Applying for a partnership work visa and looking for some thoughts or experiences :)

[FH28]

Hello all!

Firstly thank you for taking the time to click into this thread!

I am in the process of applying for a partnership Work Visa and after a lot of research into this forum and across the internet I am very much aware of what evidence I need to gather.

My questions are below and obviously I am aware that no body can know for certain and at the end of the day its upto INZ to make the final decision but any thoughts or suggestions good or bad would be very much appreciated!

Firstly- I am applying offshore in Ireland- does anyone have any experience with applying offshore and how long it took? I am expecting it to take longer of course but any experience shared would be great!

Secondly - I am incredibly nervous about the lack of evidence I feel I have based on me and my partner living together. I have lived with my partner for the past 11 months- but due to a declined Essential Skills Work Visa - which I was never prepared for , I had to return home.

Although my partner and I have lived together for the past 11 months we have not had our names put on the lease as we share with two other males and one male has been living in the house for 8+ years and he deals with all rent and bills(bills are all in main lease holders name).

Additionally me and my partner transfer our rent/bill money to the main lease holders bank account separately. We transfer separately because we have not yet opened a joint everyday bank account, so I transfer my half of the rent for our room from my bank account and my partner transfers his half of the rent separately from his bank account. I imagine this may look suspicious to a Case Officer and she/he may believe we are house-mates rather than partners.

We have lots of evidence of post addressed to us individually over the past 11 months and also post addressed to us together, as well as plenty of evidence of our genuine and stable relationship, photos, messages, supporting friends and family letters , cards and gifts, evidence of leisure time spent together- the list goes on.
However I am quite nervous of the rent and how we pay it separately and our names not being on the lease or receiving any bills in our names.

Despite showing all the 'lovey - dovey' stuff , I'm sure immigration will be much more interested in hard evidence!

Any thoughts would be amazing!
Thank you everyone

[JandM]

Feeling nervous is a normal state for anyone with an application in to INZ - you're not alone.

MANY people have successfully applied for partner-sponsored visas from a situation similar to yours. You DON'T have to have your name(s) on rental agreements, and you DON'T have to have a joint bank account. Those items are just examples of evidence applicants COULD give, and not must-haves. What you can copy from others is that you point up the regular monetary transfers from each of your accounts (and the same thing for purchases that each of you has made for the benefit of both of you, or taking it in turns to pay for joint expenses, e.g. tickets for travel or shows, or meals away from home), and that the main man in the house should give you a written reference acknowledging exactly what you've been paying him for - your SHARED, PRIVATE space in the house, and your fraction of the bills. You could also usefully have letters from the other house-sharer, and from any friends who have visited you at home and seen your living arrangements.

Also, the evidence from phone and e.g. Skype accounts, showing you keeping in contact and maintaining the partnership, will be helpful. You have the best possible reason to give as to why you're apart at the moment, that you complied with the need to leave because of the refused visa.

Good luck.

[FH28]

JandM I truly thank you for your response. Everything you have mentioned above I have prepared in extreme detail, maybe too much detail but I'm guessing the more the better! Thank you yet again for your response!
Have a wonderful week !

[AnnaB]

Hi there

It seems as you’ve done a lot of research and have documented your evidence well which I found to be key.

I applied for a partnership based work visa of a work visa holder (my partner is Irish) back in 2016 less than 4 months after we met as my visa was about to expire and we wanted to give our relationship a shot. I put a scrapbook together with every single bit of evidence I possibly could, hotel bookings, flights booked together, text messages, phone log, photos, letters etc.. I turned our entire relationship inside out, the whole thing was about 60 pages and my visa was granted in only a few days.

I know these days visa wait times are a loooot longer so cant give you an indication on how long it’ll take but that it’s possible to get a visa without the 12 months living together we shared a room in a house and had two flatmates so it was a similar situation to yours and I wasn’t on the lease either..

[FH28]

AnnaB , thank you so so much! It's so funny you mention your scrapbook , I have just finished doing the exact same thing, with every single piece of evidence and it's about 60pages!!
Thank you so so much for your reply much appreciated and great to hear from people who have been in a similar situation .

