Partner based temporary visa quandry..

[shutterborj]

Hello from the Philippines...

I've been wanting to ask questions about my current situation and here it goes:

I have a girlfriend for 8 years, we started living together in 2010 until she left for NZ in 2011,now she's a resident in NZ and is working as a nurse. I too am a nurse but i pursued being a photographer for now. We remained in a long distance relationship since and now we are applying for a partnership based temporary entry.

Our History:
During the time we were living together, we stayed in our ancestral house since it was free and had a lot of space. The utility bills were named to my deceased father (the owner of the house) but some telephone bills were mine. The thing is she didn't get any bills there, and the address that she put before starting in the hospital she was working back in 2008 was still her birthplace.

We weren't able to foresee that we needed a joint account which sadly is not common here in the phil.

so basically what we have are:

2005-2010 photos (not that much)
Video of me proposing to her (we were supposed to get married before she left)
Facebook,skype and viber messages
A letter form our Communitycertifying that we were co-habiting.
A letter from my mother.

i dont know if that would suffice? or should i plan ahead and skip the parnership visa application and apply for a visitors visa? Thanks a lot and your help is very much appreciated.


Kj

[JandM]

You've already had my reactions to your situation elsewhere, but for the sake of anyone else reading the thread I'll repeat the main points.

I think you would have a struggle to convince INZ with only the evidence you mention. I expect you have seen the old threads on ENZ about proof of partnership. You will see the variety of evidence people put forward. It is not ESSENTIAL to have any one thing of the list given on the INZ website, but it really helps to have several, and particularly things involving public institutions, such as banks, insurance companies, tax authorities, etc., sending mail to each person at the same address, and/or being aware of the links between the couple (e.g. one being beneficiary of an insurance policy belonging to the other, or an employer having the second person down as emergency contact/next of kin). Your photos, your video, your messages, and your mother's letter, could all be taken as generated by you*, so you only have ONE item, the letter from the community, from outside your immediate contacts. And in the absence of more evidence, it would be possible for an official to deduce that yes, you got engaged, but OBVIOUSLY, the relationship didn't last or she wouldn't have gone to another country to work.

*Excuse me - you know you are honest, but INZ have to check partnership claims very carefully, as those are the ones most often targeted by fraudsters paying a citizen or resident to lie to get them a visa.

Therefore, I think your idea of getting to NZ as a visitor, then gathering evidence of living together once you are there, is likely to be the quickest way forward. In practice, although no length of time is mentioned, INZ seem to regard about three months' evidence as the trigger point to take an application for a partner-sponsored work visa seriously without too much difficulty. More evidence rather than less, involvement jointly with public bodies (e.g. joint memberships), the same address for mail from e.g. service providers, or e.g. government departments you write questions to, each of you spending money for things for you both, tracked on your cards or bank statements linked to receipts, invitations to you both, photos of you when you are there - be creative. And get evidence for THE MINUTE you are together, then collect more, literally week by week as time goes by. And if you submit your application before the three months is up, keep collecting evidence so you can show you are still together while the case is being processed.

[shutterborj]

Thanks again JandM, your replies have been really helpful. I have some questions though about applying for a visit visa.

1. Should i declare that my partner is in NZ?
2. What should i put as my purpose to visit NZ? (a stupid question..i know.) to see the sights? or to visit my partner?
3. Will they be the one to decide the duration of the visit visa they will give me?

Thanks in Advance.

[anonimoose]

Hi shutterborj,

Me and my fiance (girlfriend back then) used to be in the same situation one year ago. Although it's the other way around, I left for NZ on JSV and eventually got my residency and left her back home, maintaining a long-distance relationship until we sorted out her visa and joined me in NZ 9 months later.

Our dilemma was exactly like yours, we've been together for three year, but never lived together under one roof, which at that time was the biggest challenge for us to be granted any type of visa under partnership. NZ immigration is quite clear on the requirements when it comes to proving that the relationship is genuine and having not lived together at all, applying for Residence under Partnership was not even an option. Another way was to apply for Work Visa under partnership as it just requires some time of living together, not necessarily for 12 months or more. But then again, we never lived together so even that is not satisfied in our case.

What we did was, we took a risk by applying for Visit Visa under partnership. For some reasons, we thought would they would be more relaxed with the requirements for visit than applying for work visa right away. We sort of wanted to send the message that she didn't mind not working for some time as long as she can join me here, that the ultimate goal is to be together. But even that didn't work and she was declined citing that we didn't satisfy the requirement. HOWEVER, she was instead offered a General Visit Visa valid for 9 months. The officer even suggested that she can apply for further visit visa or work visa (under partnership) once we have satisfied the "living together" requirement, which we did only after a week from her arrival.

After one week here, we lodged our application for Work Visa under Partnership and she was approved after her second week. It was quick and straightforward, didn't even receive any email from immigration until they approved her visa. She's been working here for almost 6 months and we're just waiting to satisfy the 12 months of living together, after then we can apply for her residency.

I should mention that we submitted heaps of photos we've accumulated over the years, and even made a scrapbook containing pictures with captions of everything, from parties to celebrations, etc. Screenshots of facebook, messenger conversations we had for the past 9 months of being apart. Again, the list by immigration is non-exhaustive but provide as much evidence as you can.

Oh, before I forget, it might matter that because unmarried couples living together is still not as common in the Philippines as it is for the rest of the world, they might be more considerate to partners applying for this visa type than elsewhere (maybe just me).

Yup we're also from the Philippines.

Anonimoose

[JandM]

Well, that sounds really encouraging - there can be a way through.

Following this last post, I've just looked on the INZ Manila website, and found this page, which looks helpful. You might like to reconsider in the light of this. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/branc...ip/default.htm There's also information here. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/branc...mitedvisas.htm

[shutterborj]

Hi Anonimoose!

Thanks for sharing your experience, It's like a ray of light at the end of the tunnel, we will definitely try and apply for a partnership work/visit visa first and see how it goes. I think it would be worth the try, I have also been told by a schoolmate who recently went to NZ that they too were declined at first and then got offered a 9 month visit visa.

What were the evidences that you gave when you applied at first?

Thanks for the link JandM, I am now re-strategizing my approach..hehe..

[shutterborj]

Hello again, we sort f have a problem, when my fiancee applied for her residency she was not able to disclose that i am her partner, would that be a big issue? Thanks...if so maybe moving forward with the visit visa would be better. Thanks!