How to prove legal partner relationship? (if it is less than one year)

[zednic20]

Hi Guys,
I have claimed 150 point which also includes my partners(wife's) 20 points as well.
I recently got married 1st Dec 2011 and have Marriage Certificate document as a legal proof. Since my marriage duration is less than 1 yr, my agent told me to show fake relationship before marriage (live in relationship)? Is this really necessary? or my agent is not knowledgeable.
I don't want to fake any relationship status just bcoz my agent is saying? Please assist me in this case. If it is required to show then is there any proper way or legal way to show this.

[Adams Girl]

Your agent is awful!!! What Immigration are concerned about is not the length of the marriage, but the length of the relationship. Have you been together for more than a year? If so, then providing you can prove that - and the marriage certificate is just one part of it - then you should be fine. Bills in both names, affadavits from friends and family members (i.e. legally sworn documents that your friends do for you), photos of the two of you together where maybe you have older hairstyles (!), invitations to dated events sent to both of you, etc. That is the kind of thing that they're looking for. Immigration doesn't care if you're married or not, just if your relationship is genuine, and it has to have been genuine for over 12 months.

[Adams Girl]

Sorry, do need to add that you have to have lived together for 12+ months...

[Sun777]

Big NO for any fake certificates, your agent wants to just put your application at risk (I suppose he gets paid regardless of your application being rejected or approved) - if you are enquired/caught up in the drama then repercussions are severe and your agent will just wash his/her hands saying those were your documents and he merely put them together. If I were you, I would just put complaint against the agent as he might prove dangerous for other applicants.

Look for any photographic evidence, bank letters/statements, bills, receipts of yourself and your partner at the same address. I'm not sure if you have known your partner for less than a year - in that case just wait for few more months and you will have all documents in place - going by current EOI selection 150 points is good enough points.

[JandM]

This is shockingly bad advice, and I agree that this agent should be reported. I don't see how anyone could trust anything he said, after this. Can you dispense with his services?

Anyway, about your evidence. For the purposes of including your partner on the Skilled Migrant application, you need to have been in a live-in relationship for 12 months or more. INZ look at partnership, not marriage, and the following is their description of it.

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

From the INZ operational manual. Go to http://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/ Residence » Family Categories » F2 Partnership Category » F2.20 Evidence.

If you were not living together before your marriage, you can't yet provide 12 months' worth of evidence of your partnership, but, as Sun777 says, a few more months and you will be able to do so. On the same page as that quote just above, there is a list of the sort of evidence you should be collecting.

[zednic20]

Thanks Guys
I don't have bills as such to prove my length of relationship. But I got engaged last yr in Feb 2011, and have engagement snaps as well.
Is this proof sufficient to show genuine length of relationship or do I require anything else, any legal documents.

[JandM]

Being engaged, like being married, does not count for anything particular with INZ. What you have to prove is that you were living together.

Of course, in the way we usually talk, being engaged and being in a relationship mean that the two people FEEL committed to one another. But since you can't pin down feelings, to prove them, NZ law has concentrated on what CAN be proved - that you share a place to live (most importantly), and, beyond that, mutual arrangements for aspects of your life.

Here (from that same page mentioned above) is the INZ suggestion for the kind of evidence they need.

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

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:
joint ownership of residential property
joint tenancy agreement or rent book or rental receipts
correspondence (including postmarked envelopes) addressed to both principal applicant and partner at the same address.
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.
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:
a marriage certificate for the parties;
a civil union certificate for the parties;
birth certificates of any children of the parties;
evidence of communication between the parties;
photographs of the parties together;
documents indicating public recognition of the partnership;
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.
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.
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.

[dede]

I was married over a decade ago and the same address was used in the marriage certificate...we we sent in a bunch of stuff but were asked or even more proof of relationship....they really take it very seriously and more is better than less with them. You don't want it holding you back...any request can set things back a minimum of 3-4 weeks.

[bharasheh]

I was married over a decade ago and the same address was used in the marriage certificate...we we sent in a bunch of stuff but were asked or even more proof of relationship....they really take it very seriously and more is better than less with them. You don't want it holding you back...any request can set things back a minimum of 3-4 weeks.

Hello dede,

Could you please share with us what you sent them in first and second time to prove relationship?

[Manks]

Hello dede,

Could you please share with us what you sent them in first and second time to prove relationship?

For what it's worth I sent a variety of joint letters/bills over a period of years that showed every address we'd lived at, plus photos of us taken pretty much every year we'd been together that showed us in various different locations too, showing we'd holidayed together every year, anniversary and wedding cards from friends, etc. We had moved to the US during our time together so we had immigration documents to support us. This was on top of our marriage certificate. It was probably overkill but I didn't want any hold-ups.