[herodias]

Yes, you don't need to have a joint lease, it is just one example of evidence you can show them. My partner and I successfully applied for a partnership work and residence visa while we were living at my parents, so didn't have one and it was fine.

It would be useful to keep collecting a lot of evidence about how you are maintaining your relationship while separated. My partner and I were in a long-distance relationship for a long time before she moved here. We wrote about it in the cover letter, but didn't provide a ton of evidence (just flight tickets of our visits and holidays together mainly), as we thought they were mainly focused on the 12 months we had spent living together after she moved to NZ. Well the case officer asked for a further 5 years of communication records to show how we maintained our relationship while we were separated during our long-distance relationship (which was rather a scramble to find), so it doesn't hurt to have that too in case it is needed.

[FH28]

Herodias, Thank you very very much for that! all of your positive responses have been amazing and give me some hope.
I know at the end of the day it will be down to INZ to make the final call, but no harm getting some ideas from others.
Absolutely - will keep gathering all of that and my partner is coming over to see me in August also- which I will be sure to keep a record off!

fingers crossed i guess !

Thanks again guys Happy Wednesday

[EGoodhue]

Just keep in mind the Immigration Officer is going to be looking for evidence to prove that you are/have been:
*living together AND
*in a genuine relationship AND
*in a stable relationship

So living together at the same address is one part of it - but people in many different situations live together and this on its own doesn't demonstrate they are a couple, hence the other 2 factors that will be considered - that your relationship is genuine (not entered into for the sake of a visa only) and stable (likely to endure beyond the issue of the visa). Think of it this way, INZ are trying to combat people who are getting into fake relationships for the sake of getting a visa and then going their separate ways once each party gets what they way. So, unfortunately, they take the starting position of everyone falling into this category until they see the evidence to prove otherwise. So base your supporting evidence around the fact that you have lived together (this could be a rental agreement, but could also be mail addressed to you both at the same address, statements from housemates) AND the fact that your relationship is genuine (ie. you truly do spend time together as a couple and make decisions together, have financial interdependence and others recognise you as a couple - so, evidence of anything you do together as a couple, decisions you've made as a couple, financial interdependence, statements from friends and family) AND the fact that your relationship is stable and likely to continue (ie. you are both committed to the relationship continuing into the future - so, evidence of future plans you've made together as well as evidence of how long your relationship has lasted so far).

The Immigration Officer is going to be viewing your application based on the following 4 elements:
1. Credibility - does the evidence you provide and any explanations your provide stack up as credible/convincing/believable?
2. Living together - have you lived together as a couple for at least a short period of time and evidence provided proves this?
3. Genuine relationship - were your reasons for starting the relationship genuine/sincere? And does the evidence prove that you both have the intention to maintain your relationship into the future, exclusive of other partners?
4. Stable relationship - is your relationship likely to endure in the near future?

For anything you feel might look like a 'weak point' in your story, just write a comprehensive cover letter, explaining it in as much detail as you can. INZ can't presume things about your relationship and want you to 'tell a story' of your own unique relationship story, from the start to present. Every relationship is completely different and INZ recognise this - but they also can't be expected to assume things about an applicants unique situation, so be up-front and explain it to them as much as you can.

Good luck!

[FH28]

EGoodhue, thank you so very much for your response , I truly appreciate it! So insightful and really clear, makes so much sense!!
I continue to prepare as much as possible, even if its too much information!

On another note, which may sound bizzare to ask this late in the discussion , however it has only really come to light over the past few days. My partner(sponsoring partner) is concerned that he has some driving offenses - all of which occurred over 5 years ago, he cannot say for certain what offenses he has or exact names, but knows one is for speeding . He also received a diversion charge when he was 18 (over 10 years ago) , which of course he is ashamed off. We have applied for a police cert from the Ministry of Justice to be sure of what he has and so we can be as honest as possible with INZ as I would hate for it to come back and bite us. How strict are INZ on the sponsoring partners 'criminal history' (Criminal seems such a strong word here as they were driving offenses but i guess they are still crimes). I am the applicant and I have no criminal convictions.

Again any responses would be amazing!

Thanks again everyone!!

[JandM]

The standard of behaviour required is similar to that expected of an applicant for Residence. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#35058.htm As you can see, what happened more than five years ago is not going to be a problem.