Partnership work visa Declined,plz Help

[mani021]

Hi, i am realy sad after my work visa application(partnership) was declined without any good reason.
I came to NZ to study in 2009, i studied for 1 year then i got 1 year job search permit.
I am gay. In may 2011, i found my life partner and started living with him from 4th sept 2011.
My visa was going to expire on 15th sept so we applied for work visa under partnership(same sex de-facto) on 25th august 2011.
We were so positive about the result because we are realy in genuine relationship and provided enough proofs.
When my previous visa expired they gave me interim visa until they make decision on my application.
on 20th august 2011 ,we got letter from visa officer asking for more comments as they were not satisfied.
We provided more proofs.
On 6th october ,we got declining letter and reason was due to short timeframe of our relationship they are not satisfied that we are in a genuine and stable relationship.
We are living together from 2 and half months. If timeframe of a relationship makes it stable, how about couples getting divorced after 15years of their relationship?
INZ instructions say time of living together doesnt matter for work visa application but Visa officer say time of living together could be used to check if the relationship is stable and genuine.How confusing it is, they are indirectly putting timeframe as a condition then why not INZ directly set a time period a couple need to be living together to satisfy them?

Oh, and as my interim visa expired after decision so now i am unlawfully living in NZ.
My partner and me realy love each other so we cant live without each other. and how about all the plans we made for our marriage in november 2011?

Are they doing this to us just because we are same sex couple?

After knowing that i am in relationship with a man, my family in my home country(India) hates me, they will not allow me in their house,.where will I go?

There is no way i can live without my partner.They could have given me 3 month visa, even visitor visa. Their one wrong decision ruined our lives.
Plz help me ,what should I do?

[dharder]

There is no way i can live without my partner.They could have given me 3 month visa, even visitor visa.

I am very sorry about this.

Is a visitor visa a possibility? Could you fly to Australia and back? And you really should talk to someone about being in the country illegally, you don't want to ruin your chances of ever being able to get a visa!

In my experience, I don't think the decision is based on the fact that you are gay. I would assume it really is because the time frame is very short, and they would like to see a bit more time spent together. So your aim now is to find a way to spend that time together legally, in any country really.

All same sex partnership residency applications that I know of have been treated quickly, fairly and with no indication of being processed any differently than those of hetero couples' applications.

I hope you find a way to make this work!

Good luck,

Daniela

[mani021]

I am very sorry about this.


Daniela

Thanks Daniela for your support. I am not allowed to apply for any visa as an overstayer here and just imagine i go back to India and apply from there, will it make any difference? coz our living time together will still be short. So in a way INZ just closed all doors for me.
I will not get a visa to australia too. :-(

[nzprasun]

Yes, Time frame is too short. They might have felt that you started the relationship(not actually but they might have thiught) just to get your work visa through your partner. Dont you havea job here? you can extend it through your employer

[zeiger]

Hello mani021,
Sorry about your situation.

Although you might be in a genuine relationship, it is difficult for a case officer to justify his/her approval of that with evidence of only two months of living together. I have friends who are straight and have been in a relationship for about 6 months and have still not enough evidence to apply as partners. So I am pretty sure that your sexual orientation has got nothing to do with rejection.

Is your partner a New Zealand resident or citizen?

I am not too aware about partner related visas but one thing I am certain about is that no matter where you live in the world (not just NZ), if you are overstaying on your visa, it WILL have dire consequences for ALL further applications for obtaining a visa for entry into that country. As such, as an over stayer, if you get caught, you may even be deported and if that happens, you don't have any choice but to agree with the authorities. So IMO, you should consider getting out as soon as possible after arranging where to stay etc.
I am sure that it must be a difficult situation for you to be thinking about being away from your partner, may be a civil union/marriage certificate (which you may get this November?) might help your case.

All the best!
Zeiger

[urban78]

We are living together from 2 and half months. If timeframe of a relationship makes it stable, how about couples getting divorced after 15years of their relationship?

Are they doing this to us just because we are same sex couple?

Sorry to read of your predicament.

I'm in a same sex relationship and my Kiwi partner sponsored me for PR 6 years ago. IMHO, INZ treats applications from same sex and opposite sex couples the same way and my application was processed very fairly - we'd been living together for 18 months or so, but known each other for longer.

Being in a genuine and stable relationship is one thing, and there is the 12 months rule (living together) as well but there are also a whole lot of other factors, such as commitment to each other with having joint bank accounts, receiving correspondence to the same address like bank statements, phone bills etc, so maybe this is what your case officer is after? Civil union/marriage is a big step, but won't be enough if you've not lived together for the initial 12 months

Are you able to get in touch with your CO and ask them more into details on what information they are looking for?

Best of luck!

Jen

[JandM]

I'm very sorry to hear about this.

I agree with what the others have said, on two points. From everything we've seen on the forum, same-sex partnerships are treated fairly by INZ. And you absolutely must stay within the law if you are to sort this out and eventually achieve your goal.

[rizjunior]

I don't quite understand the time frame you mentioned here. You started living with your partner from 4th september while your visa was about to expire on 15th september, that gives you only 11 days and in my opinion no immigration of this world will accept it as a stable relationship. I am not sure if I don't get you properly or you missed something but if this is the case, IMM are right (in my opinion) to not accept it a stable relationship.

And in next line you state that you applied for work visa under partnership on 25th august......so you applied before living with your partner?

I am gay. In may 2011, i found my life partner and started living with him from 4th sept 2011.
My visa was going to expire on 15th sept so we applied for work visa under partnership(same sex de-facto) on 25th august 2011.

[mani021]

You started living with your partner from 4th september while your visa was about to expire on 15th september, that gives you only 11 days and in my opinion no immigration of this world will accept it as a stable relationship.

And in next line you state that you applied for work visa under partnership on 25th august......so you applied before living with your partner?

I am sorry, my mistake. I STARTED LIVING WITH HIM FROM 4th AUGUST 2011 AND APPLIED FOR VISA ON 25th AUGUST , IT GOT DECLINED ON 4th OCTOBER.

[sophiedb]

We are living together from 2 and half months. If timeframe of a relationship makes it stable, how about couples getting divorced after 15years of their relationship?

I'm really sorry to hear about your dilemma here *hug* but as others have said, it's nothing to do with being gay. I can see whay you ask the question above, but a couple married for 15 years still gets asked for copies of joint bills, bank statements etc for the last 12 months when they apply. The most recent 12 months are what really counts with NZ, and without it Immigration do not tend to look favourably on the application.

I hope that you find a solution soon!

Timing can be rubbish, and the game of finding enough temp visas to keep the relationship going long enough to qualify for something long-term too. It can be done. I'm not sure how in your case (am not at all knowledgeable on Indian WHVs for instance!), but there should be something... somewhere.. but it may involve both of you living somewhere with no right to work for a while for instance.

Whatever you do, KEEP RECORDS. Get both of your names on EVERYTHING. Every little helps.