Refugee Family Support Resident Visa
To apply for this visa, you must be sponsored by a family member who came to New Zealand as a refugee or protected person.
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Length of stay
Live, work and study
indefinitely
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Cost
From
NZD $0
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Visas available
Each year
600
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Processing time
Data
not available
To apply you must:
- be invited to apply for residence by Immigration New Zealand
- have an eligible registered sponsor, who will arrange suitable accommodation when you arrive
- meet the other requirements of this visa.
This visa lets you:
- live, work and study in New Zealand
- include your partner, and dependent children aged 24 and younger, in your residence application — if they were included in your sponsor's registration.
- travel in and out of New Zealand until your travel conditions expire, 2 years from when you first arrive as a resident.
Due to a high number of applications, processing times may take up to 12 months.
We are currently accepting only tier 1 sponsor registrations.
If you are invited to apply for residence, you will have 12 months to send us your application.
How long you can stay
A Refugee Family Support Resident Visa lets you stay in New Zealand indefinitely.
Who can apply
Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.
Eligible sponsor
You must have an eligible sponsor.
Your sponsor must be a New Zealand citizen or resident who was granted residence on the basis of being a refugee or protected person, or as an Afghan interpreter, or evacuee who supported the New Zealand Defence Force or other New Zealand agencies in Afghanistan.
Your sponsor must also meet other tier 1 or tier 2 requirements.
Sponsoring family if you are a refugee
Note
If your sponsor does not meet the requirements, they will not be able to sponsor your residence application.
Sponsor registration
Your sponsor must register as a tier 1 or tier 2 sponsor.
Your sponsor must complete a ‘Refugee Family Support Category Sponsor Registration Form’ and provide evidence of their immigration status, which can include any of the following:
- a New Zealand resident visa
- a New Zealand permanent resident visa
- a valid New Zealand passport
- a Certificate of New Zealand Citizenship
- a recent official statement of citizenship from the Department of Internal Affairs
If your sponsor has changed their name, they will need to provide a statutory declaration certificate of their name change too.
Your sponsor should also attach photocopies of birth certificates for all family members they want to sponsor, if they are available.
Note
Only tier 1 sponsor registration is currently available. Tier 2 sponsor registrations will be returned.
If birth certificates are not available, your sponsor can include identity cards instead.
Sponsorship obligations
Your sponsor must arrange suitable accommodation for when you arrive.
Your sponsor must also continue to make sure that your accommodation needs are met for your first 2 years in New Zealand. Settlement service providers available to help with accommodation plans for families:
Provider: Safer Ashburton/Mid-Canterbury
Location: Ashburton
safermidcanterbury.org.nz
Provider: Kāhui Tū Kaha
Locations: Blenheim, Dunedin, Invercargill, Levin, Masterton, Nelson, Palmerston North, Wellington
redcross.org.nz
Provider: Purapura Whetu
Location: Christchurch
pw.maori.nz
Provider: Hamilton Multicultural Services (HMS) Trust
Location: Hamilton
hmstrust.org.nz
Provider: Presbyterian Support South Canterbury
Location: Timaru
pssc.org.nz
Invitation to apply for residence
You must be invited to apply for residence.
If your sponsor’s registration is selected from one of the Refugee Family Support Category queues, we may invite you to apply for residence.
If we invite you to apply for residence, we will send you a letter detailing all the information you will need to provide.
Identity
As proof of your identity, you must provide:
- 2 acceptable photos of your head and shoulders
- your original or a
of your passport or - your original or a certified copy of your
.
Note
You can provide either your original passport or a certified copy when you submit your application. If you provide a certified copy, we may request your original passport to complete your application.
Health
You must be in good health.
You do not need to provide any evidence of your good health, unless we ask you to.
Character
You must be of good character.
If you, or anyone else included in your application, are aged 17 or older you must provide a police certificate from:
- all the countries you are a citizen of, and
- any other country you have stayed in for 12 months or more over the last 10 years, even if it was not all in the same stay.
How to get a police certificate
Note
Police certificates must be less than 6 months old at the time you apply.
You do not need to provide any police certificates until you are invited to apply for residence.
Relationship with family
For your partner and dependent children to be included in your residence application, they must have been included in your sponsor’s registration.
To include your partner and dependent children in your residence application, you must provide evidence:
- of your relationship with your partner and dependent children, like birth and marriage certificates
- that your partner and dependent children meet the identity, health and character requirements for this visa.
Note
You do not need to provide any evidence until you are invited to apply for residence.
How to pay and submit
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When you get your visa
Arriving in New Zealand
When we grant your visa, if you are outside New Zealand you and your family will have 12 months to come to New Zealand.
If you and your family are unable to come to New Zealand in this time, your visa will expire and you will have to apply for a new visa.
Note
Your family must have been included in your resident visa application for them to come to New Zealand.
When you arrive
Entry permission
You must apply for permission to enter New Zealand. You do this by completing a New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) form.
You can start your digital declaration any time, but the earliest you can submit it is 24 hours before starting your travel to New Zealand.
A paper declaration form is available for travellers who cannot complete it online.
New Zealand Traveller Declaration
New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.
Alert
You can be refused entry permission if you:
- do not meet our character requirements
- have had a change in circumstances since we issued your visa
- refuse to let us take your photo, fingerprints or an iris scan.
While you are in New Zealand
These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa. Your visa conditions are recorded in your eVisa.
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 a visa to a new passport
Note
To transfer your visa, you must:
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- send us your old and new passports
- complete an ‘Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa’
- pay a transfer fee.
Application for transfer or confirmation of a visa
Travel
You can travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you like until your travel conditions expire, 2 years from the date you first arrive in New Zealand as a resident.
Alert
If you are outside New Zealand when your travel conditions expire, your visa will expire as well.
To travel in and out of New Zealand after your travel conditions expire, you need to apply for:
- a variation to your travel conditions, or
- a Permanent Resident Visa.
Check or change your resident visa conditions
Becoming a permanent resident of New Zealand
Note
If you are outside of New Zealand when your travel conditions expire, your visa will expire as well.
Sponsorship
Your sponsor is responsible for making sure you have somewhere reasonable to live when you arrive in New Zealand. They must also continue to support you with your accommodation needs for your first 2 years in New Zealand.