How to prove my partner lives with me?

[David12345]

Hi all,

First of all a big thanks to the people who have helped me in the past on this forum, I am an NZ citizen and my partner is Armenian, it is our goal for her to live with me in New Zealand for good and she has just been granted a limited visa for 5 months so we can live together for that amount of time to gather evidence required for a partnership visa.

I understand partnership comes down to immigration being satisfied that your partnership is secure and genuine etc (which I think will not be too hard to prove, I hope) and that you have lived together for a few months, she will be living off my money, we will post photos to facebook, take many pictures for immigration, get letters from friends, try to get joint invites and xmas cards etc.

The one thing that is a little harder is to prove she has lived with me for those five months, I understand this usually comes down to having letters sent to her at my address, and also myself at my address, and also mail to both of us at my address? do we really need joint and separate letters, like joint letters and then separate letters to us as individuals?

I own my own house so we cant do the common joint tenancy agreement which most people do, I am planning to add her name to as many bills as I can and have those letters sent to us monthly but I think after reading some other posts this may not be enough, as anyone could do that and not live there, They will also see she has no income while here and will know that I am paying those bills. I am also assuming things such as online purchases under her name sent to my address may not be too convincing either.

I have read that the letters that hold the most power of proving she lives with me would be legal-ish documents? such as letters from government agency's and doctors etc, so I was wondering if anyone could help me with this in suggesting some ways to get letters sent to her/us which will hold a lot of convincing that we live together, I need to be able my partner has lived with me for those five months by the end of her time here and we only have one shot at this.

Also we have to apply for partnership at the NZ immigration branch in Moscow, I have herd this can be tough, is that true or just a stereotype/discrimination from people who have had trouble there?

Thanks so much

[Kiwilad]

There's no 1 way to prove you two are living together as each situation is always different hence why the guidelines around what evidence is acceptable for proving this is very vague...

First of all don't assume anything, don't assume online shopping holds no power with INZ every little thing counts. So do online shopping, put her on your bills, do absolutely everything you can to get as much mail as possible addressed to the both of you, doesn't matter if it's a joint letter, or has her name or your name alone, it all shows you are at this address. Sign up to reward cards, get a library card, do absolutely everything you can think of to get mail.

As far as more formal options other than the bills, you don't really have any, that I can think of anyway, unless opening a bank account is possible? Explain in your cover letter that she has been in NZ on a visitor visa and has not been able to get access to X,Y,Z.....

Get neighbours who see you both daily to write letters, friends to write confirming you have been living together.

I know it's frustrating and stressful I was in a similar situation to you just a few weeks ago but you will be fine as long as you just think outside the box a little bit and ensure you're getting as much mail as possible...