Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa

Visa details

This visa allows you get New Zealand residence if you have a partner who is a New Zealand citizen or resident.

Length of stay

Indefinitely

Cost
From
NZD $2750
Processing time
90% within
14 months
With this visa you can
  • Live, work, and study in New Zealand.
  • Include dependent children, aged 24 and under, in your visa application.
Things to note
  • If your partner’s New Zealand residence is based on their Australian citizenship, Australian permanent residence or resident return visa, you can only apply for this visa if your partner lives in New Zealand.
  • If your partner is a New Zealand citizen and the two of you have been living together outside of New Zealand for 5 years or more, you may be granted a permanent resident visa. Your partner will need to be either overseas when you apply, or have been back in New Zealand for less than 3 months.

Who can apply

The criteria and evidence below will provide you with the information you need to provide to meet the requirements of this visa.

View All Evidence

Identity

You must provide proof of your identity

  • 1 acceptable photo if you apply online, or 2 photos if you use a paper application.
  • Your passport or certificate of identity.
  • A copy of your full birth certificate if you apply online, or your original, full birth certificate or a certified copy if you use a paper application form.

 

Acceptable photos

If you apply online, you must upload a copy of your passport. After you’ve applied, we’ll tell you when to send us your passport.

If you use a paper application form, you may send us your passport, or a certified copy. If you provide a certified copy, we’ll tell you when to send us your passport.

Tips
  1. Also provide your Kartu Keluarga.

  2. If you’re not a French national, also provide a copy of your carte d’assuré.

  3. Also provide a copy of your livret de famille.

  4. Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

Character

You must be of good character

You may need to provide police certificates as proof of your good character.

If you're aged 17 and over and will stay in New Zealand for more than 24 months, you must provide police certificates from:

  • your country(s) of citizenship
  • any other country where you’ve spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years, even if you didn’t spend that 12 months all in one visit

You don't need to provide police certificates if you have provided them to us with an earlier visa application, and they were issued in the previous 24 months.

Good character
Police certificates

Tips
  1. If you provide a police certificate that is not in English, you must provide an English translation.

    This includes police certificates that record no convictions.

Your partner’s immigration status

Your partner must be a New Zealand citizen or resident

Your partner must provide one of the following:

  • a New Zealand passport
  • a New Zealand birth certificate
  • a certificate of New Zealand citizenship
  • a New Zealand residence class visa.

If your partner is a New Zealand resident because of their citizenship or residence status in Australia, they may provide their Australian passport, permanent residence or resident return visa.

Tips
  1. If you apply online, you must upload a copy of this evidence with your application.

    If you use a paper application form, you must send us either the original document, or a certified copy.

Your partner’s place of residence

Partners who have New Zealand residence because they have an Australian passport, permanent residence or resident return visa, must live in New Zealand

If this applies, your partner must provide evidence that they live in New Zealand, this could include:

  • letters or bills addressed to them
  • employment records
  • records of benefit payments from Work and Income, or tax records from Inland Revenue
  • mortgage, tenancy or utility supply agreements
  • documents showing their household effects have been moved to New Zealand
  • any other documents you think prove they live in New Zealand.

Your partner’s character

Your partner must be of good character

Your partner must provide a police certificate from any country they have spent 12 months or more in over the last 10 years. This applies whether the time was spent in one or more visits.

Your partner will not meet our character requirements if they have any convictions for domestic violence or sexual offences. If your partner does not meet our character requirements, we will consider whether they are eligible for a character waiver.

How to get a police certificate

Your partner's character

Tips
  1. Your partner doesn’t need to provide a New Zealand police certificate – we can arrange this on their behalf.

Eligible NZ supporting partner

Your partner must be eligible to support your application

To be eligible to support your resident visa application your partner must not:

  • have supported a successful residence application for more than one previous partner
  • have supported a successful residence application for a previous partner in the last 5 years
  • have included a previous partner in a successful residence application in the last 5 years
  • have been included as a partner in a successful residence application in the last 5 years
  • be liable for deportation, or have their deportation liability suspended.

Your partner must complete a ‘Partnership support form for Residence/temporary entry’ as evidence of their support’.

Partnership Support Form for Residence (INZ 1178) PDF 281KB

Tips
  1. You can read more about residence in the 'Self-Assessment Guide for Residence in New Zealand'.

