Lawyers are calling for urgent reform of New Zealand’s partnership visa system after elderly couples, some married for more than 50 years, were reportedly asked to prove their relationships are genuine by sharing WhatsApp messages.
Immigration lawyer Pooja Sundar said Immigration New Zealand (INZ) has been requesting digital communication records, even from couples in their 60s, 70s, and 80s who have lived together for decades.
“They are asking for chat messages between 70-year-olds,” Sundar said. “There’s no balance there, and no holistic assessment of individual applications. These are people who see each other every day; they don’t send texts. They’re living the relationship,” RNZ reported.
Sundar said the system reflects a Western-centric approach that fails to recognise cultural and generational differences. Traditional expectations such as shared assets or joint utility bills are often unrealistic, she added.
“In some parts of the world, women can’t own land, so there won’t be shared assets,” she said. “The system hasn’t evolved with modern relationships or cultural contexts.”
According to RNZ, Immigration lawyer Stewart Dalley said the issue extends beyond partnership visas to parent and family visa categories. He pointed out that even elderly relatives arranging marriages for their children are sometimes asked for evidence of digital correspondence.
“The old granny’s not on WhatsApp sending messages to this other old granny,” Dalley said. “They’re meeting, they’re talking, but INZ wants a chat log that simply doesn’t exist,” quoted RNZ.
Dalley also criticised the rule that couples must live together full-time to qualify for partnership visas, saying it ignores modern working arrangements.
“Even the Immigration Minister wouldn’t qualify,” he said. “She works in Wellington four days a week and lives elsewhere with her family. Under INZ rules, that would mean she’s not in a genuine relationship, and that’s absurd,” RNZ quoted.
He called for policies that recognise contemporary lifestyles, as well as cultural and practical factors that may prevent couples from cohabiting continuously for 12 months before applying.
Immigration NZ visa director Jock Gilray said decisions are made on a case-by-case basis, with officers considering “whatever evidence a couple can provide,” RNZ reported.
“This might include documents showing shared accommodation,” Gilray said. “We recognise that applicants may have varied or limited evidence depending on their unique circumstances,” as reported by RNZ.
He said officers look at factors such as the duration of the relationship, financial interdependence, and public recognition of the couple’s partnership.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford has previously acknowledged that current visa policies, particularly for culturally arranged marriages, are “not fit for purpose.”
INZ policy manager Siân Roguski told the New Zealand Association for Migration and Investment (NZAMI) conference last week that the department plans to review visa policies in 2025, including those for spouses in culturally arranged marriages and victims of family violence.
Until then, critics say many long-married couples remain caught in a bureaucratic bind, forced to prove lifelong love through digital footprints they never thought they’d need.
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