Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March wants sexual exclusiveness ditched when considering partnership visas

NewsHub 16 April 2021
Green MP Ricardo Menéndez March wants immigration officials to stop considering sexual exclusiveness in relationships when processing partnership visas.

He’s urging Immigration New Zealand to review how they see relationships and apply more modern criteria, to cater for sex workers and other couples who may be committed but not be sexually exclusive with their partner.

“It’s not just sex workers. The point is about the really archaic nature of the definition of relationships by Immigration New Zealand, which I think is no longer fit for purpose,” Menéndez March told Newshub.

“A range of people have raised concerns to me about, for example, when you have inter-faith couples that simply it’s not safe for them to live together, queer couples who may not be sexually exclusive, and sex workers as well.”

Menéndez March raised his concern with immigration officials during a parliamentary committee earlier this week, and they confirmed that the criteria for partnership visas “is on the list of things that require a policy review”.

An Immigration spokesperson told Newshub relationships are currently defined as being genuine “if it has been entered into with the intention of being maintained on a long-term and exclusive basis”.
READ MORE: https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/04/green-mp-ricardo-men-ndez-march-wants-sexual-exclusiveness-ditched-when-considering-partnership-visas.html