The purpose of New Zealand's Family Category Policy is to reunite families. The New Zealand unmarried partner, fiancé(e) and marriage visas have been designed to help applicants move to New Zealand to join their spouse, fiancé or unmarried partner including same sex relation.
The Family Category is available to you if you:
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Are the husband, wife, de facto or civil partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident; or
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Have immediate members of your family (i.e. children,) who are New Zealand citizens or residents and live permanently in New Zealand
Ambler Collins provides assistance with the following family category visas applications:
Parent Visas
If you are a parent and you wish to make a move to New Zealand to be close to your child or children, you must make an application for residence in New Zealand. Your child must be a New Zealand citizen or resident, and be eligible to sponsor you.
To be eligible, parents of New Zealand citizens or residents may be granted residence in New Zealand if:
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Their adult child is 17 years or over and sponsors the application;
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Their adult child is a New Zealand citizen or resident
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Their family's centre of gravity is in New Zealand*; and
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They meet all applicant requirements such as health and character requirements
* The 'centre of gravity' of your family is in New Zealand if:
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The principal applicant has no dependent children and the number of their adult children lawfully and permanently in New Zealand is equal to or greater than those lawfully and permanently in any other single country; or
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The principal applicant has dependent children and the number of their adult children lawfully and permanently in New Zealand is equal to or greater than those lawfully and permanently in any other single country. The number of dependent children must be equal to or fewer than the number of adult children in New Zealand.
Sponsorship requirements
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You will need a sponsor for this visa. Your sponsor must:
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Be 17 or over
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Be in New Zealand
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Be a citizen/resident not subject to the requirements of section 18A of the Immigration Act 1987
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Have been a New Zealand/Australian citizen/ resident for at least three (3) years immediately before the date of your application
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And in each of the three 12-month portions within that three-year period, have spent a total of 184 days or more in New Zealand
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Meet a minimum income requirement to show that they can support the applicant(s), unless the sponsor obtained residence in New Zealand as a refugee, or the sponsor is aged 65 years or older. The current minimum income figure is $29,897.92 gross per annum. The income must be obtained from:
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And be willing and eligible to ensure financial support and accommodation is provided if necessary for the first 24 months of your stay.
Grandparents and legal guardians
In some circumstances, grandparents and legal guardians can be considered as parents. The conditions are as follows:
Legal guardians:
If both the sponsor's parents died before the sponsor was 20 AND the legal guardian was given custody and the right to control the sponsor's upbringing before the age of 20. Then the legal guardian and their partner may apply under the parent policy.
Grandparents:
If both the sponsor's parents are deceased, one grandparent and their spouse can be sponsored under the Parent policy.
Partner Visa
As part of the Partner Visa process, you and your partner (husband, wife, de facto or civil union partner) must be able to prove:
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You meets all applicant eligibility requirements; and
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The sponsoring partner meets all sponsor eligibility requirements.
The basic requirements for recognising a partnership are:
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You must both be 18 years of age or older or have parental/guardian/other consent if between the ages of 16 and 18 years
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You have met each other before submitting an application
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You are not close family relatives
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You have been living in a genuine relationship for a minimum of 12 months
The applicant must provide evidence supporting the claims made in the application showing:
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Your partner is a New Zealand citizen or resident;
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The sponsorship and support from your partner is genuine; and
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Your relationship is genuine and stable, and has lasted for the minimum period of 12 months.
Partners will not be eligible to sponsor an applicant if they:
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Have previously supported or sponsored more than one other successful principal applicant under the Partnership Policy; or
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Have previously supported or sponsored any other successful principal applicant under Partnership Policy in the 5 years immediately before the date the current application is made; or
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Were the perpetrator of an incident of domestic violence that has resulted in the grant of a Residence Permit to a person under the special policy for victims of domestic violence; or
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Were a successful principal applicant under Partnership Policy:
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If less than 5 years have elapsed since the date they were granted residence under the Partnership Policy; or
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If they have previously supported or sponsored any other successful principal applicant under Partnership Policy.
In addition to the basic requirements outlined above, basic standards of health and character must also be met in order to submit a successful New Zealand Partner Visa application.
Please note it is possible to obtain a work visa if you are the partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident and are unable to meet the 12 month living together criteria currently. Please contact Ambler Collins for further details.
'If you are interested in using the services
of Ambler Collins, please complete our
online assessment form and a consultant will respond to you
with details of your eligibility and our services and fees'
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