requirements for my work and resident visa are almost the same, except we added a few items like the tenancy agreement and home bills to the resident visa application since we were already renting on our own then. Since my application is partnership-based, we had to provide documents that will prove that we are in a genuine and stable relationship for more than 12 months. A marriage certificate here is a recognized proof of a relationship but is not enough to prove a genuine and stable one so we had to add on several items to the application. Below is a list of all the requirements I can remember:
- Marriage certificate
- Tenancy agreement
- Statement of joint bank account
- Statement of joint investments
- Copious amount of photos, especially the ones we’ve posted on social media
- Letters from family members posted to our home
- Utility billings
- Timeline of the relationship (a friend told me a bullet-type of timeline is acceptable but since I am extra, I did a 3-page narration of our love story;) )
- Tickets and bookings from all our travels throughout the years
- Some people submit references (statements from people in NZ who know them and can testify about the status of their relationship) but we chose not to because we are both not comfortable asking people for this
Extra items to take note of
- Personally, keeping in touch with Immigration is helpful throughout the process of applying. I usually call them at least twice a month just to check on the status of my application. When my case officer emailed me, I emailed her twice. There is a thin line between asking and being pushy in terms of asking for updates so you’d have to strike a balance on this.
- Be as organized as possible because you may need your documents in another application. We have all our documents filed in one binder so it is easy to produce them when it is needed.
What now?
For those who wanted to know what my current visa is, it will allow me to stay in New Zealand indefinitely. However, should I choose to travel outside of New Zealand after 19th March 2020, I will need to apply for another resident visa to re-enter the country.
I can also apply for a permanent resident visa after 2 years. So if we will be travelling outside New Zealand after 19th March 2020, we might need to apply for permanent resident visa. In 5 years, I will be eligible to apply for citizenship.
As an NZ Resident, I am also eligible to receive all the benefits a citizen or permanent resident has, e.g. health care, KiwiSaver, maternity leave, etc.
Other options
For those wanting to apply for a visa here, visit https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-zealand-visas for more details. The information in their website is really helpful. You can also choose to ring them for specific questions. Here is a quick information on how to contact them.
Hope this was helpful!
HandsVentures NZ 