[irishgirl]

Hi All

Was quite surprised to receive a response today from NZIS about my application for a temporary working visa as the partner of a NZ citizen.

As some of you know, myself and my partner don't meet the 12 month living together requirement as neither of us has a visa to enter the other's country legally and work. So our application was based on information provided on the NZIS website which says that if a couple has been together for less than 12 months can apply for a visa for, initially, up to 1 year.

Our application pack included so much information about the history of our relationship, going back to 1998, it's not funny! But in the letter I received from NZIS today they say that "from the evidence we have provided it is clear that we do not meet the requirements under the partnership policy as we have only lived together for short periods of time and not currently living together in a genuine and stable relationship".

I haven't called NZIS yet to see what we can do to prove to them that we are not two chancers trying to get me into NZ by pretending that we are in a relationship. I could have gone different routes to try and enter NZ, but we are trying to do this the proper way.

I am going to go call them now, once I have calmed down and stopped crying, but if anyone has been through this before, and can advise us, then would really appreciate your input.

Otherwise they are going to say no, and I don't know what we are going to do then :(

I'm gutted....


Dee

[Debbie]

Im sorry, I have nothing constructive to offer in the way of advise only wanted to say, Im sorry about the responce you have recieved. I can only guess at the frustration and heart ache you must be going through. Best wishes. Debbie

[baboonworld]

Dont know who your contact person is - but mine is victoria smith and she is really helpful

hope yours is helpful

guess i could suggest (dependant on your age) that you should apply for a working holiday visa and then try and clock up 12 mths living together - but i guess u have already parted with £400+!

you are in a stable relationship - you just dont live together! however from what i have read on this site - that may be a BIG problem for you!

[irishgirl]

Unfortunately, age is not on my side (although some might disagree with that) and at 37, I am too old for working holiday visa!! Don't qualify under the points system either.

Having spoken to family and friends in the past few hours, there is a concensus that maybe this is some sort of a filtering tactic by NZIS - maybe they want to see if this is a genuine application and how far are we willing to 'fight' them (for want of a better word) to prove our application is genuine!? Who knows! My brother also had a quick chat with someone in the legal profession who thought that NZIS were being a tad unreasonable considering all of the 'evidence' we sent them, and particularly in light of the fact that I will have a job while I am in NZ!!!

I did try ringing the case officer but she's not in the office today, so have left a message for her - she sounded nice enough on her voicemail though! Hopefully she will call me back tomorrow, and in between the sobs, I can get it across to her how desperately we want this visa so that we can be together! Am going to get my OH to call NZIS in Wellington as well once he wakes up and hears the news - he's not going to be too happy about this either - and see if they can offer any advice - they've been very very helpful to date!

All is not completely lost yet - we are definitely not giving up with one heck of a fight!!!!


Dee

[irishgirl]

Im sorry, I have nothing constructive to offer in the way of advise only wanted to say, Im sorry about the responce you have recieved. I can only guess at the frustration and heart ache you must be going through. Best wishes. Debbie

That's ok Debbie, but thanks a million for your lovely words! We've tried to be so positive about this application, but I knew deep down that they would get us on the 12 month ruling - how people get around to complying with that ruling while living in separate countries is beyond me!!!

But as I just said, we are not going down without a fight, and we have 15 days to respond to them, but just need to know what it is they want to hear that will make their decision a yes, instead of the "no", which is what I am reading from the letter they have sent me!

Will keep y'all updated!

Dee
x

[kiwidebs]

Dee, so sorry to hear this. Let us know what your CO has to say once you've spoken to them. Hopefully it is just a way of filtering out chancers. Good luck.

Debs

[gil]

Dear Dee,
Another "can't give advice" person, I'm afraid, but really, really sorry to hear what's happened. We're sending loads of positive vibes your way; keep at it, and find out what they really need to see to get you over there.
All the very best and keep us posted,
Gil

[Cardiff Irons]

Sorry to hear about this Dee, but sounds like you've got some constructive plans to get things sorted. I've got a feeling that your perseverance will be the thing that gets you through in the end.

I've got no knowledge or experience to help but I will say a prayer or two for you. Keep us posted.

All the best


Steve

[irishgirl]

Thanks for all your kind words, and yes Steve, I think my red-headed perseverance will win through at the end of the day! Well it's either that, or I send the boys around to have a word!!! ;)

NZ is awake now so waiting for 9am to roll around so the OH can call NZIS over there, so if I get any update from them, will let you all know!


Keep praying or cross everything - whichever works best for you, I'll quite happily take the good karma from both!

Dee

[Singel]

Be optimistic and persistence, that is the name of the emigration game.

Sending the positive vibes to you............... :cheers :cheers

GOOD LUCK and keep everything crossed........... :nice1 :nice1

[Moorf]

Keep us posted Irishgirl, I am sure that, if you are persistent and bend over backwards to demonstrate that you can get what they need and you are willing to work with them, that you can find a way through this.

Not nice when these additional hurdles are put in your way, but a red-head you say... well, watch out NZIS eh!! :nice1

[Wiggy]

I'm really sorry to put a dampner on your plans to fight the decision, but I've been through exactly the same, tried to prove a six year relationship with more evidence than I thought possible, and the answer was still no. It didn't matter how hard we tried to persuade them that our relationship was genuine, the problem was that we hadn't been living together for 12 months current AND more importantly that we weren't applying at a time when we were living together.

I'm sorry to say that you'll be banging your head against a brick wall with this one. The advice I was given was to go over to NZ on a holiday visa, live together and start doing everything in joint names (rent/mortgage, bank accounts etc) then after 3-6 months apply again for a work visa. NZIS will then issue you a work visa for a year which is then reviewed after this period. Then at least you'll have 12 months notched up living together and you'll be in NZ ready to go to job interviews.

Personally this wasn't for me as I didn't want to be unemployed for what could have been up to 6 months - it would have been detramental to my career.

Anyway, sorry I couldn't give you good news but that's how I think it is for you.

Good luck Dee- don't give up!

[neg]

Based on the earlier posts it seems that it is very hard to prove a de facto relationship. My partner and I submitted our EOI early this year. At the same time we submitted our application for post-graduate study in another country. Unfortunately, only my partner's post-grad application was approved. She left the country last August 2005. She accepted the study offer since we were still uncertain of the outcome of our NZ application. I received our ITA last month and I think we are about to face the same problems as the others in this thread. We have a joint bank account and most of our records will prove we have the same permanent address. However, our government records (tax, social security) are separate since de facto relationship is not legally recognized in our country. Our relationship started in 1998 and we have only been separated for only two months now. I am not sure if I should ask our VO immediately and risk the probability of blewing our chances right away. I would like to get the opinions of other people in this forum first regarding our case. Will a certification that she will not finish her degree in case our SMC application is approved and move to NZ together be enough? Thanks a lot in advance.