Partner of a NZer work visa.. having flatmates?

[kez13]

I apologise in advance for all the questions I'll probably be asking on here.. we're just anxious, running out of time and want to do everything right the first time!

So my fiancee is applying for the Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa next week after we get her medical and everything together.
I saw something about "no flatmate arrangements" which has me worried because we do have a flatmate.

My name is the only one on the tenancy agreement (been living here for 5 years and my partner has been living here since Jan 4th 2018, have a letter from property manager stating this too). We got a flatmate in July cause I'm not currently working so we needed a bit of help to pay for things while we saved money to get my partners next visa etc. His names aren't on any of the bills, just mine and my partner. He pays us weekly which covers his room, power, water etc.

Is this going to be an issue? or will it be ok since she was living here before him? we are a lesbian couple so I'm worried they'll think that one of us is really dating our male flatmate ew! haha. He's kind of weird (and rude/disrespectful!) and we don't really interact with him so I'd feel weird asking him for a letter (plus he wouldn't do it in time cause he "forgets" things). But I do have the email from his girlfriend asking to view the room via the trade me ad we had for it back in July, could I show them that and maybe their facebook pages with photos of them 2 together?

His rent goes straight into our joint bank account, which we'll obviously be showing to immigration so I think I kinda HAVE to tell them who this dude is depositing $160 a week into our account! lol

[JandM]

They don't mean you can't HAVE a flatmate. They mean that time spent when the two people, who are now a couple, were *just* flatmates, can't count towards the 'living together' requirement. Lots of people have got their partner visas while living in a shared house, with the essential point being that the couple have a private living/sleeping space, just for them, within the home, apart from the areas that are shared with the other people who stay there.

[kez13]

Ahh ok that makes more sense.

Should I still include the proof of him just being a flatmate though? like so it's obvious that me and my fiancee sleep in the same bed/room? lol

I'm sorry, we're overthinking everything and being paranoid

[JandM]

If you are the owner/landlord, whether your partner's name has been added onto the documentation or not, the question isn't going to crop up of who else you allow to live there, I don't think. In your place, I wouldn't complicate things by trying to pre-explain something that may never get raised. If INZ asked any questions later, presumably you've got a rental agreement for the lodger that says what rights he's got.

[kez13]

Good point! think I'll leave it and only use the evidence if they ask lol.

I have another question not related to flatmates.. I don't wanna keep making threads and annoy everyone haha.
My fiancee and I were long distance for the first 2.4 years our of relationship (USA - NZ) so we have thousands of messages and thousands of skype hours. We would skype for hours at a time every day and only be apart when she was at work or I was sleeping etc. When we weren't skyping we'd be messaging each other on facebook constantly.
My question is, how much of that do we need to include in her application? sucky thing is that we can't get back to our first 2015 messages or skype records cause it just won't go back that far I have about 100 screenshots showing the skype hours from December 2016 to August 2017 but our relationship started in August 2015 so we're missing a lot! I can only get to around april 2016 on our facebook messages too. I think we'd be able to find the cheesy facebook/instagram posts we made before that though lol.
But yeah, I don't know how much or what type of messages we're supposed to show them. There is just soooooo many and we'd have to use the facebook message search feature to find the types of messages they wanna see!

[TheNewKiwi]

how much of that do we need to include in her application? ...I don't know how much or what type of messages we're supposed to show them.

My partner and I were also long distance for the start of our relationship (also US/NZ!). I personally did not include any of that information in my application and had no problem whatsoever. When I lived in NZ with him for four months, I applied for the work visa. I included all relevant information for those four months: joint bank statements, joint electric bill, joint phone bill, etc. I included information on travel together (boarding passes/restaurant receipts/pictures there), joint party invitations and greeting cards, 2 letters of support from family/friends, and a tieline of our relationship. These are all the things my immigration adviser told me to include.

[diallta]

My fiancee and I were long distance for the first 2.4 years our of relationship (USA - NZ) so we have thousands of messages and thousands of skype hours.

When I applied for my Partnership Residence Visa, INZ seemed primarily concerned that I demonstrate that we were living together in a cohabitative, dependent relationship. It sounds like you have far, far more records of electronic communication than myself and my partner have (and perhaps may ever have!), and I did submit a screenshot of the message subjects in my inbox for the comparatively few e-mails sent to each other over the years, but they seemed mostly interested in seeing official documents like bank statements, tenancy agreements, resident registration paperwork, etc.

You'll find lots of detail about my process that I documented in this thread, as well as lots of input from others that have been through it: https://www.enz.org/forum/showthread...=53587&page=33

Good luck with your application!

[JandM]

kez13, you need next to nothing of ALL of that.

The INZ fact sheet has this under the heading Your relationship with your partner - You and your partner must have been living together in a genuine and stable relationship for 12 months or more. (Notice that - living together for 12 months or more.)

You must provide evidence that you and your partner are living together in a genuine and stable relationship.

Your evidence should show:

how long you’ve been together
how long you’ve been living together
that you share finances and other responsibilities
that you spend time together, eg photos together, emails and social media conversations between you
that other people recognise your relationship
anything else you think shows you and your partner are living together in a genuine and stable relationship.

(my bolding)

Because partner-sponsored visas don't require anything about qualifications and work experience, they are the most targeted by crooks wanting to get people to lie so they can have a visa - paying them to SAY this is their life partner. Anyone can lie about their feelings, how long ago they met, etc. etc.. INZ aren't going to be judging an essay contest about who writes a good story, so the regulations just call for the CO to check that a couple have taken action and actually moved in together, set up a home, and started a shared life. For residence, the CO is mainly looking at the 12 months running up to the application (i.e. people who USED TO live together at one time, but have gone their separate ways for the last x years, can't use this route to residence). Yes, INZ ask for a time-line (like a list or outline) of the relationship starting before co-habitation - how the couple met, what they found they had in common, when they started seeing one another and so on - but there only needs to be a LITTLE evidence for that part, backing up the time-line at the high points, because what is absolutely vital for the CO to see is proof of day-to-day living in the same home, right now and just recently for that last year.

[TheNewKiwi]

Your relationship with your partner - You and your partner must have been living together in a genuine and stable relationship for 12 months or more. (Notice that - living together for 12 months or more.)

What JandM describes is exactly my experience with my partnership visas as well. I only disagree with the 12 months time frame.

12 months cohabitation is only required for the Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa. Kez13 has stated their partner is applying for a Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa. The cohabitation requirement for the work visa has a minimum of 3-4 months.

[kez13]

Oh jeez here we were worrying about all that for nothing really that makes this a bit easier for us phew! lol

One more thing.. when it comes to showing them bills with our names & address on them, can they be the ones I'm emailed monthly? the ones with both our names get delivered by email so I haven't got any physical copies. I keep all the emails if that helps (maybe show screenshots with the bill?)

And also bank statements? we chose not to have paper statements cause of the fees (kinda regret it now lol) so I only have the statements available on our internet banking. Can I use those and print them out to highlight things we paid for then scan them to pdf? (we're applying online)

I've tried searching for these answers but saw different answers so I'm not sure lol