    Self-Assessment Guide for Residence in New Zealand (INZ 1003) PDF 320KB

Your relationship with your partner

You and your partner must have been living together in a genuine and stable relationship for 12 months or more

You must provide evidence that you and your partner are living together in a genuine and stable relationship.

Your evidence should show:

  • how long you’ve been together
  • how long you’ve been living together
  • that you share finances and other responsibilities
  • that you spend time together, eg photos together, emails and social media conversations between you
  • that other people recognise your relationship
  • anything else you think shows you and your partner are living together in a genuine and stable relationship.

Partnership

Partner and dependent children

Your dependent children must meet the requirements for a resident visa

To include dependent children in your residence application:

  • they must meet the identity, health and character requirements for this visa
  • they must be single and 24 or under
  • they must rely on an adult for financial support
  • you must be their parent or legal guardian
  • you must have the legal right to remove them from their home country (if aged 15 or under).

Dependent children

Dependent children

Your children must be single and 24 or under

For us to consider your children dependent, they must be single and either:

  • 17 or under
  • 18-24 with no children of their own.

We’ll ask you to sign a declaration that your children are single when you complete your residence application.

We’ll use the documents you provide as proof of your children’s identity to confirm their age.

Dependent children

Tips
  1. Children living with a partner are not considered to be single, even if they’ve been living with their partner for less than a year.

    Partnership

  2. Children aged 21-24 are only considered dependent if they rely on an adult for financial support.

Dependent children aged 21 - 24

Children aged 21-24 must rely on an adult for financial support

When we assess if your children need financial support, we’ll look at whether they:

  • are working, if the work full-time or part-time, and how long they’ve been working
  • are able to support themselves
  • live with a family member and how much support is provided 
  • are studying and if they study full-time or part-time.

We may ask for evidence that your children are financially dependent.

Tips
  1. Children aged 21-24 are only considered dependent if they rely on an adult for financial support.

Your relationship with your children

You must be the parent or legal guardian of your dependent children

You must provide evidence that confirms your relationship to your children, which  may include:

  • full birth certificates 
  • adoption papers, or if the adoption was customary, a written declaration stating you’ve adopted the children and the date and country the adoption took place
  • any other documents that confirm your relationship to each other.
Tips
  1. If you’re a New Zealand resident and your dependent children were eligible to be included in your residence application, but weren’t included, we may ask you to explain the reason for this.

  2. If your children joined your family through customary adoption, we may seek confirmation of the adoption from the children’s biological parents.

  3. You can provide household registration documents if these confirm your relationship to your child.

Custody of children 15 and under

You must have the legal right to remove dependent children from their home country

If you’re separated or divorced, you must provide legal documents that show that one of the following applies:

  • you have the sole right to decide where your children live
  • you have the right to remove your children from their home country
  • you have custody of the children and your children’s other parent agrees they can move to New Zealand if their application is approved.

If your children’s other parent has died, you must provide their death certificate.

Tips
  1. If you apply online, you must upload a copy of this evidence with your application.

    If you use a paper application form, you must send us either the original document, or a certified copy.

  2. If you have a statutory right to the custody of your children and it’s not possible to get legal documents to confirm this right, we will assess your right to remove the children on a case-by-case basis.

Process and costs

The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.

Notes

We cannot display any process or costs information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.

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How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

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Conditions

These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.

Entry permission

You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing an arrival card, which you are given on the way to New Zealand.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes
  • You can be refused entry permission if:

    • you don’t meet our character requirements
    • your circumstances have changed since you were granted a visa
    • you refuse to let us to take your photo, or provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if we ask you for them.

Travel (resident visa)

If you applied for your visa while overseas, you have 12 months to travel to New Zealand from the date your visa is approved.

Once in New Zealand, or if you applied for your visa while in New Zealand, you can travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you like until your travel Conditions expire.

To travel after that, you’ll need to apply for and be granted either:

  • a Permanent Resident Visa
  • a variation of your travel conditions, which would allow you to return to New Zealand at a later date.
Notes
  • Your travel conditions will expire 2 years from the date you first arrive in New Zealand as a resident.

    If you’re outside of New Zealand when your travel conditions expire, your visa will expire as well.

Travel (permanent resident holders)

You can travel in and out of New Zealand indefinitely, as long as you keep your visa in a valid passport.

Keep your visa in a valid passport

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

Notes

Work

You can work in any occupation for any employer in New Zealand.

Study

You can study in New Zealand.