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Sep 5, 2016
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I am currently living in Canada on an IEC visa for 2 years which expires in July 2017. I live with my girlfriend of 2 years and have lived with her since my arrival in August 2015. We are now looking at the options which I have to either extend my IEC or apply for another type of visa to extend my stay.
When applying for a common law visa are you able to leave the country and come back while the application is processing? As I believe it takes up to or over a year to be approved.
I also have a brother who has his PR and has lived in Canada for almost 4 years, does this help with my application at all? Or does anybody have any other options that may help me in this situation?
 
Having a brother in Canada doesn't really help you.

Have your common law partner sponsor you now using the OUTLAND (outside of Canada) application process. This is the best (fastest) option for Kiwis. If you have further questions, post them in the Family Sponsorship section of the forum.
 
You can see the processing times here: http://www.cic.gc.ca/ENGLISH/information/times/index.asp

Right now it's 10 months for an outland application for a spouse through New Zealand.