Can my partner work while our partnership visa is being processed?
Party A is a New Zealand citizen or resident, and their partner, Party B, is living in New Zealand on a visitor visa while they prepare or wait on a partnership-based application. Party B has the chance to take up a job but is unsure whether they are allowed to start work before the visa is decided. Party A wants to know whether lodging the application gives Party B any work rights in the meantime.
Usually not just because an application is lodged, work rights come from holding a visa that grants them, not from applying. If your partner is on a visitor visa while waiting, that visa carries no work rights, and working without the right visa can seriously harm a future application.
Once a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa is granted, it normally comes with open work rights: almost any employer, almost any role. Those rights start from the grant of the visa, not the date you applied.
If your partner already holds a valid visa, its conditions continue until it expires, and an interim visa may apply while a new application is decided. The rules here are tricky, see can my partner work, and check with MyLaw before anyone starts work.
Answered by Michael Yoon, Immigration Lawyer, MyLaw.
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This is general information, not advice on your situation, and reading it does not create a solicitor-client relationship. For advice on your case, talk to MyLaw.