Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa

If you have recently married a New Zealand citizen in a traditional arranged marriage, or want to marry in New Zealand, you can get a 3 month visitor visa to begin living with your partner.

Length of stay
Up to

3 months

Cost
From
NZD $211
Processing time
80% within
6 weeks
With this visa you can
  • Come to New Zealand to get married.
  • Come to New Zealand after getting married overseas.
  • Apply for a partnership visa once you live with your partner in New Zealand.
Things to note
  • The marriage must be arranged by someone other than you or your partner (like a family member or a matchmaker) and follow an identified cultural tradition.
  • If you come to get married in New Zealand your wedding must be within 3 months of arriving.
  • If you get married outside New Zealand you must apply for your visa within 3 months of your wedding.

What you need to apply

Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.

View All Evidence
  • 1 acceptable photo if you apply online, or 2 photos if you use a paper application form.
  • your passport or certificate of identity.

Acceptable photos

If you apply online, you must upload a copy of your passport when you apply. We will let you know if you need to send your passport after you have applied.

Providing your passport for online applications

If you submit a paper application, provide your original passport or a certified copy.  We can usually process your application faster if you provide your original passport.

Tips

Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave New Zealand.

If you are a citizen of China and you submit a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

Supplementary form for Chinese citizens (INZ 1027) PDF 338KB

If you are submitting a paper application form, you must provide a supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students.

Supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students (INZ 1220) PDF 240KB

Also provide your:

  • Hukou (household registration book)
  • Chinese identity card.

Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

We may ask you to have a chest x-ray, a medical examination or both as proof of your good health.

If you are staying less than:

  • 6 months you do not normally need a chest x-ray. 
  • 12 months you do not normally need a medical certificate. 

Who needs an x-ray or medical examination

When we process your application we let you know if we need you to have a chest x-ray or medical examination.

Acceptable standard of health criteria for visa approvals

Please only provide medical certificates if requested

Tips

You must provide a chest x-ray completed in the last 3 months, even if you've provided one to us previously, if:

  • you have spent 6 consecutive months in China since the last x-ray certificate was issued, and
  • you are now coming to NZ for more than 6 months.

If you have a criminal conviction or are a security risk to New Zealand we may not be able to grant you a visa.

Good character for temporary visas

You must provide police certificates if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer across all visits. This includes any time you have spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas, even if you have been out of the country since then.

You also must provide police certificates if we ask for them.

If you are 16 years old or younger you do not need to provide police certificates.

Providing police certificates

How to get a police certificate

If you have already sent us Police Certificates with a previous visa application and they are less than 24 months old, you do not need to send them again.

Police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your application. They must be from any country you are a citizen of, or have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

When we decide if your intentions are genuine, we consider all the information:

  • you provide to support your application
  • we have about your personal circumstances, and
  • you provided in any previous applications.

Genuine intentions to visit, study or work in NZ

Tips

Our assessment will consider your intentions for coming to New Zealand, including whether your marriage is genuine and is intended to be long-term and exclusive. 

Evidence your marriage follows an identified cultural tradition may include:

  • records of any communication between the parents of the couple and any other person acting as a go-between or matchmaker
  • documents indicating that the arrangement or ceremony is publicly recognised
  • confirmation from a independent source that the arrangement or ceremony is part of the couple’s cultural customs
  • a written account of how the marriage was arranged
  • any other documents that show your marriage is culturally arranged.
Tips

Arrangements for your marriage, including facilitating the selection of who will get married, must be made by someone other than you or your partner.

Legal impediments include, if:

  • you, or your partner is already married to someone else
  • you and your partner are close relatives.

We’ll ask you about your marital status and relationship to your partner when you fill in your application.

You and your partner must be 18 or over when you apply. If either of you are 16 or 17, you must have your parents’ or guardians’ support.

You must have met each other before you apply.

Your partner must provide one of the following:

  • a New Zealand passport
  • a New Zealand birth certificate
  • a certificate of New Zealand citizenship
  • a New Zealand residence class visa.

If your partner is a New Zealand resident because of their citizenship or residence status in Australia, they may provide their Australian passport, permanent residence or resident return visa.

