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| Old Sheldon Church Ruins, South Carolina, September 2017 |
A lot of people are confused by that because I'm already here.
When I was in America, I applied for a work visa. Just doing that was difficult. But the specific visa I applied for is based on my partnership with Josh, who is a New Zealand citizen. This specific visa is unique because I don't have to have a job offer to apply.
That being said, they don't make it easy. When telling people I was applying, most people said, 'Why wouldn't they let you in? You're American," or something along those lines. They said it so often that I started to believe it myself.
The application is based on my relationship, so we had to provide evidence.
But how do you prove how much you love someone?
According to Immigration New Zealand, you must provide evidence that you are in a genuine and stable relationship with the intent of staying together long-term.
For us, that meant submitting photos and descriptions of our adventures together, citing weddings and holidays and road trips we took over the last two years. And a letter from a close friend of ours describing what she knew of our love. And a letter from me explaining in great detail all the things we've done and how desperately in love we are and how the separation was killing me.
And with all that, my first application was denied. But the immigration officer who was assigned to us was extremely gracious and gave me an extended visitor visa of 6 months. She did this so that I would have time to come here, get the "evidence" they needed and reapply.
So now here we are. Two months later, Josh and I have been living in our house for a month and have a joint bank account, which shows - shocker - that we are "financially interdependent." However, we know that's not quite true... He has a job and I don't, so I'm basically completely dependent on him. And he is pretty much fully responsible, at least financially, for me.
With a wallet that's $413 NZD lighter, we now wait approximately 81 days to see if this new evidence shows just how much I love Josh.
Thanks for enlightening us that we Americans don’t have it made by that fact
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. It really makes you put things into perspective.
DeleteI'm curious lol Did they give any examples of "evidence" or is it more of them seeing what you think proves you are in a stable relationship?
ReplyDeleteYes. You have to provide evidence of living together. So I have to show bills and letters addressed to both of us, and have friends and family write letters of support for us living together currently, lots of photos of us doing things together, etc. And they give you a list of what they expect to see or examples of what you could include.
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