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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.

Visas your family can apply for

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.

Who cannot support visas for family

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

If you have an Accredited Employer Work Visa 

If you have an Accredited Employer Work Visa you can support:

If you are paid under the median wage, you can only support a visitor visa for your partner.

Check your visa or approval letter to find out the remuneration level for your job.

Partner of a Worker Visitor Visa

Partner of a Worker Work Visa

From 31 May 2023

Partners of Accredited Employer Work Visa holders who apply for a new work visa will, if approved, have the following conditions placed on their visa:

AEWV roles exempt from paying the median wage

Other things to note:

Green List roles

If you have an Essential Skills Work Visa 

If you have an Essential Skills visa you can support:

If you are paid at or above the median wage, you can also support a work visa for your partner.

Check your visa or approval letter to find out the remuneration level for your job.

From 31 May 2023

Partners of Essential Skills Work Visa holders who apply for a new work visa will, if approved, have the following conditions placed on their visa:

AEWV roles exempt from paying the median wage

Other things to note:

Green List roles

If you applied before 27 July 2020

If you applied for an Essential Skills Work Visa before 27 July 2020 and we assessed you as high or mid-skilled, you can support a work visa for your partner. Check your visa or approval letter to find out which skill-band your job is.

If we assessed your job as lower-skilled, you can only support a work visa for your partner if:

If you earn below the median wage and your partner wants to work, they will have to apply for their own work visa.

Making an application for a visa based on your relationship to an existing Essential Skills work visa holder or applicant (partners and dependent children)

The requirement to provide medical and police certificates has been removed for partners and dependent children who are in New Zealand and:

If you have already obtained medical or police certificates for your visa application, you can choose to still submit them.

You 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, use the most recent version of the form 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, they can apply for a visa in their own right.

Explore and select a visa