[bobbyj]

Hi guys...
I have just got out of my medical and recieved a clean bill of health and a load of lovely ticks on my medical sheet! Very chuffed indeed as I've spent the last few months worrying myself about it so its a real weight off my chest. Anyway...I just wondered if anybody here could give me a quick step by step guide to how I go about the next stage.

I am applying for a partnership visa (my OH is a Kiwi). We have completed all the forms, obtained my police certificate, got my medical out of the way (pick up the paperwork on Wednesday) and gathered together a shed-load of relationship evidence.

Can you let me know the best way of presenting the evidence (ie: shall I photocopy everything and give them the copies or originals? In a folder or just stapled together? What about photos?).

I'm planning to take 1/2 day from work to go to NZ House and hand it in, in person.

I know this is probably one of the more ridiculous posts you will get to see...but knowing this is the most important application form I'm ever likely to fill out, I just want to know that I have everything in order before I go up there.

Thanks guys.

Rob.

[wiki]

I'm a kiwi and my OH was granted partnership PR in June.

We took all the docs into NZ House ourselves - we didn't staple anything or put it in a folder, instead we had a cover sheet that listed the docs in order.

We took originals in, but photocopied the stuff we needed back so they could initial that they were correct themselves and keep the copies.

If you don't give them the originals you'd need to get your copies notarised by a lawyer or JP but it's easy enough to ask the NZ House person who goes over your application to do it for you - just be wary as they won't want to do it for EVERY doc.

I got back my passport (we left OH's) and both of our original birth certs and the joint car insurance certificate as I needed that to renew my registration.

I think that was it - we left the other things (photos, bank statements etc) and got them all back when the passport was returned.

If you have any other questions please ask as there are quite a pile of us on here who have gone through the partnership channel.

[bobbyj]

Thanks very much Wiki...
Just one quick question. Did you need to submit your birth certificate with the application or was this something extra you put in (on top of your Passport). I don't remember seeing a request for it on the form Kerri had to fill out (but I could be wrong).
Cheers.

[dharder]

I think we did this much the same way as Wiki did, took everything to NZ house and had a few bits copied and certified there, the rest we just left with them as originals.

We had a coversheet as well, listing everything in the order it appeared in the envelope.

Good luck,

Daniela

[bobbyj]

Thanks guys...just checked out the Immigration website and they said OH needs EITHER a passport OR birth certificate to prove her NZ citizenship. Her Mum had lost her birth certificate somewhere along the line so I was bricking it for a moment there! haha

Wiki...how long did it take you guys to get from initial application through to acceptance in the end? Is it going quite quickly at the moment?

[dharder]

Wiki...how long did it take you guys to get from initial application through to acceptance in the end? Is it going quite quickly at the moment?

I'm not wiki, but we've done the same thing. From taking it to NZ house to getting approved in principle was exactly a month, that was in May (I think, seems like ages already...).

Daniela

[wiki]

I never looked to see if you needed passport and/or birth cert - I just took both since I had both.

Ours took nearly five months (Feb 6 took application in, June 24 got confirmation letter) but we had a few medical issues that delayed things.

OH's dad has a hereditary fatal disease that OH might have so we had to jump through a couple of extra medical hoops with letters from specialists saying there was only a 50/50 chance of it being passed on. But, they did process the info we gave them pretty quickly and we had always known it might take a bit longer.

As for how long it will take now ... NZIS works to an end-of-July sort of unoffical quota so people who applied after January seemed to have theirs processed quicker and quicker. I think I remember some people who applied in Oct or November and it took three or four months.

I'd still say to apply as soon as you are ready and be prepared to wait, but you might just get a nice quick surprise!