Partnership proof and support letter

[Ethan]

Hi everyone

a while back I started a thread here to decide should I go for NZ PR under the family category or skilled migrant and people's opinion strongly favored the partnership category. So I started gathering documents. Our police clearance and medical certificates are ready. Now I have to provide evidence of our partnership. here is what I have in mind

- marriage certificate
- bank statements (joint and separate to the same address)
- rental agreement with both our names on it
- lots and lots of photos
- our honey moon trip to US
- car insurance with both of us as drivers
- her health insurance policy being paid from my account
- support letter from family and friends

firstly if you think I could anything to the above list please let me know.
secondly I really need some templates for the support letters, could you help me with that please ?

Cheers

[jeffanar]

Hi Ethan, it sounds like you have plenty of evidence, the financial type things like joint bank accounts and rental agreements are especially important by the sounds of things. TBH I wouldn't think you would even need to include letters of support from family and friends.

When my OH applied for his visa we got my mum to write a letter but it was more of an afterthought really. She just gave a bit of our relationship history, i.e. that we have been in a relationship since xx date and been living together in NZ since xx and that she considers us to be in a genuine and stable relationship.

Good luck, it sounds like you've got it all under control

[dharder]

We didn't do support letters at all. I would have found that a bit odd, to be honest. We supplied lots of stuff like you are suggesting, and then wrote a cover letter, worked fine.

Good luck,

Daniela

[lin]

Hi Ethan,

we didn't provide support letters either. we did include a covering letter 'written' by my OH, which outlined our relationship - it was mostly dates & facts, (where / when we met, how long we'd been together, when we got our home, got married etc) and was supported by the evidence we'd included (which was pretty similar to what you've outlined above)

Good luck
Linda

[simoragn]

Hey Ethan,

It looks like you've got plenty. I didn't do support letters either for my application (from UK) and had never heard of them until reading your post...

I only included about 10-12 photos. NZ immigration official advised me what they really want are joint officials docs, or ones that show you were living together at the same address - mortgage/tenancy agreement, bank statements, utility bills, etc.

I did also include, after their advice, a few emails and letters to the both of us, as well as wedding invites and thank you letters sent to us both.

Either way, I over-submitted as most people do! Your list seems good - and no need for supporting letter IMHO...

[broadsword08]

we didnt provide all that jazz... just the marriage cert
they came back and asked for proof of living together for a set period of time prior to marriage
we went out and bought a rent book...
no further requests...
its a box ticking exercise ;o)

[kara_m]

i didnt do any suporting letters in mine either just a covering letter from OH stating that he will be supporting me during the move to NZ
I only included a couple of photos but they didnt even look at them,
your list will be fine, dont think you will have to add anything to it

will you be handing it in in person? if you do they will go through your pile of stuff first and then give you back things they dont need thats what they did with me and ended up giving me about half of the stuff back!

good luck

[JandM]

My son got PR in 2001 through partnership, having moved to NZ with his Kiwi wife, and NZIS there ASKED for support letters. I did one, so did a UK family friend, his wife's father, and a NZ family friend. The letters said when we first met the other partner, personal details we knew about them, when they moved in together, being at the wedding, and other family occasions they'd been part of (obviously the details will vary for every person). The point was, they were told, to prove this couple aren't in a marriage of convenience just to get him PR, a kind of prolonged glorified flat-share, and that both families really know and include the other party.

If others of you have been told they don't want this, it may be that guidelines vary between different offices, or COs have their own preferences, or felt suspicious about their particular case back then. But as I say, that's one occasion when these things were an actual requirement - it's not just a myth.

[sophiedb]

We did support letters for our first partnership visa (when we lived in Australia), as our relationship was still relatively new. Since then it hasn't really seemed necessary in light of all the other info we can gather - lots of bank/mortgage/rent docs, utility bills (those few who don't email us anyway!), council tax bill, marriage certificate and DD's birth certificate..

One thing we did do this time was to merge the photos with a timeline of our relationship, partly because a lot of the pics were of us at friends/family social gatherings. I'm hoping that will suffice as far as "support" is concerned, but we'll see

[Ethan]

Many Thanks everybody, This is the best forum I have joined , ever. I think I am going to asks my mother and my wife's mother to write support letters for us. If anyone has tips how to speed up or ease the process please let me know.

Cheers