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A partner visa is a visa you get because of your relationship with someone, not because of your own job, qualifications or points. New Zealand has three main partner routes, and which one applies depends on who your partner is: a New Zealand citizen or resident, a work visa holder, or a student visa holder. This post explains what Immigration New Zealand (INZ, the government department that decides visas) means by "partner", what evidence couples give, how the three routes differ, and how they appear on your HowToMoveTo report.
Your partner lives in New Zealand, or is about to move there for work or study, and you want to know whether you can join them. If you are the one with the skills or the job offer and your partner would follow you, read our post on bringing your partner and children with you instead. If neither of you has a New Zealand connection yet, start with the Skilled Migrant Category.
INZ recognises three kinds of couple: a legal marriage, a civil union, and a de facto relationship (a couple who live together as partners without being married). In every case you must be living together in a genuine and stable relationship, per INZ's page on partnership and how to prove it.
"Living together" means sharing the same home; staying at each other's places, sharing holiday accommodation, or living as flatmates does not count. "Genuine and stable" means the relationship is real and likely to last: other people recognise you as a couple, you make decisions and plans together, you spend your free time together, and you parent together if you have children. Both of you must be 18 or older, or have your parents' or guardians' consent at 16 or 17. If you have spent time living apart, INZ asks you to explain why, for how long, and how you stayed in touch.
A marriage certificate alone is not enough; INZ lists the documents it wants on the same partnership page:
This route has two visas. The Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa leads to settling permanently. The Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa is the temporary visa that often comes first, while the couple builds up the 12 months of living together.
You must have been living with your partner in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months when you apply, and your partner must be a New Zealand citizen or resident (a resident through an Australian passport or residence visa must be living in New Zealand). The visa lets you live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely, and after two years in a row you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa, which has no travel time limit. Your partner supports you with the Partnership Support Form for Residence (INZ 1178).
If you have lived together for less than 12 months, the work visa is granted for one year and can be extended to three years in total; with 12 months or more, it can be granted for up to three years at once. It gives open work rights (any lawful job, though you cannot employ others), dependent children apply separately, and your partner supports you with form INZ 1146, the support form for temporary partner visas.
On both visas your partner must be at least 18 (or have parental permission at 16 or 17), must not have supported a successful resident visa application as a partner within the past five years, and must never have done so in more than one such application; someone who gained their own residence through a previous partner has already used one. They must also meet INZ's good character requirements, with no convictions for serious or sexual offences.
The Partner of a Worker Work Visa lets you join a partner who holds an eligible work visa. The relationship test is the same, and you must be living together when you apply; this route sets no minimum number of months.
Visas of six months or less, Working Holiday and seasonal visas cannot support a partner; the visa page lists the rest. The most common supporting visa is the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV, the main employer-backed work visa), and here the rules depend on the worker's job. A worker in a higher-skilled job (ANZSCO skill levels 1 to 3, the occupation scale New Zealand shares with Australia) can support a partner if paid at least a set share of the median wage. A worker in a lower-skilled job (levels 4 or 5) can only do so if paid well above the median wage, or in a Green List job above a separate wage threshold, or under the care workforce or transport sector agreements at their set wage. INZ publishes the current figures on the visa page; we do not print them because they move.
The visa lasts as long as your partner's work visa, gives open work rights (you cannot employ others), and asks you to have enough money for your living expenses (evidence only if INZ asks). Dependent children apply separately, and your partner supports you with form INZ 1146 and must be of good character.
The Partner of a Student Work Visa is narrower: only some students can support a partner. Your partner must hold, or be applying for, a student visa and be studying towards a level 9 or 10 qualification on the NZQCF (the numbered scale New Zealand uses to rank qualifications), a level 7 or 8 qualification specified for a Green List role, or a level 7 or 8 qualification on INZ's list of qualifications eligible for a Post Study Work Visa.
You must be living together when you apply, and you must have at least NZD $4,200 for your stay, shown through bank statements, per the visa page. The visa lasts as long as your partner's student visa, gives open work rights, and allows up to three months of study in any 12-month period. Dependent children apply separately, and your partner supports you with form INZ 1146.
How much health and character proof you give depends on the visa. For the resident visa, you provide a medical examination and a chest X-ray, plus police certificates less than six months old from every country you are a citizen of or have spent 12 months or more in during the last ten years. For the temporary work visas, the X-ray and medical depend on how long you will stay, and police certificates are needed only if you are 17 or older and will spend 24 months or more in New Zealand in total. Our post on police certificates and medical exams for New Zealand explains how to get each document.
HowToMoveTo's report assesses all three partner routes as New Zealand pathways: the Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa, the Partner of a Worker Work Visa and the Partner of a Student Work Visa. The questionnaire asks about your relationship and about your partner's status in New Zealand, and the report shows how each route's requirements compare with your answers: for the resident visa, your partner's status and age, the 12 months of living together, and their eligibility to support you under the five-year and one-previous-application rules; for the worker route, whether your partner's visa can support a partner, including an AEWV holder's pay and skill conditions; for the student route, whether your partner's qualification level allows it, and the funds you need. Steps you can still take (the support form, funds, medical and police certificates) appear as checklist items, not failures. The Partner of a New Zealander Work Visa is not a separate pathway on the report.
INZ decides your case; neither the report nor this post does. The New Zealand hub lists everything the report covers.
If you are in a partnership with someone in New Zealand, start the free questionnaire. Your free summary shows how the partner routes compare with your answers before you decide whether to unlock the full report.
Answer our free questionnaire and see your eligibility summary instantly. You only pay to unlock your full personalized immigration report.