Sponsored refugee criteria

Identification of refugee candidates can only be made in two ways: named by an approved community organisation or identified to Immigration New Zealand by UNHCR. An expression of interest can only be completed if refugees have an approved sponsor willing to support them or have support from HOST Aotearoa New Zealand.  

INZ will assess nominated and UNHCR-identified refugees according to the CORS visa eligibility criteria and decide on the resident visa and inclusion for resettlement in New Zealand Community Refugee Sponsorship programme.

To be eligible as a sponsored refugee, applicants must:

• Be mandated as refugees.
• Meet the relevant immigration criteria including security, risk, settlement and health assessments.
• Be residing in a country that is a UNHCR priority area and one of the international regions Immigration New Zealand’s Refugee Quota Programme resettles from (Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific, Middle East and North Africa).
• Not be eligible to be sponsored for residence under another INZ family category, including the Refugee Family Support Category.

Read about the UNHCR’s global resettlement needs in 2021 (PDF 10MB)

Principal applicants must:

• Have a basic understanding of English.
• Have a minimum of three years’ work experience — or a qualification requiring at least two years’ tertiary study.
• Be aged between 18 and 45.