Relationship Timeline For Partnership Visa

When preparing a partnership work or residence visa application using Immigration New Zealand’s online portal, applicants will be prompted to “Provide a timeline of your partnership”. Although not a mandatory requirement, this blog will explore what is meant by a “partnership timeline” and whether it’s a good idea to provide one with a partnership-based visa application.

Simply put, a partnership timeline is a separate document that sets out the chronological development of a couple’s relationship, usually from the date the couple met until the present day. Its main purpose is to provide the Immigration Officer with an overview of the couple’s relationship, including key dates and milestones. As such, a partnership timeline can be a very useful document, as it provides an Immigration Officer with the overall context and chronology of the couple’s relationship before the officer gets into the “nitty gritty” questions of whether all of the various partnership visa requirements are met.

However, a timeline is by no means the only document that I would recommend be provided to explain a couple’s relationship for a partnership visa application. In particular, I’ve highlighted in a previous article the importance of strong relationship support letters to not only provide information about the relationship but also demonstrate its credibility and genuineness.

Also, if engaging a lawyer to prepare and lodge your partnership-based visa application, they would normally provide a detailed cover letter and submissions to INZ in support of your application, which begins with a summary of the relationship (incorporating key messages and themes), before providing a thorough background of the couple and the development of their relationship, and how the applicant meets the INZ partnership category visa requirements. A -drafted cover letter, together with the other support letters, may obviate the need to provide a separate partnership timeline document.

Whichever method is employed to provide an Immigration Officer with an overview of the couple’s relationship, it’s important that the information is clear and accurate and that it’s consistent throughout the application.

Feel free to reach out to me to discuss your or your partner’s partnership visa application.