Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa

This visa allows you to work in New Zealand if you have a partner who is a New Zealand citizen or resident.

Length of stay
Up to

3 years

Cost
From
NZD $1630
Processing time
80% within
7 weeks
With this visa you can
  • Come to New Zealand with your partner.
  • Work in New Zealand.
  • Study for up to 3 months.
Things to note
  • You cannot include dependent children in your visa application, but they can apply for visas based on their relationship to you.
    Dependent children
    Explore family visa options
  • If you have lived with your partner for less than 12 months, your visa will be for 1 year and you can apply for additional visas to stay up to 3 years in total. If you have lived with your partner for 12 months or more, your visa will be for up to 3 years.
    Longer visa for partners of New Zealanders

 

What you need to apply

Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.

View All Evidence
Tip

Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave New Zealand.

  • 1 acceptable photo if you apply online, or 2 photos if you use a paper application form.
  • your passport or certificate of identity.

Acceptable photos

If you apply online, you must upload a copy of your passport when you apply. We will let you know if you need to send your passport after you have applied.

Providing your passport for online applications

If you submit a paper application, provide your original passport or a certified copy.  We can usually process your application faster if you provide your original passport.

Tips

Your passport must be valid for at least 3 months after you plan to leave New Zealand.

If you are a citizen of China and you submit a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

Supplementary form for Chinese citizens (INZ 1027) PDF 338KB

If you are submitting a paper application form, you must provide a supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students.

Supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students (INZ 1220) PDF 240KB

Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

Also provide your:

  • Hukou (household registration book)
  • Chinese identity card.

We may ask you to have a chest X-ray, a medical examination or both as proof of your good health.

If you are staying less than:

  • 6 months you do not normally need a chest X-ray. 
  • 12 months you do not normally need a medical certificate. 

Who needs an X-ray or medical examination

When we process your application we let you know if we need you to have a chest X-ray or medical examination.

Acceptable standard of health criteria for visa approvals

Provide medical certificates if requested

Tips

You must provide a chest x-ray completed in the last 3 months, even if you've provided one to us previously, if:

  • you have spent 6 consecutive months in China since the last x-ray certificate was issued, and
  • you are now coming to NZ for more than 6 months.

If you have a criminal conviction or are a security risk to New Zealand we may not be able to grant you a visa.

Good character for temporary visas

You must provide police certificates if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer across all visits. This includes any time you have spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas, even if you have been out of the country since then.

You also must provide police certificates if we ask for them.

Police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your application. They must be from any country you are a citizen of, or have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

If you are 16 years old or younger you do not need to provide police certificates.

Providing police certificates

How to get a police certificate

If you have already sent us police certificates with a previous visa application and they are less than 24 months old, you do not need to send them again.

Tips

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.

When we decide if your intentions are genuine, we consider all the information:

  • you provide to support your application
  • we have about your personal circumstances
  • you provided in any previous applications.

Genuine intentions to visit, study or work in NZ

Your partner must provide one of the following:

  • a New Zealand passport
  • a New Zealand birth certificate
  • a certificate of New Zealand citizenship

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.

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
  • if you’re 16 or 17, that your parent or guardian supports your partnership
  • you spend time together, eg photos together, emails and social media conversations between you
  • you share finances and other responsibilities.

Partnership

Tips

To be eligible for this visa, you have to be living together when you apply.

You must provide evidence for 1 of the following:

  • a salary that supports  you for the length of your stay
  • that your employer can support you for the length of your stay
  • that you have enough funds to support you for the length of your stay
  • a Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry completed by an acceptable sponsor.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry (INZ 1025) PDF 414KB

Evidence can include:

  • cash
  • New Zealand bank accounts showing the current balance
  • travellers' cheques
  • bank drafts
  • recognised credit cards with sufficient credit available
  • for group visas, certification from a reputable travel agency.

If you are pregnant, there are additional requirements.

Funds for maternity services

To be eligible to support a partnership based resident visa application, your partner must not:

  • have supported a successful resident visa application for more than one previous partner
  • have supported a successful resident visa application for a previous partner within the last 5 years
  • have included a previous partner in their own successful residence application, within the last 5 years
  • have themselves been included as a partner in a successful residence application, within 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’.

Form for Partners Supporting Partnership-Based Temporary Entry Applications (INZ 1146) PDF 481KB

Tips

New Zealand citizens and residents can support only 1 partner for residence in a 5 year period, and support only 2 partners for residence in total.

If your partner can't support you for residence now, but will be able to within 12 months, they can still support your work or visitor visa now.

Your partner must meet our good character requirements or be granted a character waiver. We may ask your partner to 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.

Who needs to provide police certificates

Your partner's character

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 a New Zealand traveller declaration (NZTD).

New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes

You can be refused entry permission if:

  • you do not meet our character requirements
  • your circumstances have changed since you were issued 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

After you arrive, you can travel in and out of New Zealand as many times as you like before your visa expires.

Work

You can work in any employment you like, as long as:

  • the work you do is legal
  • you do not provide commercial sexual services
  • you do not invest or operate in a business that provides commercial sexual services
  • you have any occupational registration that is needed to do that work in New Zealand.

Occupational registration

Study

You can study for up to 3 months.

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes

If you want to stay longer, you can apply for residence as the partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident.