Family Visas
Partnerships - Dependent Children - Parents/Grandparents - Visit - Work - Residency
The Family Category includes visitor visas, work visas, or residency visas for partners, children or parents/grandparents of New Zealand Residents and Citizens.
The different visas on offer are based on one's dependency on either another temporary work visa holder, or a New Zealand Citizen or Resident visa holder. The primary focus of visas in this cateogry is to reunited families in New Zealand.
Dependent relationships have specific rules and requirements around them to ensure that they are genuine. This includes providing credible evidence to Immigration New Zealand to ensure that these are met. The different types of family visa types that Immigration New Zealand offer include:
- Partner of a Work Visa holder - visitor visa or work visa
- Dependent child(ren) of a worker or student visa holder - visitor or student visa
- Parent and Grandparent visitor visa
- Parent Resident Visa
- Parent Retirement Resident Visa
- Partner of a New Zealand Citizen or Resident - visitor, work or Residency visa
The decison about which visa suits your individual families needs involves the balancing and comparison of all the categorys on offer to determine which one would be best suited .
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Get in touch with us today for a free consultation for us to be able to help to determine the best pathway for you and your loved ones.
Partner Visas
A partner can only get a relationship-based visa if they are able to demonstrate that their partnership is genuine and stable, that the couple is living together, and that the relationship is likely to endure.
For a couple that has previously been unable to live together, a partnership-based visitor visa may be a more appropriate option to allow the couple to cohabit and gather the necessary evidence to prove that they are living together and meet the requirements for a partnership based work visa.
For culturally arranged marriages, where the pair cannot cohabit before they marry, the pathway becomes convoluted as government's stance on this matter changes time to time. Culturally married applicants can get a visitor visa if they can prove their relationship is genuine, stable, and credible, even if they did not live together for a substantive period. The government's discretion here was made to recognise the cultural restraints around cohabitation.
For residence applications based on partnership with a New Zealand Citizen or Resident, 12 months of living together are mandatory prior to submitting the application to Immigration New Zealand. can
Dependent Children Visas
For Immigration New Zealand, the term 'dependant' age rules are different for both temporary and residency visas.
- Temporary Visas - a child up to the age of 19 can be considered a dependant on their parent.
- Residency Visas - a child up to the age of 24 can be considered a dependant, with individuals from the age of 21 - 24 having additional conditions that are required to be mt.
Dependant children can be granted both visitor visas or student visas, depending on their age. Dependent children who are granted student visas are treated as domestic students and can enroll/study at any primary or secondary school in New Zealand as a domestic student, with no international tuition fees payable.
Parent & Grandparent Visas
Adult children who are New Zealand Residents have several options for bring their parents to New Zealand.
An application made under the Parent/Grandparent Visitor visas, allows a stay in New Zealand of up to 6 months at a time, with a maximum total stay of 18 months in a 3 year period.
Parent Resident visa allows for an adult NZ resident child to sponsor their parents residency with income thresholds needing to be met by the sponsor. The first step is completed an Expression of Interest (EOI) which goes into the ballot and those chosen from the ballot are then invited to apply for residency.