Original documents

[dan555]

Hi,

I am getting everything together for my wife's partnership residence visa and had a question about original documents.

I think I remember for our work visa application that I only sent in the official translation done by the Department of Internal Affairs here in New Zealand and not our original marriage certificate, just a copy of it, and we had no issues regarding original documents.

Does the official translation count as a certified copy of the original document? The original was sighted by DIA when I applied for the translation.

I don't really want the application to be held up, so I was wondering if it is best to send original copies of documents rather than certified copies? I would only be hesitant to do this because it would be very difficult to get another copy of the birth certificate if it were to go missing.

Thanks

[ChrisMwn]

Hi,

I am getting everything together for my wife's partnership residence visa and had a question about original documents.

I think I remember for our work visa application that I only sent in the official translation done by the Department of Internal Affairs here in New Zealand and not our original marriage certificate, just a copy of it, and we had no issues regarding original documents.

Does the official translation count as a certified copy of the original document? The original was sighted by DIA when I applied for the translation.

I don't really want the application to be held up, so I was wondering if it is best to send original copies of documents rather than certified copies? I would only be hesitant to do this because it would be very difficult to get another copy of the birth certificate if it were to go missing.

Thanks

Residence applications have different requirements to those for temporary entry.

You need to provide original or certified copies of all documents.

That means in addition to the original translation, you must provide and original or certified copy of the document that was translated.
Remember that a marriage certificate is not a mandatory requirement as it doesn't provide evidence that your are currently living together and have done so for the last 12 months, only that at one point in time you attended a marriage ceremony together.

[JandM]

Originals aren't any better than certified copies as far as INZ is concerned, and getting and sending the certified copy is good from your point of view because you don't have to let the precious original out of your possession.

[dan555]

Thanks for the insight, I think i'll just get a JP to certify all my documents as in the past they have kept some documents that I wanted returned to me.