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Good character for supporting partners

Your partner must be of good character to support your visa application. They may need to provide police certificates or criminal records for proof.

If you apply for a visa as the partner of a New Zealander or a New Zealand visa holder, your partner is known as the 'supporting partner'.

Your supporting partner must be able to show us they are of good character. They may need to provide police certificates for proof.

Providing police certificates

If your supporting partner is a New Zealand citizen or resident

If your supporting partner is a New Zealand citizen or has a resident visa, they:

If your partner needs to provide police certificates, the police certificates must be from:

Police certificates must show any criminal records they have had at any time in any of these countries — not only in the last 10 years.

NOTE

Your partner does not need to provide a New Zealand police certificate, as we will get one directly from the authorities.

If your supporting partner has a temporary visa to work or study

If your supporting partner has a work or study visa, we may ask your partner to provide police certificates from:

If your partner cannot prove good character

If your supporting partner cannot prove they are of good character, we may give them a character waiver. This would mean your partner would still be able to support your visa application.

If your partner has any convictions for family violence or sexual offences, they cannot support your application.

For all types of visa applications, we still may request police certificates from your partner to make sure they meet our character requirements.