Turn off that shredder!

[Karen Phillips]

I have recently had at least four conversations with different families about providing partnership evidence. I now send out a plea to anyone out there at the early stages of planning or just considering migration to NZ with a partner. Get your bank to send paper copies of statements (open a joint account if you don't have one), get your gas/electricity bills on paper. When you go out and about, don't just take photos of the nice view each other, do a selfie with you both in it! Don't shred those tax forms and old employment contracts. I could go on, but I won't because I am sure I have made my point. I hope that's useful to a few people at least.

[Sun777]

Indeed !

This must go on the checklist before applying. We didn't have much idea on what else was required when applying for our Residency, our case officer requested for more information when we received our ITA at a time after we moved countries and all our stuff was lying in the storage.

[Escapee]

I'm suddenly grateful for all of the truly horrendous photos that my father in law takes at family events as I had thought we had very few of my husband and I together (me always being the photographer) but actually I have years worth of emails containing all those terrible shots that show us together

[dharder]

Hate to gloat here, but back then, when we got together, the law in the UK required couples to be able to prove 4 (four!) years of relationship and living together exclusively (no flatting with others). So we started collecting our stuff very early on in our relationship, which felt a bit funny, because of course you have no idea where it is going in the early days...

Anyway, when we finally did apply for residency in NZ, we had a box with 11 years' worth of evidence to throw at immigration

PS: we collected it all in a box we called 'Beziehungskiste', which might make the German speakers here smile

[swearwolves]

So much for going green!

[JandM]

I could understand the elements of the word, but had to look up the connotations. http://www.dw.de/beziehungskiste/a-16521955