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Bringing family if you have a work visa

Most types of work visas allow you to support visas for your partner and dependent children, but there are some restrictions.

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:

Visas you can support for your family

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

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

Supporting visas for your family on an AEWV or ESWV 

If you have an Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) or an Essential Skills Work Visa (ESWV) and you want to support a:

Tip

Supporting visas when you earn below the median wage

If you are paid under the median wage:

Partner of a Worker Visitor Visa

Supporting partner open work visas or work visas with conditions

When you hold either an AEWV or ESWV, check if you can support either an open work visa or one with conditions for your partner.

Supporting an open work visa for your partner

We may approve an open work visa if either:

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

Supporting a work visa with conditions for your partner

We may approve a work visa with conditions if you earn at least the median wage but less than twice the median wage.

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

Partner of a Worker Work Visa

Work visas with conditions for your partner

If we approve the Partner of a Worker Work Visa application and your partner gets a work visa with conditions, it means:

Check the wage rate requirements page for the current threshold and median wage rates.
Wage rate requirements for visas

Alert

If the work visa conditions apply to your partner and they are:

If you get a pay rise or your role is now on the Green List

When you get a pay rise or your role is added to the Green List, your partner's options depend on their visa status.

If your partner:

Your partner must provide evidence of your pay rise or Green List role in their application.

Note

You do not need to apply for another Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) for the purpose of supporting your partner’s work visa application.

Pay rise or Green List evidence your partner needs for their application

Pay rise evidence your partner needs for their application are your:

Green List evidence must show that you meet the Green List requirements. These are set out for each role in the Green List.

Green List roles

Partner of a Worker Work Visa

INZ 1020 Application for a Variation of Conditions PDF 424KB

Medical and police certificates and Essential Skills Work Visa holder's family visa applications

The requirement to provide medical and police certificates has been removed for your family in New Zealand who:

If they have already obtained medical or police certificates for their visa applications, they can still choose to submit them.

They can apply using the paper forms for a partner (Partnership-Based Temporary Visa Application, INZ 1198) or for a dependent child (Student Visa Application INZ 1012, or Visitor Visa Application INZ 1017).

If you use a paper form, download the most recent version of the form from this list to avoid processing delays.

Student Visa Application (INZ 1012) PDF 450KB

Visitor Visa Application (INZ 1017) PDF 397KB

Partnership-based Temporary Visa Application (INZ 1198) PDF 332KB

Visas that allow you to join family

How family members can apply for a 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