Residence Visas
There are a range of visas that can allow you to live in New Zealand permanently.
The skilled residence pathways have an age requirement of 55 years or under when you apply.
You must meet the health and character requirements for residence.
For some visas, the English language requirement needs to be met as well.
Straight to Residence
You can apply for this visa if you work for an accredited employer or you have a job offer from one and your role is on Tier 1 of the Green List.
You can include single, dependent children under 24 years, who do not have any children of their own, and who are only financially supported by you.
Work to Residence
You can apply for this visa from 29 September 2023, if you currently work for an accredited employer and you have worked in a Tier 2 Green List role for 24 months.
Care Workforce Work to Residence
You can apply for this visa from 29 September 2023, if you currently work for an accredited employer and you have worked in a Care Workforce Sector role for 24 months.
Transport Workforce Work to Residence
You can apply for this visa from 29 September 2023, if you currently work for an accredited employer and you have worked for 24 months in a work-to-residence transport role and met its requirements.
Skilled Migrant Category
This visa is for people who have the skills New Zealand needs for economic growth.
You must have a skilled job or job offer with an accredited employer in New Zealand to apply.
From 9 Oct 23, you will need 6 points to qualify.
You can claim points from your:
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New Zealand occupational registration
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(Bachelor’s degree or higher), or
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income from your job or job offer (earning at least 1.5 times the median wage in New Zealand).
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Skilled work experience in New Zealand
Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa
This visa allows you to get New Zealand residence if you have a partner who is a New Zealand citizen or resident.
If your partner's New Zealand residence is based on their Australian citizenship, permanent residence, or resident return visa, you can only apply for this visa if your partner lives in New Zealand.
If your partner is a New Zealand citizen and the two of you have been living together outside of New Zealand for 5 years or more, you may be granted a permanent resident visa if you meet certain other requirements
Not sure if you qualify? Contact us for your free eligibility assessment.
Parent Resident Visa
This visa allows you to live in New Zealand permanently if you have a child who is a New Zealand citizen or resident, meets the income requirement , and agrees to sponsor you.
To apply for this visa, you have to first send an EOI to Immigration New Zealand.
Atleast 400 EOIs are selected every 3 months from a queue and by ballot.
Once selected, EOIs go through a 4 weeks checking process. Once this process is completedm if your EOI is successful, you will be invited to apply for residence.
Being a residence visa, this visa has a lot of requirements that need to be met including the health requirements.
If you feel you may not be able to meet all the requirements for this visa, perhaps the Parent & Grandparent Visitor Visa category may be better suited to you.
Parent & Grandparent Visitor Visa
You can apply for this visa if you have children or grandchildren who are New Zealand citizens or residents.
This visa allows you to stay for upto 6 months at a time and for a maximum stay of 18 months in 3 years.
You can only apply for this visa from outside New Zealand.
You must be sponsored by your child or grandchild.
To be an eligible sponsor, your sponsor must meet the sponsorship requirements of Immigration New Zealand and not be sponsoring anyone else.
If you are only planning to visit New Zealand once, the General Visitor Visa would be better suited as it has even fewer requirements to meet.
If you are still unsure about which visa category to apply for, contact us for a free initial consultation.