jhanks

I am a New Zealand born male who had a civil union to a British guy three years ago, he has terribly complex immigration issues and we are desperate for any advice/help.

He was originally on a work permit under the work skills shortage list, then suffered a depressive breakdown which led to him losing his job, next he found another job and was invited to apply for residency, his illness got bad again and he ended up in a mental hospital due to a suicide attempt.

After that he started to get his medicals and other documents to apply for residency and things went downhill again and he again ended up back in hospital, to cut a long story short he has suffered mental illness all his life, because of all the ups and downs his British passport expired, his work permit expired 1 year ago, he has next to no money, we are living apart, he is working but only just and they don't know his residency status, basically everything has turned sour and we are scared and don't know what or how to do anything. Will he face removal? help????

bga

Sorry i ain't gonna be any help here but hopefully there will be some answers along later.. just to say i feel for you guys.. head problems, immigration issues and financial woes not one of 'em is what i'd like to face so good luck for you .. fingers crossed you'll be ok and you get some good advice

jhanks

Thank you sooooo much bga, its just reassuring to hear someone being so compassionate, thanks so much,

Woodpigeon

I urge your partner to see a registered immigration advisor (check on the INZ webpage for ones in his area) - alternatively a lawyer. Being in NZ unlawfully is a serious situation. If he is working illegally his employer is also breaking the law and could face legal action.

An advisor or lawyer will cost, but some will give an initial consultation free of charge, and most should give an indication of cost to take your case on.

He will need to be totally honest with the advisor, who will then be able to give him advice and support.

Through my work I have some dealings with people who end up unlawful for a variety of reasons, and lawyers and advisors who assist them. Worse case scenario is that he may have to leave the country. If this happens he wanrs to try to do so whilst being legally here to avoid not being able to return at some time in the future. Leaving whilst being unlawful can result in not being able to apply to return for a significant period of time (years).

Suffering from a mental illness doesn't always automatically mean any permit application will be refused, in some cases if it can be shown that treatment is being received and adherred to an application may still be approved.

I must stress that my comments are generalisms as INZ work on a case by case basis. A registered immigration advisor or lawyer is the best person to help in this situation.

Good luck.

jhanks

Thank you very much Woodpigeon, that helps at least to make a start, much obliged,

simonsi

I´d agree with that BUT I read that his work permit expired a year ago, so doesn´t that remove his right to remain at the same time in which case the time for that is past.

Best bet is professional immigration AND medical advice, it may help in the presentation of the overstaying situation.

Woodpigeon

Yep, sorry what I meant was that it might be possible fora case to be made for him to be approved for a short visitor's permit to allow him to leave the country legally. In other words if, after presenting his case through an immigration advisor or lawyer, a work permit is not approved INZ *may* grant a visitor permit compassionately. If this did happen it would probably only be valid for a couple of weeks just to allow time to pack up and arrange flights. I have seen this happen but only in extreme cases with a good advisor.

Taking the worse scenario to the max, if a case cannot be made for a permit to be granted then, since the last valid permit expired so long ago then it is unlikely that the 42 days 'grace' period would apply meaning that he would have to arrange to leave NZ voluntarily immedaiately or run the risk of enforced deportation. Again, the voluntary aspect could benefit by negating the time delay on being able to reapply from overseas to re-enter NZ.

As before, my comments are general based on a variety of cases I have experienced.

simonsi

Ah, OK.

jhanks

Thanks everyone, all your advice is very helpful.

dannigirl

Great advice Woodpigeon.

Probably a really silly question as I know that you are living apart...but is there any possibility of him obtaining a partner visa/civil union visa. I am not sure if there is even such a thing???

Anyways, wishing you both well, sounds rough for both of you. Hope it all gets sorted out.

bga

No worries , see I said you'd get some good feedback fingers crossed for ya, it can help just getting it off ya chest - theres some decent folk on this forum .. good luck

Woodpigeon

Sorry I've just reread the original post - I missed the bit where you said that his UK passport has expired. Immigration cannot and will not issue any type of visa or permit if the applicant doesn't have avalid passport.

As well as seeing a lawyer or immigration advisor your partner will need to contact the British Embassy to renew his passport.

On a tangent a bit, if in the future your partner ever applies to travel to another country (from NZ or UK or anywhere) he should also declare that he has been unlawful in NZ and provide full information regarding how that happened and what the outcome was. Failure to declare anything on any immigration form (making a false declaration) is often more of an issue than the actual unlawful situation.

I understand that some of these worse case scenarios are quite scary, but I have seen so many people end up in more serious immigration situations than they were in at first by ignoring their situation and hoping it will go away. Trust me, it never does it just escalates. Contrary to popular belief INZ staff are human, they just have very strict regulations to work within, but if a person fronts up to their problem INZ will do their best to work with them to get it sorted out (in my experience anyway).

Scary it is seems your partner really should take the first step and get appropriate legal advice.

I really hope something can be worked out for you both and well done to you for taking the first steps by posting in here

luvwelly

If you are no longer an item, wouldn't he be better off returning to UK where social security support is likely more generous, given his mental health issues? No one can deny him the right to live in the UK. Does he have a support network in UK at all? Also very important to good mental health.

londonescapee

[QUOTE=jhanks;8595431]because of all the ups and downs his British passport expired[QUOTE]

So sorry to hear this story The absolutely first thing to do (if you haven't done it already that is - and you probably have) is get down to the British High Commission in Wellington where they can reissue his passport and I think they may have some fast-track process available (not sure if they have other outposts around the country). They were fab with my husband when he was stranded in NZ a few years ago due to uselessness at the UK end with his visa situation!

It's worth paying because as other posters have said, nothing can be done if he doesn't have a valid passport for somewhere.

Do hope you get it sorted soon.

bourbon-biscuit

Yes, just to re-iterate the good advice from people on here:

1) Legal immigration advice & passport.

He needs to get these sorted like yesterday. Good luck to you both.