Sponsorship
You must have an acceptable sponsor for a period of 5 years from your first day as a resident in New Zealand.
You must be sponsored by a religious organisation that’s:
- registered as a charity
- main purpose is to advance religion.
These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.
You must have an acceptable sponsor for a period of 5 years from your first day as a resident in New Zealand.
You must be sponsored by a religious organisation that’s:
You can travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you like for a period of 5 years from your first day as a resident in New Zealand, which is when your travel conditions expire.
To travel after that, you will need to apply for and be granted either:
For information about applying for a permanent resident visa or a variation of travel conditions, read:
Guide for Resident or Former Resident Visa Holders (INZ 1176)
Application from a Resident or Former Resident Visa Holder (INZ 1175)
If you’re outside of New Zealand when your travel conditions expire, your visa will expire as well.
If you want to travel, your visa must be in a valid passport.
If your passport expires, you must apply to transfer your visa to a new passport before you can travel.
Transferring my visa to a new passport
To transfer your visa, you must:
Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa (INZ 1023)
For 5 years from your first day as a resident in New Zealand, you can only do the specific religious work, for the specific sponsoring religious organisation, in the specific location detailed in the employment agreement and/or job description that was the basis for us to grant your resident visa.
After that, you can work in any employment for any employer.
You can apply for a variation of conditions to allow you to do religious work for another religious organisation, if:
You can study in New Zealand.