On behalf of Hon Michael Woodhouse, thank you for your email.

 

Please be assured that all correspondence is read by this office. If your
email falls outside of the Minister’s portfolio responsibilities, or
expresses a personal view, your opinion will be noted and your
correspondence may be transferred to another office or there may be no
further response.

 

Where the Minister has portfolio responsibilities for the issues raised, a
response will be sent to you in due course.

 

Thank you for taking the time to write.

 

Office of Hon Michael Woodhouse 
Parliament Buildings, Wellington | Tel 04 817 6836 |

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr Watson

On behalf of Hon Michael Woodhouse, Minister of Immigration, I acknowledge your request under the Official Information Act 1982 regarding:

"how the law treats de facto relationships applying for a partnership-based visa, as opposed to married couples (obviously where one of the parties is an NZ citizen or already holds a visa).
I request information regarding the policy behind the current immigration instructions, especially those relating to partnership-based visa applications."

Your request was received in this office on 29 March 2017.

The information you have requested is not held by this office, but is likely to be held by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Therefore I am transferring your request under section 14(b)(i) of the Official Information Act 1982 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for consideration.

Yours sincerely

Office of Hon Michael Woodhouse │ Minister of Immigration │ Parliament Buildings │ Wellington

show quoted sections

Ref: DOIA 1617-1194

 

Dear Mr Watson

 

On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 29 March 2017 requesting under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:

 

I am currently completing an assignment for a Family Law paper at Victoria
University of Wellington. The assignment is due on the 10th of April.

 

My topic is how the law treats de facto relationships applying for a
partnership-based visa, as opposed to married couples (obviously where one
of the parties is an NZ citizen or already holds a visa). I request
information regarding the policy behind the current immigration
instructions, especially those relating to partnership-based visa
applications.

 

Your request has been transferred to the Ministry from Minister of
Immigration  on 30 March 2017 and is being processed in accordance with
the Official Information Act 1982. A response will be sent to you in due
course. If you have any enquiries regarding your request feel free to
contact us via email [1][email address] or using the contact details
below.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

Alan Witcombe

MANAGER, MINISTERIAL SERVICES

 

Corporate, Governance and Information

Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140

[2]cid:image004.jpg@01D10666.447C6950

 

[3]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.govt.nz/

Dear Mr Watson,

 

I have received your official information request for “information
regarding the policy behind the current immigration instructions,
especially those relating to partnership-based visa applications”, that
has been transferred from the Minister of Immigration’s office.

 

Would you be able to specify what information in particular you are
looking for? For context, immigration instructions/operational policy has
recognised de facto relationship for the purpose of visa applications
since at least 1999 (the earliest electronic version of the operational
manual), initially in a separate policy (but conferring the same
benefits), and since 2003 as part of a single ‘partnership’ policy that
includes both married and de facto couples.  You may want to specify which
sections of the operational manual are of particular interest.

 

The OIA timeframes go much later than the due date you stated in your
original email to the Minister. You can give me a call after 12pm today to
discuss what information might be available immediately to help you with
your assignment, vs. what you can receive by the beginning of May.

 

Kind regards,

 

Frédérique Bertrand

SENIOR ADVISOR

 

Immigration Policy,  Labour, Science & Enterprise

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[1][email address] | Telephone: +64 (0)4 901 8585

15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6011

 

I am out of the office  on Thursdays.  For urgent questions in my absence,
please contact our team administrator Kay, at [2][email address] or
04.901.8631 and she will direct you to the appropriate person.

 

[3]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.govt.nz/

[1]http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual...

[2]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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References

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1. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual...
2. http://www.govt.nz/

Hi Ben,

 

Thank you for calling me and clarifying that the information you need is
why immigration treats de facto relationships differently from how other
NZ legislation/regulations treat de facto relationships.

I can confirm that we have a Cabinet paper and related Cabinet minutes
from 2003 that detail the decision to treat married and de facto couples
the same way for the purpose of immigration, that would respond to your
request. Unfortunately, because it was a Cabinet paper approved under the
previous Labour government, it will need to be consulted with the
opposition before being released – a two-week process. I don’t do OIA
requests very often and hadn’t realised this when we spoke.

 

If you still want to go ahead with the re-scoped request to get the paper,
I will send it to the Minister’s office on Monday to start the
consultation process. In the meantime, or if you decide to withdraw your
request, I can offer to send you screenshots of the old archived
operational manual that effectively chronicles the change from two
separate policies to one common policy. That document was public so we can
do this outside the OIA, and screenshots will be faster than trying to
find it with the wayback machine online.

 

I also need to clarify whether you can use my name and treat our
conversation as an ‘interview’ for your paper – I said yes before checking
what the official MBIE rules are for this.

 

Kind regards,

 

Frédérique

Senior Advisor, Immigration Policy

MBIE

04-901-8585

 

 

 

From: Frederique Bertrand Dansereau
Sent: Friday, 7 April 2017 8:36 a.m.
To: '[FOI #5633 email]'
Subject: RE Official Information request - Policy behind de facto
relationships applying for visas [UNCLASSIFIED]

 

Dear Mr Watson,

 

I have received your official information request for “information
regarding the policy behind the current immigration instructions,
especially those relating to partnership-based visa applications”, that
has been transferred from the Minister of Immigration’s office.

 

Would you be able to specify what information in particular you are
looking for? For context, immigration instructions/operational policy has
recognised de facto relationship for the purpose of visa applications
since at least 1999 (the earliest electronic version of the operational
manual), initially in a separate policy (but conferring the same
benefits), and since 2003 as part of a single ‘partnership’ policy that
includes both married and de facto couples.  You may want to specify which
sections of the operational manual are of particular interest.

 

The OIA timeframes go much later than the due date you stated in your
original email to the Minister. You can give me a call after 12pm today to
discuss what information might be available immediately to help you with
your assignment, vs. what you can receive by the beginning of May.

 

Kind regards,

 

Frédérique Bertrand

SENIOR ADVISOR

 

Immigration Policy,  Labour, Science & Enterprise

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[1][email address] | Telephone: +64 (0)4 901 8585

15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6011

 

I am out of the office  on Thursdays.  For urgent questions in my absence,
please contact our team administrator Kay, at [2][email address] or
04.901.8631 and she will direct you to the appropriate person.

 

 

[3]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[email address]
3. http://www.govt.nz/

Hi again,

 

Here are screenshots of previous instructions/operational policy for
partnership-related visas. I have included residence for partners of NZ
citizens and residents, partners included as secondary applicants on
residence applications, and temporary work visas for partners of NZ
citizens and residents. I hope it is useful.

 

I will continue to progress the request on Monday for the relevant papers.

 

Kind regards,

 

Frédérique  

Senior Advisor, Immigration Policy

MBIE

04-901-8585

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Watson

 

Please find attached a letter in regards to your Official Information Act
request dated 29 March 2017.

 

Kind regards,

 

MINISTERIAL ADVISOR

 

Ministerial Services

Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment

[1]www.mbie.govt.nz

[2]cid:image001.png@01D2A86C.030B1D00

 

 

[3]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services

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References

Visible links
1. http://www.mbie.govt.nz/
3. http://www.govt.nz/