Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa
If your partner is a New Zealand citizen or resident, the Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa can allow you to come to New Zealand and spend time living with them.
This visa is designed for genuine couples who want to be together in New Zealand but where the overseas partner does not require work rights. It can also provide a pathway towards a longer-term partnership visa or residence where the couple later meets the relevant requirements.
Who can apply?
To qualify, you must have a partner who is a New Zealand citizen or resident and who is eligible to support your application.
You and your partner must both be at least 18 years old when the application is made.
You must also be living together in a genuine and stable relationship. This is an important requirement. Being married, engaged or in a long-term relationship does not automatically qualify someone for the visa if the couple cannot demonstrate that they are living together.
You must also meet the relevant health and character requirements, have genuine reasons for visiting New Zealand and have sufficient funds for your stay or an acceptable sponsor.
Proving your relationship
Immigration New Zealand will assess whether your relationship is genuine and stable and whether you are actually living together.
Evidence may include joint tenancy agreements, correspondence addressed to both partners at the same address, joint bank accounts, financial transfers, shared household expenses, photographs, travel records, messages and evidence that family and friends recognise the relationship.
The evidence should ideally cover the relationship over a reasonable period rather than simply showing isolated events.
Immigration New Zealand now requires both partners to be at least 18 when applying for this visa and will only recognise partnership evidence from the period after both partners turned 18.
How long can you stay?
The visa can be granted for up to three years, depending on how long you have been living together.
If you have lived together for less than 12 months, the visa will generally be granted for one year. Further partnership-based visas may subsequently be available, allowing a total stay of up to three years.
If you have already lived together for at least 12 months, the visa may be granted for up to three years.
Can you work in New Zealand?
No. The Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa does not provide New Zealand work rights.
However, a visitor may be able to undertake remote work for an overseas employer or client, provided the work complies with New Zealand’s rules for remote work by visitors.
If you intend to work for a New Zealand employer or otherwise undertake work requiring New Zealand work rights, the Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa may be the more appropriate option.
Can you study?
Yes. The visa normally allows you to study in New Zealand for up to three months.
If you intend to undertake longer-term study, you may need an appropriate student visa.
Can children be included?
Yes. Dependent children can be included in an application for a Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa, provided they meet the relevant requirements.
Evidence of the relationship between the applicant and the dependent children will need to be provided.
Financial requirements
Applicants must demonstrate that they have sufficient funds to support themselves while in New Zealand or have an acceptable sponsor.
If paying for your own stay, Immigration New Zealand generally requires at least NZD $1,000 for each month of your intended stay, or NZD $400 per month where accommodation has already been paid for.
You must also be able to demonstrate that you can leave New Zealand at the end of your stay, such as by holding an onward ticket or having sufficient funds to purchase one.
Your New Zealand partner
Your New Zealand citizen or resident partner must support the application and meet Immigration New Zealand’s requirements for an eligible supporting partner.
The supporting partner will generally need to complete the Form for Partners Supporting Partnership-Based Temporary Entry Applications (INZ 1146).
There are restrictions on how many partners a New Zealand citizen or resident can support for partnership-based residence and how frequently they can do so. These rules can also affect eligibility to support a temporary partnership visa.
Can the visa lead to residence?
Potentially, yes.
A person who has been living with their New Zealand citizen or resident partner in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months may be eligible to apply for a Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa, provided all the other requirements are satisfied.
This means the visitor visa can be useful for couples who are genuinely living together but have not yet accumulated the 12 months of cohabitation normally required for partnership-based residence.
Preparing a strong application
Partnership visitor visa applications are heavily dependent on evidence.
Applicants should provide a clear relationship history and comprehensive evidence showing when they began living together, where they have lived, how they share their finances and responsibilities, and how the relationship has developed.
Where a couple has spent periods living apart, has only recently begun living together, or has limited conventional evidence of cohabitation, those circumstances should be clearly explained and supported by whatever independent evidence is available.
A well-prepared Partner of a New Zealander Visitor Visa application should allow Immigration New Zealand to understand the relationship clearly and see that the couple are genuinely living together in a stable and committed partnership.