Guide on Partnership Residence Visa

It's time to settle down in New Zealand permanently with your loved one.

If you want to learn about Partnership Residence Visa, you've come to the right place.

This guide has everything you need to understand the basics of Partnership Residence Visa. You'll also find links to useful resources from our blog and video throughout, so you can plan your next steps.

What is it?

If you are a partner of a New Zealand resident or citizen, then you may be able to apply for partnership residence visa in NZ.

Let's take a look at what's involved.

How does it work?

If you have a "genuine and stable relationship" with a New Zealand resident or citizen, then you may be able to apply for residence under this category. You will need to have lived together for at least 12 months, and your relationship with your sponsoring partner must be genuine and stable.

Regardless of whether you have been living together for several years, or have children from the relationship, Immigration New Zealand will still want to see documents that will back up your claim, so ensure that you keep a record of relevant paperwork.

Under Family (Partnership), you will need to satisfy each of the following requirements:

meet general requirements; and
meet relationship requirements; and
meet sponsor requirements.

What are the requirements?

General

General requirements include paying correct application fee, using prescribed Immigration New Zealand form, meeting health/character requirements, and being a 'bona fide' (genuine) applicant.

Relationship

You must have been living together with your sponsoring partner for at least 12 months in a partnership that is genuine and stable. It is not a requirement that you be married to the sponsoring partner. The term 'partnership' includes legal marriages, civil unions and de facto relationships.

Sponsoring partner

While applying for family category visa: Your sponsoring partner must satisfy the following requirements:

must not have acted as a partner in more than one previous successful residence class visa application (whether as principal applicant or as partner); and
must not have acted as a partner in a successful application for a residence class visa (whether as principal applicant or as partner) in the five years immediately preceding the date the current application is made; and
the New Zealand partner cannot, in the seven years prior to the date the application is made, have been the perpetrator of an incident of domestic violence which has resulted in the grant of a resident visa to a person under the category for victims of domestic violence; and
must meet general character requirement.