Visas

Family Stream

Families of New Zealand residents can enter the country in a number of different ways. For shorter visits, there are several temporary visa policies available, based on your relationship to the New Zealand citizen or resident. General health and character requirements must be met, as with any other visa.

If you have the intention of joining your New Zealand citizen or resident family member on a permanent basis, you will find that the New Zealand Family Stream plan creates a very accommodating immigration policy.

Partners

Any recognised partner (opposite or same-sex) of a New Zealand citizen or resident, be it officially sanctioned or de facto partnership, may apply for New Zealand residency. Your partner must be eligible to sponsor you, meaning that they must be able to prove their immigration standards and meet certain character requirements.

The Haywoods at Piha Beach

Dependent children and young adults

Children must meet the same basic health and character requirements that all visa and residency applicants are held to before being allowed to enter the country. They must also be 24 years of age or younger, single and without any children of their own.

If your children were born before you established residency in New Zealand, you must declare them on your residency application if you hope to have them gain residency status in the future.

To qualify, children must also be totally financially dependent on an adult, though that adult does not necessarily have to be a parent.

Parents

If you are the parent of a New Zealand citizen or resident, you can apply for residence in New Zealand if your child is eligible to sponsor you.

Please note that your sponsor must have been a New Zealand or Australian citizen and/or the holder of a Residence Permit or a Returning Resident’s Visa for at least three years before the date your completed application is received by the immigration services.

Siblings

A New Zealand resident or citizen can sponsor the application of his/her brother or sister to New Zealand under the Family Category (Sibling/Adult Child Policy).

To be eligible to move to New Zealand as the sibling of a New Zealand resident or citizen, you must:

• Have no other siblings or parents who are living lawfully and permanently in the same country in which you are lawfully and permanently living
• Be aged 55 years or younger at the time the application is lodged
• Be in good health
• Be of good character