Hello everyone. My partner and I are getting ready to do a work visa application based on partnership. I think we should have a good shot at getting the work one rather than the visitor but wanted to get some opinions as it seems like there are a lot of knowledgeable people here. So our situation is as follows:
I am an NZ citizen and my partner is from Peru. She came to NZ on a working holiday visa in March 2015, we met in August and began our relationship in September. In December we took a two week trip around the South Island, and we then lived together from January until halfway through March when she returned to Peru, just before the expiry of her visa. We've since maintained daily skype contact, and I will be in Peru with her in all of August and September (living together at her parents' house). The plan is for my partner to return to NZ in January on the temporary work visa, and then eventually get residence.
We can provide evidence including a bank statement in her name from when we lived together in NZ with the address, various letters from people, photos, tickets/accommodation from our trip and my flight to Peru, records of skype calls, etc. What I'm a little concerned about is evidence of us living together because the bank statement is about the only official thing there is. In addition to that we could get letters from flatmates saying we were living there, and the occasional domestic type email between us where we make reference to living together, like what are we going to cook tonight. I suppose I could provide bank statements showing the rent paid between January and March increased due to there being two of us. We could also get letters from my partner's parents for the two months we'll be living together in Peru. We also don't have things like joint finances and bills together, it wouldn't really make sense to do so until we're permanently in the same country.
We should be okay to justify the time apart (her visa was expiring and she hadn't come to NZ expecting to stay permanently, I'm in fulltime employment in NZ and saved up leave for the two month visit). We'd like to apply for the visa when I'm with her in Peru in August. Any thoughts would be appreciated.