I’m making this its own post since a lot of people have asked me what my plans are. Here is a synopsis of the hopeful trajectory of my life for the next few years. I’m going to emphasize that none of this is guaranteed.
I land in Auckland on January 2, 2024. As an American, I’m allowed to stay for 90 days on a tourist visa.
Towards the end of those three months, I will apply for a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa. The reason I’m not applying for the visa immediately is so that I can establish a paper trail (of sorts) to submit as evidence that my Kiwi partner and I are in a committed and lasting relationship. Stuff like opening a bank account together, adding my name to the lease, and receiving official mail at my NZ address.
When I submit my Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa application, it will be reviewed to ensure that it has all of the required documents, which takes about a week. Because I will be submitting it a few weeks before my 90-day Visitor Visa is set to expire, I need to stay on top of things to made sure my Interim Visa is issued before my Visitor Visa expires or else I will be here without a valid visa.
If my application is deemed satisfactory, I will be issued an Interim Visa, which is good for six months or until they make a decision, whichever comes first. In the unlikely event that they have not made a decision within six months, I can apply for an Interim Visa extension.
If I leave NZ while on my Interim Visa, it becomes null and void and I’d have to start all over again (which means paying the application fee all over again).
The turnaround time to process work visas is currently 11 weeks. So I’ll apply for the work visa in late March 2024 and should hear back from Immigration early to mid June 2024. If approved for a work visa, it’s good for 1-2 years depending on how long you’ve been living with your partner. For me, based on how long we will have lived together, my work visa would be good for one year.
Towards the end of my one-year work visa (which in theory would be around June 2025) I’ll apply for a Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa, which lasts for two years. After that, I will apply for a Permanent Resident Visa. The difference between the two is that Resident Visas have travel conditions that only allow you to re-enter New Zealand as a resident for those two years, whereas a Permanent Resident Visa allows indefinite re-entry to New Zealand. If I am granted a Permanent Resident Visa it will, as the name suggests, allow me to live and work in NZ forever, which is my goal. 😊
After five years of being in NZ on the Permanent Resident Visa–so long as I have spent 240 days of each of those five years living in NZ–I am eligible to apply for Citizenship, which would give me a NZ passport. The US allows dual citizenship, so I will still legally be American and won’t have to surrender my passport.
As I mentioned at the top of this post, no part of this well-laid plan of mine is a guarantee. It all depends on whether or not Immigration NZ thinks I have a viable case. And it also depends on any unforeseen circumstances that may arise, like (god forbid) another pandemic. I do know that being very organized and very determined go a long way with immigration, and I’ve got organization and determination in spades. So fingers crossed.🤞🏼