Partner PR - Looking to the Future

[Inspired1]

Hello Forum. I'm a first time poster so hopefully I give you enough information to help me out. I'd like to say thankyou in advance to anyone who lends a hand.

I am currently 20 years of age, and a year ago I met a very nice girl from Malaysia when she came to New Zealand to study. It is now the end of 2009 and we have been together for a year now. My girlfriend still has 2 more years here in New Zealand before she finishes her studies. And I am a New Zealand citizen, born in Blenheim. During the summer break from University we are apart, as she has to go home to Malaysia.

I would really like some advice as to how my girlfriend could become a permanent resident of New Zealand before she leaves for good in 2011. This is a relationship I do not want to lose. So any advice would be great. Cheers.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

The NZ Immigration website will have all the info you're going to need, I think, and people here will fill in with their experiences if you have more questions. Here http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...hatisrequired/ are details of what is necessary for your girlfriend to gain PR under the family stream (partner) category. And here (one of the links from that page) are the requirements for you to be able to sponsor her in. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...blesponsor.htm

Reading between the lines, I guess you are concerned about the 'going home for the holidays' feature of your girlfriend's life at present. If your relationship and living arrangements meet the criteria for partnership, and can be officially proven to do so, the fact that she has separate holidays won't count against that. You have time in hand to make sure that you get all the evidence necessary, if this is what she and you both want.

[sophiedb]

hello!

The main question is whether you live together and have any joint bank accounts, as this is one of the major ways that NZIS assess "commitment". If she still has a couple of years to go this could be fine though, as you should have been living together for 12+ months.

best wishes, Sophie

[Inspired1]

Thank you both for your responses.

My girlfriends plans are to finish up her studies then obtain a work visa so she can remain in New Zealand while we are living together. After a certain amount of time, probably a year, we would have got married and then we can apply for her Permanent Residency. Mind you this is all 3-4 years away. But I am definitely one to plan ahead. I don’t want to be mucking around for the next 3 years and then find out we don’t have enough evidence.
We are not currently living together, she is in the halls of residence and I am flatting, and in 2011 we will be living in separate cities for our studies. With the regular commutes to see each other most weekends and breaks.
Once I have a stable job she is planning to move in with me with her work permit and hopefully from that we can achieve the 12+ month requirement, before we get married.

[Mrs Pony]

Welcome!

If you aren't going to be living together then maybe if you have traveled together, or gone places together... something that has both names and the same dates (over the years). If you have postcard/letters addressed to the both of you that would work... also getting a letter from family members is a good way to go as well.

OH and I were together less than a year before we got married...had our honeymoon in NZ and as soon as we got back to the US we started the process. so we didn't have anything in both our names. We sent pictures, letters we received, invites, and we had family write letters about how we meet and family events etc.

Basically save everything and take pics over the years!

[Inspired1]

So lets say 2 years from now I have the following evidence:
Pictures, letters addressed to both of us, family letters about us, emails sent to each other, letters sent to each other, a bank account in both our names, dates and locations of any trips we go on (I am planning on going over to Malaysia with her to visit her family for a month) pictures, invites and congratulatory letters for our engagement.
Is there anything else I could add to this list. Perhaps we can both put money towards purchasing a car so we have financial ties.
I just want to get as much evidence as possible, and we have two years to collect it. So feel free to throw ideas at us.

[JandM]

I don't think you are going to be able to persuade NZIS that you are 'partners', in their sense of the word, without living together. I know this isn't what you want to hear - sorry. But the glossary from NZIS http://glossary.immigration.govt.nz/Partnership.htm says this.

Partnership

A partnership exists where you are living together in a genuine and stable relationship with another person.

Almost certainly, to be able to get your girlfriend PR on the grounds of being your partner, you will need to provide proof that you began living together as a couple a minimum of 12 months earlier.

[Inspired1]

So simply showing rental details, that go back over 12 months, of a house we both live in would suffice?

[Jo Jo]

The following is what Immigration New Zealand's operational manual says about proving a relationship is genuine and stable:

F 2.20b Factors that have a bearing on whether two people are living together in a partnership that is genuine and stable include but are not limited to:

i. the duration of the parties relationship;
ii. the existence, nature, and extent of the parties' common residence;
iii. the degree of financial dependence or interdependence, and any arrangements for financial support, between the parties;
iv. the common ownership, use, and acquisition of property by the parties;
v. the degree of commitment of the parties to a shared life;
vi. children of the partnership, including the common care and support of such children by the parties;
vii. the performance of common household duties by the partners; and
viii. the reputation and public aspects of the relationship.

And this is the info about what evidence should be provided:

F2.20.15 Evidence of living together in partnership that is genuine and stable

a) Evidence that the principal applicant and partner are living together may include but is not limited to original or certified copies of documents showing shared accommodation such as:

i. joint ownership of residential property
ii. joint tenancy agreement or rent book or rental receipts
iii. correspondence (including postmarked envelopes) addressed to both principal applicant and partner at the same address.

b) If a couple has been living separately for any period during their partnership, they should provide evidence of the length of the periods of separation, the reasons for them, and how their relationship was maintained during the periods of separation, such as letters, itemised telephone accounts or e-mail messages.

c). Evidence about whether the partnership is genuine and stable may include but is not limited to, original or certified copies of documents and any other information such as:

i. a marriage certificate for the parties;
ii. a civil union certificate for the parties;
iii. birth certificates of any children of the parties;
iv. evidence of communication between the parties;
v. photographs of the parties together;
vi. documents indicating public recognition of the partnership;
vii. evidence of the parties being committed to each other both emotionally and exclusively such as evidence of:

• joint decision making and plans together
• sharing of parental obligations
• sharing of household activities
• sharing of companionship/spare time
• sharing of leisure and social activities
• presentation by the parties to outsiders as a couple.

viii. evidence of being financially interdependent such as evidence of

• shared income
• joint bank accounts operated reasonably frequently over a reasonable time
• joint assets
• joint liabilities such as loans or credit to purchase real estate, cars, major home appliances
• joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, water, telephone)
• mutually agreed financial arrangements.

d) The presence or absence of any of the documents, information or evidence listed above is not determinative. Each case will be decided on the basis of all the evidence provided. Evidence about these matters may also be obtained at interview and can be considered up until the date of final decision.

[Inspired1]

Thankyou for the Jo Jo.
So after reading through that I have concluded that we will be able to provide the following as evidence after 14 months of being together.

Joint tenancy agreement for flat (Living Together)
Mail sent to both of us (Living Together)
Provide evidence of letters, emails, and Skype/ MSN conversations for the December – February period when we are apart (Living Together)
Evidence of communication between parties (Genuine and Stable)
Photographs of the parties together (Genuine and Stable)
Documents indicating public recognition of the partnership (Genuine and Stable)
Sharing of household activities (Genuine and Stable)
Sharing of Companionship and Spare Time (Genuine and Stable)
Sharing of leisure and social activities (Genuine and Stable)
Presentation to outsiders as a couple (Genuine and Stable)
Joint Bank accounts that we use to pay for trips, dinners, food, utilities etc. (Financially Interdependent)
Joint Utilities account such as Power, Gas and Phone (Financially Interdependent)