The start of the process... (Help Needed)

[JD87]

Hi everyone,

Been a busy weekend trying to get my application in order to apply for a Work Visa via my partner who is a Kiwi! Making sure all the forms are filled out properly, in the correct order and with the correct evidence. The one issue I seem to have with evidence is that me and my partner don't have any shared utility bills as all power, internet etc is covered in the rent we pay....would I need to write that down and explain or will that be clear to see?

My other question is regarding the Tenancy agreements and not having both our names on them. My lease is for every 3 months and what my rental company have been making us do is to keep switching it between myself and my parter so the first agreement will have my name, and then 3 months later they'll switch it over to her name and vice versa...would this be accepted? I moved in here last Feb 17 and my partner moved in during May 17 so this is quite a significant piece of evidence for us. I have the bond transfers but it's the same situation with it switching between myself and my partner every 3 months.

Also can anyone give any guidance on how to display the application. I've currently got everything in a folder to keep all the right pieces of paperwork together and to hopefully make it as easy as possible for whoever is reading it to understand etc.

Any help would be great as the stress is getting to us both and I don't really feel like I could go through all this again.

Thanks for your time,

Joel

[Martinvz]

I’d be getting in touch with the rental agent and asking them to write a letter explaining that rent covers power, internet and whatever else, I’d also get them to explain the tenancy thing too. It’s one of those things where if you don’t supply it you can guarantee INZ would ask for it. For all the applications I’ve ever sent in I’ve always put everything in a folder and haven’t had any problems. I’ve always found you can never supply too much information and proof to INZ so make sure you get as many letters as you can from friends and family acknowledging your relationship and supply as many photos as possible. Good luck 😉

[JD87]

I’d be getting in touch with the rental agent and asking them to write a letter explaining that rent covers power, internet and whatever else, I’d also get them to explain the tenancy thing too. It’s one of those things where if you don’t supply it you can guarantee INZ would ask for it. For all the applications I’ve ever sent in I’ve always put everything in a folder and haven’t had any problems. I’ve always found you can never supply too much information and proof to INZ so make sure you get as many letters as you can from friends and family acknowledging your relationship and supply as many photos as possible. Good luck ��

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. I just want to make sure I'm doing everything properly because not only do I not want to go through this again, I couldn't put my partner through the stress as well. I'll be getting in touch with my rental agent to see if they can write something up for me just explaining the rent fees, utility fees etc. Letters was the one thing I wasn't too sure on, have got one from my current employer not only as a character reference but acknowledging my relationship with my partner.

Thanks again for advice!

[JandM]

The one issue I seem to have with evidence is that me and my partner don't have any shared utility bills as all power, internet etc is covered in the rent we pay....would I need to write that down and explain or will that be clear to see?

Write it down.

what my rental company have been making us do is to keep switching it between myself and my parter so the first agreement will have my name, and then 3 months later they'll switch it over to her name and vice versa...would this be accepted? I moved in here last Feb 17 and my partner moved in during May 17 so this is quite a significant piece of evidence for us. I have the bond transfers but it's the same situation with it switching between myself and my partner every 3 months.

Again, explain that this is what has happened. It's not a common arrangement, and might not immediately spring to the mind of a CO looking over your case.

It is fine to be organized, with a cover sheet itemizing what evidence you're including and what each piece proves, and dividers, but don't put your papers into any sort of folder, sleeve, or binder (though you could use ONE clear sleeve to hold any small items like tickets). INZ ask this because such things take up so much extra room in their office, and take extra time when officials need to take out individual papers to work on. It's better to have everything in a bundle, secured with large rubber bands or similar. Your cover sheet can help by listing your evidence in the same order as the papers in the bundle.

[JD87]

Write it down.
Again, explain that this is what has happened. It's not a common arrangement, and might not immediately spring to the mind of a CO looking over your case.

