Bringing family if you have a work visa

When you cannot support visas for your family

You cannot support a work, visitor or student visa for your partner or dependent child if you have any of the following visas:

• Fishing Crew Work Visa
• Working Holiday visa
• a limited visa under the Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) scheme
• a work visa under the Supplementary Seasonal Employer (SSE) scheme
• Silver Fern Job Search Work Visa
• Skilled Migrant Category Job Search Visa
• Domestic Staff of a Diplomat Work Visa.

If you cannot support your partner or dependent children to apply for a visa, they can apply for a visa in their own right.

Explore and select a visa

When you can support visas for your family

Your visa conditions will list if you can support a work, visitor or student visa for your family.

If you have an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) or an Essential Skills Work Visa (ESWV) your job must meet certain criteria before you can support a family member's visa.

Visas you can support for your family

With your work visa, you can normally support the following visas for your partner and dependent children:

• a work visa for your partner
• a visitor visa for your partner or your children
• a student visa for your children.

Visas for your partner and children expire at the same time as your work visa.

Accredited Employer Work Visa holders

You may be able to support a visa for your partner or dependent child. If you can support a visa and the type of visa you can support will depend on your job and how much you earn.

Bringing family if you have an AEWV

Essential Skills Work Visa holders

If you have an Essential Skills Work Visa (ESWV), you may be able to support your partner's or dependent child's visa. The type of visa you can support will depend on how much you earn.

Bringing family if you have an ESWV

Supporting your partner's work visa

If you can support a work visa for your partner, depending on your visa and how much you earn it will either be:

• an open work visa, or
• a work visa with conditions.

Open work visas

An open work visa means your partner can work for any employer with no pay requirements.

If you have an AEWV or ESWV, we may approve an open work visa for your partner if:

• you earn twice the wage threshold or more, or
• your role is on the Green List and you meet the Green List role's requirements.

If you have a different visa and you can support a work visa for your partner it will have open work conditions.

Work visa with conditions

If you have an AEWV or ESWV, we may approve a work visa with conditions for your partner based on your job, how much you earn and if you supported a visa for your partner before 26 June 2024.

A work visa with conditions means your partner, as the visa holder, needs to meet a set of employment rules or terms.

• If they are currently employed they need to ensure their employment meets the conditions for their new visa when it takes effect.
• If they are not employed they need to ensure any future role they are offered meets the conditions.

For the full list of employment rules and terms, go to the 'Work' section under Conditions:

Partner of a Worker Work Visa