Living together requirement of 12 months

[Luv2fly]

Hi all,

Am trying to find out what the living together requirement is about. I can't find an answer to my question anywhere on the net, so maybe you guys are able to help?

Is this living together for 12 months need to be 12 months consecutive? Or can it be gathered over time, such as 6,5 weeks then a gap, then another 6,5 weeks, then another gap and then 9 months together?

I have been in a relationship with a NZ citizen over 2 years now, but only able to meet eachother on holidays. I have lived with him for those short times and just got a work visa valid for 12 months now . My question is: would another 9 months be enough to apply for residency?

Many thanks for any replies.

[Karen Phillips]

Hi. If you can provide evidence that you lived together for these short periods and keep careful records of the 9 months about to happen, you could be okay. You are allowed periods apart if you can provide evidence of good reason why this was necessary such as not having the visa to be in the same country, having to be apart for the sake of work or family. The key word here is "evidence". It is not absolutely guaranteed. However, in 9 months from now you would be in with a very good chance of getting a temporary partner work visa for a further 3 months if necessary, so long as you meet all the other criteria of course. Kind regards. Karen

[Luv2fly]

Cheers Karen. I am not too worried about the evidence as I got a work visa under partnership based on that evidence. We spent the following time together:

3 weeks in Holland (2011) (him coming to see me)
6, 5 weeks in NZ (2012) (me visiting and living with him)
3, 5 weeks in Holland (2012) (him visiting me again)
6, 5 weeks in NZ in 2013 (me visiting and living with him in NZ)

I dont count the times he has come to me as I am unsure if I have sufficient evidence for that. We did go on holiday together to Crete when he was over, so there are some things we can add as evidence like tickets and car rental at Crete plus photos.

So actually if you add it all up we have been together for more than 3 months, but as said unsure if the evidence of him being with me is enough.

As I want to keep my job in Holland as long as I dont get a yes for residence visa I am trying for 9 months working and living together to get the 12 months completed and then apply from Holland for a residence visa under family category / partner.

Hope that is not a silly idea.

Hi. If you can provide evidence that you lived together for these short periods and keep careful records of the 9 months about to happen, you could be okay. You are allowed periods apart if you can provide evidence of good reason why this was necessary such as not having the visa to be in the same country, having to be apart for the sake of work or family. The key word here is "evidence". It is not absolutely guaranteed. However, in 9 months from now you would be in with a very good chance of getting a temporary partner work visa for a further 3 months if necessary, so long as you meet all the other criteria of course. Kind regards. Karen

[andriasneddon]

My partner and I have been together for almost 7 years, between Canada and New Zealand. We've spent about 2.5 of those years apart because of immigration/work/school in shorter periods with the longest time apart being 9 months. The most recent time we were apart, I applied for NZ Permanent Residency with the intention of arriving in NZ about 6 months later to be with my partner, but they sent back my application because we weren't living together at the time, and the time we had lived together in the past (the greatest amount of consecutive time being two and a half years) wasn't enough for them to process our application because they're so strict about the residency requirements. Currently waiting for my partner's criminal record check to arrive from Canada and then we're going to try again, from NZ this time! Hope this gives you a bit of info, and good luck!

[dharder]

As far as I recall, for a residence visa, it needs to be the 12 consecutive months before lodging the application. 6 weeks in 2011 would not count towards that.

But if you have a 12 month visa now and will be able that you spent all that time together, you should be fine.

Good luck,

Daniela

[Luv2fly]

Uhmm, am a bit confused now. One says it could work, another says it needs to be 12 months consecutive to be able to apply for a residence visa. Anyoneonly knows a definate answer to this?

I just heard today I can leave my job in Holland for a 9 month period without losing my job straight away. So if at all possible I would want to try it with 9 months and then the short periods together we had in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Also...is it true you need to be living together under one roof when you apply for residency under partnership? And is that requirement when you apply only or throughout the application process? Just need to know this stuff otherwise my plan will fail.
Please help!

[JandM]

Anyoneonly knows a definate answer to this?

Basically - INZ. It will depend on the quality of your evidence. You must realize that the partnership visas are the easiest target for fraud, with people paying NZers to lie to get them visas, which also means that partnership applications are the most carefully checked. If something seems suspicious to INZ, and it can't be resolved to their satisfaction, they will not allow any benefit of the doubt.

INZ defines partnership as being a live-in relationship, so the normal expectation is that the partners will be living together, unless there is a very compelling reason for a temporary separation, with good solid evidence that contacts and mutual dependency is being maintained throughout. See the Note, here. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...artnership.htm Again, nobody can give you a 'yes, it will definitely work' reply, because a lot will depend on the impression your application makes. However, the norm is that at the time of the application, the partners can show that they have been living together for the last 12 months - that is, show by evidence at the beginning and end of that period of time, and for intervals throughout. And other forum members have had the CO ask for evidence of continuing partnership (living together) for the time after the application was lodged, through the time of the case being worked, up to date. It has also been known for INZ officials to go to the couple's home, to see with their own eyes that both the people are there.

People don't absolutely HAVE to be living together at the time of the application and the processing, if this can pass as one of the separations with a good reason, but the application probably has a better chance if they are together.

As you've seen, it is sometimes possible that INZ will recognize a partnership with explicable gaps in, but it certainly is not their favourite situation.

[Luv2fly]

Thanks JandM! I understand no one can say for sure what will happen. We are on top of the evidence and as*soon as I am with my partner, we will get both our names on the phone and utility bill. Another one is to get a membership in both our names of the local video library etc. Got membership renewal of the local aeroclub and my partner has one too. Got my name put on the duty pilot roster of the aeroclub which is voluntary work. All that evidence helped me get a work visa under partnership. Sent about 4 cm of paper work in just to get a work visa. Will use that evidence again for the residence application and of course add more for the 9 months to come.

Do you think that retaining my job in The Netherlands will be a valid reason to go back after 9 months out of the 12 months of the work visa and apply at the London NZIS office for residency? After all you don't want to be left without a job and a house in these economic tough times. With your experience you might be able to tell.

Btw, London office deals with residency applications much quicker for partners of NZers (3-4 months). In Christchurch they start to look at it after 6-9 months and make a decision after 3-6 months. So it could take up to a year extra applying from within NZ.

Thanks again for your prompt and clear reply.

[JandM]

Good luck with it all. To be honest, and giving a personal, lay person's view, nothing official, considering you've already managed to get your partner sponsored work visa, in your shoes I would gamble that staying the extra three months would get you your Residence - the information page specifically talks about leading on to Residence. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migra...milystream.htm If I was the CO, I might be asking myself why you're leaving part way through the currency of the visa you've got. (I don't remember any cases just like yours, so I'm not quoting a precedent.)

[Luv2fly]

Thanks for your honest opinion Jandm. You have a point. I have thought about that too. The only thing I can say to that is that I will lose my permanent job I have if I would stay in NZ longer than 9 months. Without a residence visa for NZ it is tricky to let go of a permanent job and house in your country of residency. I'd rather not be in that situation where there is a possibility I will be empty handed, no job and no house to go back to. Horrible thought. Not sure how INZ will look towards that, but they do say somewhere that they advise not to make irriversable plans to NZ before you actually have your residence visa. Quitting your job and getting rid of your house is one of those irriversable things I suppose.