It is fine to be organized, with a cover sheet itemizing what evidence you're including and what each piece proves, and dividers, but don't put your papers into any sort of folder, sleeve, or binder (though you could use ONE clear sleeve to hold any small items like tickets). INZ ask this because such things take up so much extra room in their office, and take extra time when officials need to take out individual papers to work on. It's better to have everything in a bundle, secured with large rubber bands or similar. Your cover sheet can help by listing your evidence in the same order as the papers in the bundle.

Thank you for your honesty JandM! I had actually been putting everything in a folder just because I like to be tidy with things and thought with something like this it would be best to do it properly but I shall take your advice on board and change my layout with it. It's a really struggle to know what is the right and wrong thing to do...like with pictures, I've got a few from certain key days with my partner and on the back putting any tickets from that trip, receipts and bank statements to show that we pay for things together etc.

You have got my slightly concerned about my tenancy agreement situation as that was the one thing I was really relying on but hopefully my rental agent can get something sorted for me. The agreement states that its for two people as that's all the changed for when my partner moved in.

[JandM]

I shouldn't WORRY too much, but just put in the explanation, because it is a bit unusual.

[EGoodhue]

A letter to explain everything will be helpful for the CO - but also as much evidence as possible to back up your claims, so a letter from your rental agency to explain the arrangement and add credibility to the facts. Your relationship will be assessed to make sure it meets the four-fold test:
1. Statements and evidence are credible - that is, are the claims believable and is there evidence from credible sources to back it up
2. You are living together - this is only one part of what is assessed, so don't forget to include evidence other than tenancy agreements and mail
3. Your reasons for entering the relationship were genuine and you both have the intention to maintain a long-term exclusive relationship - this is where a CO assesses the likelihood of the relationship being for the purposes of getting a visa only, or if it's a true partnership
4. The relationship is likely to endure - again, the CO needs to see that your relationship is likely to continue after the grant of the visa and one partner isn't going to end the relationship as soon as they have the visa

I wouldn't worry too much about organising your application in a folder of any kind - the INZ mailroom will collate your application into the same format as all other applications once they open the mail you send it in, so don't go to too much trouble as INZ will probably just undo it all once they receive it anyway.

[JD87]

A letter to explain everything will be helpful for the CO - but also as much evidence as possible to back up your claims, so a letter from your rental agency to explain the arrangement and add credibility to the facts. Your relationship will be assessed to make sure it meets the four-fold test:
1. Statements and evidence are credible - that is, are the claims believable and is there evidence from credible sources to back it up
2. You are living together - this is only one part of what is assessed, so don't forget to include evidence other than tenancy agreements and mail
3. Your reasons for entering the relationship were genuine and you both have the intention to maintain a long-term exclusive relationship - this is where a CO assesses the likelihood of the relationship being for the purposes of getting a visa only, or if it's a true partnership
4. The relationship is likely to endure - again, the CO needs to see that your relationship is likely to continue after the grant of the visa and one partner isn't going to end the relationship as soon as they have the visa

I wouldn't worry too much about organising your application in a folder of any kind - the INZ mailroom will collate your application into the same format as all other applications once they open the mail you send it in, so don't go to too much trouble as INZ will probably just undo it all once they receive it anyway.

Thank you so much EGoodhue for taking the time and replying plus what you've written is really reassuring to here. I'm currently in the process of chasing up information from my rental agent so hopefully that will clear up that side of things. Thanks again for your help.

[Martinvz]

If it’s any consolation when I submitted a work visa application under the partnership category about 8/9 years ago the paperwork was a mess and still INZ issued the visa. As long as all the info they require to make a decision is there I really don’t think it matters too much how it’s ordered etc.

[JD87]

My only real concern now is the lack of evidence to support us living together. Besides the Tenancy Agreement, we have nothing else as all the bills for the property are paid through the rent (which I have found written in the agreement so hopefully that'll clear that up) and everything else we use just uses online statements like banking and mobile phones. We don't have a joint account as her account had been set up before I came out due to her student loan and our phones are just pre-paid so we don't get bills for them.

We've obviously got bank statements for when either of us has paid for a trip or meal but other than that I'm struggling and really starting to panic that it'll just get flat out rejected due to the lack of evidence to show we are actually living together.