PaulaF

Hi all
I am currently studying in NZ on a student visa (2 more years to go). I would like to stay in NZ after my studies and eventually get PR. I am just trying to figure out how to go about this. My options are:

1) Apply for a graduate visa after finishing my course in approx. 2 years time. Hopefully find a skilled job, then apply for PR via skilled migrant/points or WTR.

2) Apply for a partnership based visa (partner is NZ citizen) when my student visa expires.

Is it possible to say what would be the best option for me to achieve PR? I guess the partnership based visa would be faster but then I will be dependent on my partner for 2 years until I get PR. Option 1 again depends on me finding a job in NZ after my course.

Any opinions?

Paula

Persephone

None of us can tell you the 'best' route to take as there isn't one really

Are you living with your NZ partner? If so, how long have you lived with him?
If you have lived together for >12months then you can apply for residency via partnership. You could do this now if you fulfill the conditions and can prove it. You do not need to wait for your student visa to expire.

I'm not sure what you mean by being dependent on him for two years. If you apply for residency via the SMC or partnership then you become a permanent resident as soon as the visa is issued. You can only apply for a Permanent Resident Visa after being a permanent resident for two years and you fulfill one of the 5 conditions.
The PRV is to do with travel conditions [the ability to leave NZ and re enter as a resident] than whether you are a permanent resident You are a PR right from the start!

Your option No.1 is also sound though does require more visa applications

PaulaF

Thanks a lot for your answer and sorry for late reply.
By 'being dependent' I was assuming that if we broke up during the two years I would lose my residence visa. But actually I have not found any evidence of this on the immigration NZ website.
Anyway, your answer has been very helpful and I think a partner visa might be the best option at this stage =)

BEVS

Once a person has an NZ residency visa/permit. They have it in their own right.
The only way someone might have a residency visa revoked is if it were to be found out that there had been untrue , erroneous information on the application.

There still seems to be a lot of muddle over the terminology around NZ residency.

When one gains an NZ residency , it comes with travel conditions attached for the first two years of your residency. It's a way to ensure someone isn't just given NZ residency and who has no intention of actually living in NZ properly. After 2 years the travel condtions are lifted.

escapedtonz

Just a tad misleading in my opinion.
With a Residency Visa the travel conditions "expire" after 2 years, they are not lifted.
Meaning.....If a person with Residency travelled outside of NZ and returned or tried to return after the travel condition had expired that person would be refused entry back in to NZ.
In order to be eligible for re-entry after the normal expiry date (exactly 2 years after activation of the visa), a person must either :-
1. Apply for a Permanent Residency Visa (which does not have any travel conditions and allows a person to come and go from and to NZ as many times as they like for as long as they like - permanently), or
2. Apply for a variation of travel conditions on their current Residency visa.

I've recently saved a colleague the embarrassment of being refused entry back into NZ. He was due to attend a conference in Oz beginning of June and luckily he was telling me all about it the week before he left.
Just in passing I asked if he had the right to re-enter NZ on return. His answer..."Yes of course I have Permanent Residency!".
At the time he had been in NZ 2.5 years.
0.5 years on a Temp Working Visa and just over 2 years on a Residency Visa.
After explaining it all to him he was straight on the phone to his wife asking her to state what visa they had in their passports.
They had Residency with the 2 year travel condition and those travel conditions had all expired.
He went straight round to Immigration the following week and managed to secure Permanent Residency Visas while he waited around 45 minutes and only a few days before flying to Oz!!!

Of course, on the other hand a Residency Visa can allow a person to remain in NZ permanently. To do this they just have to stay in the country and never leave after the initial 2 years.

BEVS

Yes. Perhaps the use of the word 'expire' would be more far suitable than the word 'lifted'.

Persephone made a rather great post a while ago HERE