Gathering Evidence of Funds for a New Zealand Partnership Visa Application: A Comprehensive Guide

In a partnership visa application to Immigration New Zealand (INZ), financial evidence is required to be provided for two key areas: 

1. Evidence of funds to support the partner – For most temporary visa applications involving a partner, evidence is required to show how the partner will be provided for in terms of their maintenance and accommodation during their intended stay in New Zealand.

2. Joint financial commitments (financial dependence or interdependence) – For both partnership based temporary (e.g. work or visitor) and partnership based residence visa applications, financial information is ordinarily required to show “the degree of financial dependence or interdependence, and any arrangements for financial support” that exists between the couple, as this is a key factor in an immigration officer determining whether the couple is “living together in a genuine and stable relationship” (as per INZ Instructions).

In this article, I discuss both of the above areas, including the requirements and types of acceptable financial evidence that may be provided, as well as common mistakes which can lead to an application being declined by INZ.

Evidence of Funds: What You Need to Know

Most applicants for a Visitor Visa, including a General Visitor Visa and Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa, must demonstrate they meet funds or sponsorship requirements for their maintenance and accommodation, as well as onward travel requirements.

With respect to maintenance/accommodation requirements, this includes evidence of:

• Funds that will be genuinely available to the applicant for the duration of their visa to New Zealand of at least NZ$1000 per month for maintenance and accommodation, or NZ$400 per month if the accommodation has been prepaid; or

• Sponsorship by a person, an organisation or a government agency that meets generic sponsorship requirements.

Evidence of funds or sponsorship is not required if a visitor visa applicant is applying on the basis of being the partner of a work visa holder whose income is sufficient to provide maintenance and accommodation to the applicant (in terms of meeting the amount requirements above); or a student visa holder where the student holds a scholarship that guarantees maintenance and accommodation to the family of the student.

Most visitor visa applicants are also required to demonstrate they have the means to leave New Zealand at the end of their stay, for example, actual travel tickets and sufficient funds available to purchase a ticket or sponsorship. However, once again, evidence of onward travel is not required if the applicant is applying on the basis of being the partner of a work visa holder whose income is sufficient to purchase outward travel to a country to which the person has a right of entry to; or a student visa holder where the student holds a scholarship that guarantees onward travel for the family of the student.

For Partnership Work Visa applications by Partners of New Zealanders (citizens or residence class visa holders), the INZ Instructions are somewhat ambiguous as to the specifics of the maintenance and accommodation requirements. Ordinarily, as the intention is that the partner will work to help support themselves, and given their NZ citizen/resident partner is also supporting them, funds aren’t typically going to be an issue. Where the INZ online application form requires applicants to upload evidence of sufficient funds, I normally suggest providing a recent bank statement from one or both partners showing a reasonably healthy bank balance. However, it’s possible to envisage a situation where the funds and accommodation requirement could become an issue where, for example, the supporting NZ citizen/resident partner has no income. 

Types of Acceptable Financial Evidence

The INZ Instructions for visitor visas stipulate the following types of evidence that may be provided to establish sufficient funds for maintenance: cash, travellers' cheques, bank drafts, recognised credit or debit cards with sufficient credit available, or a bank statement showing funds in an account the applicant will have access to in New Zealand. Normally, I recommend providing a recent bank statement showing a bank balance of sufficient funds available, and normally, INZ will require to see the transaction history of at least 3 months (although I’d recommend providing 6 months’ transaction history). 

INZ will also require to understand the source of the funds being relied on, so they can determine whether the funds will be genuinely available to the applicant during their intended stay. For example, an applicant (and/or their sponsor) might provide:

• A letter from their employer that confirms the position held, the length of employment, and the salary/wage

• Tax returns showing income earned

• Recent business tax returns and bank statements – if the applicant / their sponsor is self-employed

• Evidence of ownership of any assets from which the applicant/their sponsor gets income, like a rental property – such as tax payments or income

An explanation should also be provided in respect to any large unexplained deposits (e.g., a gift) into a bank account(s) or numerous smaller unexplained deposits into an account, along with appropriate evidence.

With respect to evidence of “prepaid accommodation”, the INZ website mentions that proof of accommodation pre-payment can include “hotel prepaid vouchers or receipts”. However, obviously, where it’s intended the applicant is staying or living with a supporting partner or staying with their sponsor who owns or rents a property, I usually suggest providing (in addition to their relevant INZ form and other financial evidence) a copy of the supporting partner/sponsor’s property ownership papers or tenancy agreement, together with written confirmation the applicant will be staying/living with them for the duration of their intended stay.

Joint Financial Commitments

For the purposes of partnership based visa applications, the INZ Instructions stipulate that evidence of financial dependence or interdependence between the applicant and their supporting partner includes evidence of:

• Shared income

• Joint bank accounts operated reasonably frequently over a reasonable time

• Joint assets

• Joint liabilities, such as loans or credit to purchase real estate, cars, major home appliances

• Joint utilities accounts (electricity, gas, water, telephone)

• Mutually agreed financial arrangements.

Examples of additional documents which arguably could also demonstrate financial interdependence include a joint tenancy agreement (evidence of joint liability), joint insurance, and a Last Will & Testament whereby the couple provide for each other (e.g. bequeath their estate to the other upon death).

Also, it’s worth noting that most of the above types of evidence also assist in demonstrating that the applicant and their supporting partner are living together (which is another key requirement of the partnership category).

Financial information for demonstrating an temporary visa applicant’s ‘bona fides’

Although outside the scope of this article, it should be noted that financial information and evidence about a temporary visa applicant will also normally form part of INZ’s assessment of that applicant’s “bona fides” – that is to say, whether INZ considers the applicant genuinely intends a temporary stay in New Zealand for a lawful purpose. In particular, INZ uses financial and other information to assess an applicant’s financial ties to their home country and whether they are likely to return to their home country at the end of their visa. This can be a confusing requirement for the uninitiated, especially when a person is looking to apply for a partnership based visa or a general visitor visa to travel to New Zealand to be with their partner who lives here.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

While the above information may sound relatively clear and obvious, as usual, the “devil is in the detail”, and almost every day I’m contacted by people who thought they understood the requirements but made a mistake, often with serious consequences. Common mistakes include:

1. Insufficient evidence provided in terms of its range, quantity and quality

2. Too much evidence provided, especially irrelevant evidence, which, apart from causing frustration and annoyance for immigration officers, can also provide them with greater opportunity to look for problems and ‘poke holes’ in the evidence

3. Inconsistencies between the financial evidence

4. Unexplained transactions in bank statements

5. Lack of transactions in bank statements (e.g. joint bank account statements showing no or very little transactions)

6. Fake documents, particularly bank statements, for example, with fake bank balances or altered transactions. Needless to say, this is incredibly foolish and should go without saying but it happens surprisingly frequently. INZ has sophisticated systems in place to verify bank documents (including long after the relevant visa application has been decided), and if found to be fake, this will obviously create a number of serious problems for the applicant (or visa holder, if their application was approved on the basis of such documents)

 Conclusion

Providing good quality financial documentation is absolutely critical to success in a NZ partnership visa application. This includes ensuring that the evidence is both genuine and credible and that the right balance is struck between insufficient and excessive evidence.

Frequently, we have a blind spot where our own affairs are concerned, which is why I always recommend visa applicants get independent advice on their application from an immigration specialist, who, with “a fresh pair of eyes” will interrogate the evidence (as an immigration officer would) and provide their insights and advice on it, so as to strengthen the application before it’s lodged.