Hi there,
We're going to submit our application on the 5th (when INZ opens up again) and I'm confused about the sponsorship side of things. Of course, we have completed INZ 1000 (residency application) and INZ 1178 (partnership support form for residence), but one question suggests I should sponsor her application as well (as I did for her work permit).
On page 23 of the residence application, it asks:
The personal resources I will use are (tick at least one)
- my cash and assets (we're very poor!)
- a verified definite offer of employment in New Zealand (got that - and she's currently working there)
- support from family members in New Zealand, verified by attaching the Sponsorship Form for Residence INZ 1024 (yes, we'd like to do this too)
But INZ 1024 seems to ONLY allow for sponsorship of parents and siblings. There are only two categories - Family Parent and Family Sibling.
Do I have the wrong form?
This isn't as clear-cut as the Work Permit application, where we simply stated we were applying for Work Permit - Family-Partnership category and I filled out INZ 1025, where anyone can sponsor the applicant.
On a more general note, we are applying for this after only living together for exactly one year. Half of that year was spent living in her home country, for which we have little evidence, apart from a rental agreement (in her name), a letter from her mother, photographs and boarding passes from holidays we took. I was on an extended tourist visa and unable to have anything in my name. For the second half of the year, we have extensive evidence, including: rental agreements in both Auckland and Christchurch, joint bank accounts, joint phone bills, multiple letters from family, neighbours, work colleagues etc, and evidence of nationwide travel for family funerals, get-togethers and holidays.
Last time I spoke with an immigration officer, he suggested we apply for both a new work permit (as hers is expiring end of Jan) and residency at the same time. Given the fact it may take 5 months for them to get to the residency application, we figure that'll give us another 5 months of 'living together time', which will strengthen our application.
Does anyone think we're pushing things too quickly? She has been in NZ for 8 months already. The reason we need to get residency so badly is they won't accept her high school diploma as university entrance (messed up system we have here), the government is clamping down on admissions and the only way she could currently qualify is to pay $18,000 for a foundation course or earn NCEA Level 3 by re-studying something she already learnt 4 years ago. That would also cost around $15,000. But with residency, she can simply pass an interview and enter via the 20+ system. It may not be around for long!
Sorry for the long post. She is 20 and I'm 25. I hope they won't hold that against us.
Thanks for any advice. Would be nice to have before we possibly throw away ~$2000 we don't really have.