[anna_c]

Hi everyone :)

I'm Anna, currently living in NZ (Wellington) on a student visa, from the UK originally. I'm hoping to apply for residency on grounds of partnership before my visa expires.

I was wondering what evidence of partnership people had submitted. (I've seen what the immigration service asks for and have searched previous threads but was looking for more, real examples as now is the time to start getting evidence together).

There are a couple of things that are worrying me - firstly we will have only been living together for a little over the minimum required and a couple for not much time before that (although we have known each other for at least twice as long). Also, my partner has sponsored a previous partner. We know we're ok with the technicalities of these (the latter was long enough ago), but we're worried it might make them think our application isn't genuine. Does anyone have experience with either of these?

Thank you

[Park City Partner]

In my experience a joint bank account for over a year is a key piece of "proof" and leases with both name, mortgages etc. The bank account was key for us and we also submitted letters sent to both of us and pictures and the like.

Good luck!

[katandbob]

yep good luck and keep us posted on how you get on...as this may be of interest for my son and his girlfriend

Kat

[Lupin]

I'm applying under partnership too and although I can't really offer anything useful, just thought I'd say Hello :)

[Jimbo Logo]

I've just handed in my Residency Application under the Partnership category. I arrived to live with my partner Dec 04 as a visitor, we married in Feb 05, and I've been on two work permits waiting for the required 12 months cohabitation period to elapse. Here's my two cents for what it's worth:

If you aren't yet, get married (if you can)--not a requirement, but it still goes a long way to show you're in a "stable & committed" relationship.
Start sharing finances--joint bank accounts, bills, credit cards, club memberships, etc.
Buy big ticket items jointly--cars, houses, tankfuls of petrol ;)
Start taking & collecting pictures of you both socialising.
Collect letters from people who attest they know you as a couple--especially partner's family (with pix).
Keep receipts from movies, hotels, theatre, concerts, etc (anything you do together).
If either of you have kids, the other one should collect proof that they're forging a relationship with them, too (smiley group pix, b-day cards, toy receipts, etc) [might work for pets, too; who knows?]
But most important of all: Don't forget, under the partnership policy, the only criteria you have to meet is a "stable & committed relationship". Remembering this will always lift your spirits when the process brings you down (it will). And visit this site often; the horrible, nerve-wracking struggles most migrants in the other categories have to go through will underscore how blessed you are--you'll be too busy feeling sorry for them to worry about your own relatively minor obstacles!


That's all for now (will add to that if I think of any more).

Good luck & God bless!

[khhill]

We sent everything we could think of that was under both names:
Marriage license
Title to house
Mortgage papers
Leases for 2 apartments before buying house
Car title
Time share vacation ownership paperwork
Airline tickets
Date stamped photos
Joint credit card statements
Letters, cards, emails (to each other and from families about us)

2 days after submitting application, I got a letter from visa officer looking for more proof. So I sent copies of life insurance policies, joint club memberships (gym, Sam's shopping club), and retirement investment papers from each of our jobs showing the other as death beneficiary. I also offered to send a copy of the wedding DVD.

I was prepared if that didn't work to have everyone who knows us, in the US and in New Zealand, sign a statement endorsing our relationship and have them each notarized. Luckily it din't come to that.

I don't know what the magic piece was but my PR was approved. The proof required seems to vary by visa officer, day of the week, and possibly moon cycle. My advise is to give them what you have and if it's not enough the first time through, keep finding more evidence and don't lose hope.

Good luck. :clap

PS: the whole process of proving relationship only took about 2 weeks and everything was very quick and smooth after that.

[anna_c]

If either of you have kids, the other one should collect proof that they're forging a relationship with them, too (smiley group pix, b-day cards, toy receipts, etc) [might work for pets, too; who knows?]

:laugh You've just given my partner one hell of a lot of ammunition there! I still maintain that cat is evil though. :laugh

[anna_c]

Thanks everyone, that's been really helpful. What I'm thinking of at the moment - and I won't even be applying for a while is:

-photos
-statements from friends/my family stating how they know us, that we're a couple etc
-joint utility bills (phone/internet and electricity although these won't go back quite a full year)
-our phone bills showing calls to our mobiles and hopefully one of my parent's phone bills showing calls to me (proving that I live here again)
-official letters to us at same address (mainly addresses individually) eg from uni, employers etc
-transfers from my bank account to hers for rent/bills, also showing that she subsidises me
-things like dental bills matched up with her credit card statements showing financial support
-cards etc sent to each other

We can't get married (same sex couple), could get a civil union, but I think it would be obvious we were doing it just for immigration, particularly as neither of our families could attend
Joint banking is problematic for a variety of reasons, particularly the wide disparity in income
We also can't get joint insurance - as an international student I'm required to have a specific policy which doesn't apply to her.

[dawn]

I just found the cover letter I sent with my application, I included a list of attachments, here's my list:

2005 Newsletter
Bryngarw House letter
Catalogue letter
Electric bill
Orange phone bill
AA Membership
Car Insurance
Car Tax Application
Comet Letter
Various Emails
Old Electric & Gas bills
Old bank letter
Gas bottle hire agreement
Old credit card bill
Old Gas Safety Record
Various emails (family & friends)
Personal Emails
Website printout
Car hire agreement
Insurance Certificate
Bank letter
Tesco Clubcard Statement
Kingfisher Letter
MS Shipping Letter
Joint Bank Account Cheque
Dominican Republic Travel Documents
Various Greetings Cards
Various Photographs
Car registration document
Dawn Current Insurance Certificate
Chris Current Insurance Certificate

You don't have to have joint insurance, just that the separate insurance must be for the same time at the same address. The only joint documents on our list were the bank statements, everything else is in one name.

Have you been on holiday together? Because that's a good one and also, photos of you together (I put dates and places on the back of the photos before I sent them).

I sent rather a lot, but it was worth it because they didn't ask for more.

One last things I'd recommend, keep a diary (preferably online, like a blog), just of general day to day stuff, we've done that since we were together a month and I printed it all out and sent it, so they had the official documents, along with all the mundane stuff!!!

Good luck :D

[urban78]

Hey anna,

Here's a pretty specific list of what we put in the application for partner visa, all of this covering over 12 months of living together:

Tenancy agreements showing both our names, covering the whole time we've been living together

Letters from friends and family speaking of us being in a genuine, stable and commited relationship

Bank statements showing us living at same address (but not in both our names) but which showed bank transfers from one acct to another (commited relationship)

Mobile phone bills

Boarding passes for travels/Travel itineraries

A few photos

Phone bill addressed to both of us

Emails


Good luck with everything,

Jen :)