Partnership resident visa - chch branch

[NatalieP]

Hi,

I sent off my application for residency through partnership after me and my boyfriend lived together for 12 months 2 weeks ago. I am currently here on a work visa through partnership after meeting him whilst I was on my WHV. I should probably add that I'm british and my boyfriend is kiwi!

I sent in a medical and chest x ray and police certificate on my last application for the work visa and they accepted everything, and they obviously accepted all the proof for our genuine and stable relationship.

I rang immigration chch today to see if they had received my application because I didn't even get a receipt of acknowledgement (only the ladies signature who signed for my delivery) and i asked the guy what time frame i was looking at because I only have about 3 months left on my current visa.... He told me it could take up to 9 months!!!!! He said i should look into applying for a temporary work visa in the meantime.

My question is because my medical and chest xrays was accepted through my last visa, will that mean that my current visa will be accepted quicker? Also does anyone else have exact time frames of what happened for them?

I'm guessing from reading everyone elses posts that i will have to send in my tenancy agreement when i receive a CO because i sent it with my last application but not this one - i thought they could easily look it up on their system! I also sent along enough letters from family and friends, joint bank accounts, photos, videos and any letters that we had with both our names on etc.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm so nervous!!

[graciousinkiwi]

Hi Natalie

Is it correct to assume that you have posted your application by courier to ChCh branch? I did the same thing, it takes a few days before it is lodged. There is an initial check that's done and if this is satisfied, your application will be lodged (when I sent my application, there was an original doc missing so I got a "failed lodgement" status, my application was sent back to me with a checklist, where the documents I didn't have were highlighted). I re-sent my application with the documents required, the second time around it was successful - I received an automated email stating that my online status changed. When I checked online it has the date of when the application was lodged.

For your second question:
Different cases have different timelines. In my experience, I have never heard from my CO nor have been informed who is my CO. My current work visa is due to expire in December, I sent my application for residency in May. The only time I heard from immigration is when I had 2 IOs called in at our place, which was in September. Then, about three weeks from that visit, my online status had changed to "approved". So, it took mine a total of 5 months. However, I have seen some posts here where their visas have been granted in less or longer time than mine.

Please also note that ChCh does not process permanent visas (at least that is what I was told when I phoned INZ) so, you're application will be forwarded to another branch (in my case, mine was forwarded in Auckland). The allocation of your CO will also be influenced by how busy that branch is. You will have to factor Christmas break too and the backlog after that.

Documents - you will have to provide the same set of documents plus more, to demonstrate evidence of living together every time you apply because different CO will assess your application. I'm sure that they may have the records somewhere but I guess it makes it easier for the "new" CO to assess your application if all of the documents are provided.

[NatalieP]

Hi graciousinkiwi, thank you for your reply!

Yes i sent it to the chch branch! How long did it take them between getting your app and telling you it had failed because of the documents? I hope they tell me something soon so i can send them the rest of my documents - i don't know why i didnt send them in the first place, i thought i was so organised!!!

Congrats on being approvd! What happened when the IO's came to your place? Me and my boyfriend do shiftwork so i hope they dont come looking for us to be at home at the same time!

Oh damn. I wish i had sent my app in months ago so by the time it was looked at we had lived together 12 months! Ah well. All i can do is cross my fingers

[Gary_wendy]

I had my failed lodgement cos i didn't send my CERTIFIED copy of my birth certificate,, they were about to send my whole file back to Australia but then i requested them to hold on to my file and i will send my CERTIFIED copy by speed post. After a week my file was relodged with a new file number. Also they didn't tell me anything about failed lodgement, i came to know through online check and then followed up straight away. Hope this will help..

[NatalieP]

I had my failed lodgement cos i didn't send my CERTIFIED copy of my birth certificate

Oh wow. I'm hoping mine will be alright, i explained in my letter to them about my birth certificate because it's a little bit different as i was born in a military hospital. Jeee this seems like its getting worse by the minute! Thank you for your reply though, will have to remember to ask them to keep my file if anything like that happens!

[Jazz77]

Hey natalie
I applied in chch branch in early July. Mine was transferred to Henderson branch it's been 4 months still no co.
Welcome to waiting game.

[graciousinkiwi]

Took about 3 days. Application was dropped at the branch.

Thanks. Had a look around our house, assumed their looking for evidence that suggests that you are genuinely living together, and that the other party is not just "visiting" or "living in the same house separately". In all honesty, I didn't know that they do that. It is after this visit that I found out about this forum because I was researching on the net about IOs visits and if it was a standard practice :-) My partner had already gone to work so, was only me in the house.

[NatalieP]

Hey natalie
I applied in chch branch in early July. Mine was transferred to Henderson branch it's been 4 months still no co.
Welcome to waiting game.

Oh dear, fingers crossed for you! Now i need to start looking into an interim visa, i guess. Argh!!

Graciousinkiwi... I hope my bfs big pile of dirty gym clothes by the washing machine will be a big enough giveaway haha!

[Jazz77]

Hey Natalie
If you apply for residence visa. Then you aren't eligible for intrim visa.
An interim visa is only issued if you apply for another temporary visa.
Correct me if I'm wrong.

[graciousinkiwi]

Natalie, funny you said that (I'm laughing now, but at that time I was so nervous...I was lost for awhile thinking what just happened). I actually walked a few times in our house after they left, I was trying to assess what impression each corner of our "says". In our room, our dresser is full of my stuff and there are probably only three items of his.

I am not sure what the views of others are. If your visa is expiring in January, you may have to start looking into applying for a temporary visa while your residence application is being processed. I was actually starting to get ready to put together an application for another work visa when I got to 45 days before expiry date of my current visa.