Immigration New Zealand has revealed to the Indian Weekender that Only 236 applications were approved under the Culturally Arranged Marriage (CAM) Visa from Nov-2019 to March 2022.
The Immigration NZ was responding to the query from the Indian Weekender, sent a few weeks ago following the Minister of Immigration’s announcement that only those who were able to demonstrate “living together” evidence will be allowed partnership visas to enter NZ under the government’s phased border reopening plan in July.
The query had emanated largely from the government’s perceived insistence that there were avenues available for Kiwis and temporary migrants facing forced separation from their overseas-based partners due to closed borders could still be able to bring their partners provided they either meet “living together” condition or Culturally arranged marriage visa conditions.
Responding to that query on the actual numbers of applications granted Culturally Arranged Marriage Visa, a spokesperson confirmed what is largely known amongst immigration experts and the wider community that the uptake on this particular partnership visa remains abysmally low, because of the bizarre and very traditional definition of “arranged” marriages.
“From 1 October 2019 to 22 March 2022 there were 731 applications for a Culturally Arranged Marriage Visa. Of the 731 applications, 236 have been granted a Culturally Arranged Marriage Visa and 344 applications were declined,” the spokesperson said.
Background to Partnership visa policy
Many Kiwi-Indians and the people from the larger South Asia go back to India to marry, they then return home to New Zealand to their home and job and wait for their new spouse to join them in New Zealand.
Immigration Instructions however state that for a person to be granted a Partnership Visa, they must be “living together” at the time of the application (meaning throughout the processing time of the application).
V3.15.10 Evidential requirements for partners of New Zealand citizens or residence class visa holders
1. Immigration officers must sight evidence of the following:
1. the supporting partner's New Zealand citizenship or New Zealand residence status; and
2. the applicant’s relationship with their New Zealand partner; and
3. that the applicant and their New Zealand partner are living together in a genuine and stable partnership at the time the application is made (see E4.5.35 for the type of evidence required); and
So, for a person to be granted a Partnership Visa they must be currently “living together”
Living together is defined as “sharing the same home as (the) partner,” and New Zealanders who have a home and have been living and working in New Zealand struggles to fulfill this strict requirement of living together as there is a limit to a time that they can live away from their work in a different country to satisfy an immigration officer that “living together” conditions have been met.
Culturally Arranges Marriage Visa
Up until November 2019 immigration instructions required the culturally arranged marriage ceremony had to take place in New Zealand. Individuals who were already in a culturally arranged marriage where the marriage ceremony took place offshore were not eligible for a Culturally Arranged Marriage visitor visa.”
In November 2019, the Minister of Immigration made a change to the original culturally arranged marriage visitor visa policy of 2003 to allow individuals who had a culturally arranged marriage outside of New Zealand to be eligible for the visa.
However, these categories have a very low success rate mainly because they have an extremely traditional definition of “arranged” marriage – particularly - “facilitation of the initial selection of the persons to be married, are made by persons who are not parties to the marriage”
So if a couple meets on an online platform, then ask the families to meet and approve the relationship, then it does not meet the definition.
Also, those couples who knew each other previously, then ask the families to agree and arrange the wedding, don’t meet the definition.
Further, INZ will also ask for evidence that the parents of the couple met and made the arrangements. They ask for emails and text messages. Of course, almost all older people in traditional families simply go and meet each other and talk.
So in the absence of emails and messages between the parents, INZ generally does not accept the claim that the parents arranged the marriage, thus explaining for an extremely high decline rate.