Your partner must meet our good character requirements or be granted a character waiver. We may ask your partner to provide a police certificate from any country they have spent 12 months or more in over the last 10 years. This applies whether the time was spent in one or more visits.

Your partner will not meet our character requirements if they have any convictions for domestic violence or sexual offences. If your partner does not meet our character requirements, we will consider whether they are eligible for a character waiver.

Who needs to provide police certificates

Your partner's character

To be eligible to support a partnership based resident visa application, your partner must not:

  • have supported a successful resident visa application for more than one previous partner
  • have supported a successful resident visa application for a previous partner within the last 5 years
  • have included a previous partner in their own successful residence application, within the last 5 years
  • have themselves been included as a partner in a successful residence application, within the last 5 years
  • be liable for deportation, or have their deportation liability suspended.
Applying online

Your partner must give you their sharing ID and complete an online form to support your application.

Getting your partner to support your online visa application

Applying on paper

Your partner must complete a ‘Form for Partners Supporting Partnership-Based Temporary Entry Applications'.

Form for Partners Supporting Partnership-Based Temporary Entry Applications (INZ 1146) PDF 412KB

Tips

You can read more about residence in the 'Self-Assessment Guide for Residence in New Zealand'.

Self-Assessment Guide for Residence in New Zealand (INZ 1003)

You must have at least NZD $1,000 per month, or NZD $400 per month if you’ve already paid for your accommodation.

Evidence can include:

  • proof of accommodation pre-payment, like hotel pre-paid vouchers or receipts
  • bank statements
  • credit card statements
  • bank drafts
  • travellers’ cheques
  • a 'Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry' completed by an acceptable sponsor.
If you are sponsored:

Your sponsor must provide evidence they can look after you in New Zealand. Evidence can include:

  • recent bank statements
  • pay slips
  • employment agreement
  • accommodation ownership or payment of rent.

Criteria and process to become a sponsor

What sponsors must do while you are in New Zealand

Tips

If you are pregnant, there are additional requirements.

Paying for maternity care

When you arrive in New Zealand you may be asked to show that you intend to leave the country — for example, a return ticket or proof you have enough money to buy a ticket out of New Zealand. This is in addition to the funds you have to live on.

If you are sponsored and you do not have a return ticket your sponsor can provide recent bank statements to show they have enough money to buy you a ticket out of New Zealand.

To bring dependent children with you, you must complete the ‘Additional Dependants for a Visitor Visa’ form and provide evidence:

  • your children are in good health
  • you are your children’s parent or legal guardian
  • of your children’s identity
  • of your relationship to your children.

Dependent children
Additional Dependants for a Visitor Visa (INZ 1205) PDF 264KB

Tips

We may ask for evidence your children have the right to leave their country of residence, eg custody or guardianship papers.

Process and costs

The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.

Notes

We cannot display any process or costs information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

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How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

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Conditions

These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.

Entry permission

You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing a digital New Zealand traveller declaration (NZTD), or an NZTD paper declaration.

New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes

You can be refused entry permission if:

  • you do not meet our character requirements
  • your circumstances have changed since you were granted a visa
  • you refuse to let us take your photo or to provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if asked for them
  • you are unable to provide evidence of any onward travel or funds required by the conditions of your visa.

If you are refused entry to New Zealand

Before you travel to New Zealand

Travel

If travelling in and out of New Zealand, a valid multiple entry travel condition is needed to return to New Zealand.

Changing the conditions of a visitor visa

Notes

If applying from inside New Zealand, we will normally give multiple entry travel conditions when we grant a visa.

If there are no multiple entry travel conditions and you leave New Zealand the visa will expire.

The travel conditions will be listed on the visa label or in a visa letter.

Onward travel

Unless your visa label or letter says 'Return/onward travel not required', you must have either of the following:

  • a travel ticket to a country you can enter
  • an acceptable sponsor who can pay for your travel ticket out of New Zealand to a country you can enter.

What sponsors must do – responsibilities and obligations

Notes

Unless your visa label or letter states “Return/onward travel not required” you must have a ticket to leave New Zealand whenever you travel here.

Study

You can study for up to 3 months.

Work

You cannot work in New Zealand on this visa.

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes

Visa expiry dates are printed on a visa label or included in a visa letter.