In our recent story titled ‘Media reports of cultural marriage visa fake, say lawyers’ in the online edition of Indian weekender, we had sought responses by way of clarifications from Immigration New Zealand and Sunny Kaushal, Chairman of the South Asian Community Leaders Group who was quoted in the NZ Herald article. Their responses have now been received and are reproduced here verbatim for our readers information:
Stephanie Greathead, Acting General Manager Border and Visa Operations, Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment writes, “The Government made changes to the Culturally Arranged Marriage visa in November 2019 to allow individuals who had culturally arranged marriages outside of New Zealand to be eligible for a visa. No changes have been made to this category since.
“Individuals granted Culturally Arranged Marriage visas are able to travel to New Zealand and start living together so that they may later satisfy immigration partnership visa requirements. Partnership-based visas require a couple to be living together in a genuine and stable partnership before a visa can be granted.
“Immigration New Zealand has been processing culturally arranged marriage visitor visa applications from offshore for the last 12 months. People granted these visas are exempt from border restrictions and are able to travel to New Zealand.
“Information on the number of visas approved and declined under this category are available in a media factsheet on our website - https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/media/culturally-arranged-marriage-changes-factsheet.pdf
--
Sunny Kaushal, President, South Asian Community Leaders Group NZ writes:
Please find herewith a more detailed response as below. Below is the clarification:
With a continuing engagement, proactive approach and working together, we have been able to create an enhanced understanding and relationship with INZ team over the last 2 years since we started regular meetings. We have been advocating and deliberating on some of the important and sensitive matters like Culturally Arranged Marriages with INZ. Our objective is to get the policies reviewed and get them set in a direction that values the diversity and help in building strong communities in NZ.
Being the community representatives, we have to accept and take authorities on their face value and share the given information to the communities.
We are glad that the community leaders who have been working together on this matter, as well as the members of the community and the eligible applicants (NZ Citizens / Residents) were relieved with a significant progress and getting clear guidelines on CAM visitor visa.
Similarly, several Licensed Immigration Advisors those have lodged such visa applications in the past under CAM category where a significant number of the applications were getting declined understand the underlying real issue, they were overwhelmingly appreciative of our efforts for taking it up to get it addressed in a constructive way.
We also understand a small of group of people those may have some other past or ongoing issues with INZ appeared unhappy with our continuing engagement with INZ. They are entitled to have their view and personal opinion on such policies. We respect and encourage them to please contact the INZ if they have any issues and clarifications. But we also want to assure them that we are not harming or taking their clients and business away, in fact getting it streamlined may help them more and make things easier for them and their clients.
Understandably, this Partnership visa policy has already been there in different shapes and forms, similarly many other immigration policies have been there from long but how many were effectively implemented and successful remain questionable. The answer lies in looking into how many CAM visitor visa applications were lodged by them, what was the success rate, how many were declined, and what was the real reasons of declining.
If you are not aware, I can share with you, in the last 5 years the average declining rate to CAM visitor visa applications has been 69%, where majority of the genuine cases were not able to travel to NZ. Most of the applicants share their real stories and tell us they were asked to submit the proof of having lived together for one year, failing which their partners based overseas were not allowed to travel to NZ, and many of such cases of NZ Citizens and Residents still exist as we speak, they are struggling to join with their rightfully wedded partners.
Needless to mention, living together before the marriage is considered culturally inappropriate in many cultures, and certainly not possible among most of the communities from South Asian countries.
Of course, for those who argue, this policy has been there in different forms and shapes from decades where few generations of NZ based families were able to get their sons or daughters married with their partners overseas and bring them home in NZ. But it is also the matter of fact, that INZ had stopped this visa processing for such cases few years ago and then stopped again when a political intervention happened, questions were raised on the recognition of culturally arranged marriages and traditions by none other than one of our NZ Government Cabinet Ministers who had not only displayed ignorance of family values cherished by South Asian Communities and challenged the very existence of it but also infuriated the communities by his racist rants. Then again, the visa processing stopped last year. It is a tough visa, criteria has always been tough.
There is nothing more important for the community members than to get the overseas based partner travel to NZ, first, they need to get them here for wedding.
The relaxation and changes include:
1. Visitor visas under the Culturally Arranged Marriages category will continue to be processed during pandemic. While the processing of most offshore temporary visas is currently suspended, but the suspension would not apply to CAM visitor visa.
2. People granted CAM visas will also be exempt from border restrictions and are able to travel to New Zealand.
3. One Year living together condition is not required.
Unlike other partnership-related visas, applicants need not prove they have been living together to be eligible for a visitor visa under the Culturally Arranged Marriages (CAM) category.
Other partnership-based visas required a couple to be living together in a genuine and stable partnership before a visa could be granted.
The CAM visitor visa has to be applied within 3 months. Once the person is here in NZ, after wedding and living here couple of months together, they can apply for temporary partnership visa, and few months later eligible to apply for a residency. Hence, the ‘one Year living together condition is not required’.
4. An applicant who is already married, or is intending to marry in New Zealand, would be given six months to make their first entry in NZ.
5. Under the new guidelines, if an individual was travelling to NZ to join a partner, they may be considered “a genuine applicant” if other conditions like health and character were met.
It is a great relief for the supporting partners who are New Zealand citizen or residence class visa holders, planning to get married or already married but not able to bring spouse to NZ.