South Island Contribution Work Visa

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

Identity

You must provide proof of your identity:

• 2 acceptable photos of your head and shoulders
• your passport or certificate of identity

Visa and NZeTA photos

You may provide 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.

Citizens of China applying from China

Also provide your:

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

If you submit a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

Applicants from Hong Kong or Macao applying within Hong Kong or Macao

Also provide a copy of your identity card.

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

Character

You must be of good character.

If you are 17 or over, you must provide a police certificate from:

• your country of citizenship
• any country you have lived in for 5 years or more since you turned 17 years old.

Character requirements for New Zealand visas

How to get a police certificate

Health

You must be in good health.

You must have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of your good health.

How to get an X-ray or medical examination

Applicants from China, Hong Kong or Macao applying within China, Hong Kong or Macao

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

• you have spent 6 months in a row in China since the last X-ray certificate was issued, and
• you are now coming to New Zealand for more than 6 months.

Genuine intentions

You must genuinely intend to meet the conditions of your visa.

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 or work in New Zealand

Age

You must be 55 or under.

We check your identity documents — for example, your passport — to confirm your age.

Current Essential Skills Work Visa

You must currently hold an Essential Skills Work Visa which specifies employment in the South Island.

We will confirm this by checking our records when you apply.

South Island employment for 5 years

You must have been employed full time in the South Island for the 5 years prior to 22 May 2017.

During this time you must have:

• held an Essential Skills Work Visa, or an Interim Visa, which specified work in the South Island
• been employed full time.

Time spent working outside the South Island can count towards the 5 years of employment required if you spent no more than 3 months outside the South Island per calendar year, and no more than 12 months in total.

Ongoing employment

You must have ongoing employment in the South Island.

You must hold current employment or have an offer of employment which is:

• full time
• paid by salary or wages
• genuine
• sustainable and ongoing (that is, permanent or indefinite, or for a stated term of at least 24 months)
• in the South Island
• based on terms and conditions which are not less than those of the New Zealand market
• with an employer who has a history of compliance with immigration and employment law, and is not included on the list of non-compliant employers maintained by the Labour Inspectorate.

Employers on stand-down — Employment New Zealand 

Entry requirements

As part of New Zealand’s entry requirements, everyone must complete a New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD). This form collects information about your travel, including customs, immigration, and biosecurity details.

When you can submit your NZTD depends on how you're travelling:

• By air: You can submit it from 24 hours before your journey begins.
• By sea: You can submit it from 24 hours before your ship leaves its last overseas port heading to New Zealand. 

If you have an NZeTA, you can specify in your declaration that you are applying for a visa on arrival.

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.

Arriving in New Zealand

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

Work

You must work in the industry and region specified on your visa label.

Study

You can study for up to 3 months in any 12-month period.

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