bmwmick

Hi everyone,
We are thinking of doing a DIY emigration application to New Zealand.
I have 195 points ( Community Nurse) and my partner has 130 ( Photocopier/ Network Engineer). We want permanent residence, but cannot prove we have lived together 12 months. We can prove we have been in a stable relationship for 12 month and we get married in June, so we have been advised we would need to do separate applications and we would both need job offers. Is this true, please? Both of us are looking for jobs.
Can anyone advise how we need to proceed, as we were initially going to use an immigration consultant.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

Astraman

Have you not got anything that points to the fact that you live in the same property, or have you been living apart? We had separate bank accounts but we had letters addressed to us at the same property that we lived at, and we used these and we had each other on car insurance, so sent that off as well as holiday confirmation documents to prove we had holidayed together. It would certainly be better to do one application if you could and with the points and your profession you would have no problem getting PR

Persephone

Hi

Have you anything that proves you lived at the same address as Astraman says or are you not living together. Unfortunately the living together proof applies even if you apply after you get married If you really do have nothing then could you wait a bit longer and then apply? It would be a lot cheaper and easier to apply as a couple, only one EOI and ITA to pay for.

It is very easy to do yourselves anyway and there's no need to pay for an immigration consultant. The NZIS website is very good and you can always ask on here, someone will answer
You do not need a job offer to send in your EOI as long as youhave over 100 points. Are either of your jobs on the long term skill shortage list and classed as skilled occupations? Nurses are but I don't know about community nurses or network engineers
You will be selected from the pool a lot quicker if you are on the long term skill shortage list. You will be automatically selected every fortnight if you have over 140pts or a job offer. Another good reason to apply as a couple as only the principal candidate's points, job and qualification count [that would be you as you have so many points and are likely to be on the LTSSL]

Forgive me for being nosy but how have you got 195 points without having a job offer That's a huge number of points for one person! Have you relatives in NZ or worked in NZ previously? Could you have miscalculated?

Hope this helps, let us know how you get on

Sue

bmwmick

Hi Sue, thanks for your reply. we had our points provisionally asessed by an immigration consultancy, who advised mine were 195 if I had a job offer, which i dont have yet, and subject to suppling relevent evidence, plus Michael's ponts being 130 respectively. We have been in a stable relationship approx 11 months so far and have proof of several holidays abroad together, plus bills since Oct 08, but had been living together longer. the dificulty is proving how long, as we dont have joint accounts, and did not combine bills at first. Do you know what other evidence we could submit please

Amanda and Michael

teebrown

Hi,

Can you get a letter from a friend who is in a position of authority and write saying they have none you XXX years and you have been living together etc etc etc, what about the dentist records or doctors etc do they have your names both at that address?

Also, you say you have been assessed at 195 points if you have a job offer, well why don't you submit your EOI without a job offer, if you points are correct you would still qualify for 145 therefore get picked from the pool automatically (and if you do it all yourself, it is very straight forward and I found quite easy to do).

Good luck

Persephone

Hi,
I didn't have to provide proof of relationship as Mr Sue is a Kiwi so have no first hand experience of what you'll need.
Do you have anything such as bank accounts, letters from the inland revenue etc or any other post that would place you both at the same address at the same time even though they are not addressed to you both?
I would think it is still best to apply together under one EOI, what if one of you gets in and the other has trouble finding a job or being selected?

Do you both want to get jobs before you emigrate or would you be happy to apply and then start looking?
You can start an EOI online to check on your points totals and save it, you don't have to fill it in and submit it all in one go.
As Teebrown has written if you have over 140 you will be selected at the next draw whether you have a job offer or not. If you have less than that but are on the long term skill shortage list then you are very likely to picked out at the next draw as well. So you should have no problem being selected.
The process does take longer if you do not have a job offer though

Good luck
Sue

bmwmick

Hi Sue,

Thankyou for your advice so far. My partner has tonight been offered a job in Northland. Can you advise how we proceed with a residency visa for us two, as we need to be there by the end of June, so we need to sort the visa quickly.
We can prove a 12 month stable relationship in early April, using digital photos and holiday/ hotel reservations, and later by car insurance and bills. Would this be sufficient?
Is there a telephone helpline number we could speak to someone at the Visa Department for further info? Can you recommend a good/ inexpensive removals company?
I hope you can help.

Regards,

Amanda and Michael

Persephone

Hi Amanda and Michael,

well congratulations on the job offer
That's great news. Wow moving to NZ and getting married in the same month, you must thrive on stress

With a job offer and over 100pts then you will be picked out at the next draw,obviously with Michael [I'm assuming] being the principal candidate.
The times scales are faster with a job offer.
If you look on the NZIS website under "branch contacts" scroll down to the London office then you will find out approximate timescales. With a job offer they say they will assess your EOI within 10d and if ok send out an ITA. Once they receive this then it should be 3w-3m for them to make a decision.
So first step is to register online and start filling in an EOI with whichever of you has the job offer as the principal candidate. You don't have to do it all in one go, just save it when your head starts to spin and go back to it You don't pay until you hit submit.

Go to the NZIS website, search "operations manual" and scroll down to section F2.20.15 where there is a list of documents you can submit. I tried to copy and paste but it wouldn't let me:curse:
Hopefully there is something there you can submit. Though if you started living together last April then you may just fit into the 12m timescale by the time you send in your ITA

If you don't feel you have enough time another option is for your partner to apply for a temporary work visa and then send in your EOI at a later date when you can prove the relationship. You can always enter NZ on a 6m holiday visa, not ideal but may give you a bit more time to prove relationship?? Not sure how feasible this is with NZIS or yourselves! Hopefully someone will correct me if I've got this wrong...

There is a phone line for NZ House, 09069 100 100 BUT this does cost 1 pound per minute:curse:
Not sure where you are but if you're near London then you can always go into NZ House and ask any questions there. I had to go in a few times and there wasn't usually a queue and no appt needed! They are very helpful.

As far as removal companies go, I used PSS but my stuff hasn't yet got here so I'll reserve judgement on how good they depending on what condition it's in

Good luck, hope I haven't confused you more

Sue