One of the ways to migrate to New Zealand (NZ) is for family reunification purposes. If you have a relative who lives in this country, depending on your relation with the said person, you can apply for one of the many visas issued for family reunification in NZ. The law applicable here provides a wide range of visas, and a part of them will be presented in this article.
If you need legal assistance and legal representation on the issuance of a visa for family reunification, we invite you to request extensive information from our immigration lawyer in New Zealand, who is qualified to offer numerous immigration services for all categories of foreigners interested in relocating in this country for short-term stays or for permanent relocation.
Our team can help all foreigners in the process of obtaining a family reunification visa, regardless of their country of residence. Persons moving from USA to New Zealand, those relocating from Europe, Asia or Africa can easily contact our team for advice.
Our clients can obtain information on the visa options, the documentation that must be prepared, notarial services that must be completed for certain documents, etc.
Our lawyers can assist in the formalities imposed for residency in New Zealand. They must be initiated if a person will stay here for a period of more than 90 days.
In this case, the person must apply for a residence permit and those interested in permanent residency can obtain it after living here for minimum 2 years. Tax residency in New Zealand is imposed after spending 183 days on the country’s territory.
Table of Contents
What are the main visas for family reunification in NZ?
According to the Immigration Office, foreigners are entitled to apply for visas for family reunification based on their relation with their relative who is relocated to New Zealand. In the following section, you can discover few of the visas that are prescribed by the law on immigration in New Zealand:
- Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa – this visa is available for foreigners who are in a relationship with a person who has received the NZ permanent residency or who is a NZ national;
- Child of a Worker Visitor Visa – provided that you arrived here for employment purposes, you can apply to bring your children in NZ under a visa that grants the right to temporary residency;
- Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa – if you are the parent or the grandparent of persons who live here, you can arrive here under this visa category;
- Child of Student Visitor Visa – another way to obtain a visa for family reunification in NZ is if you are the child of a person who has arrived here to enroll in local universities (under this visa type, you can reunite with the parent for the entire duration of the visa issued for the parent);
- Partner of a Military Visitor Visa – in the case in which your partner is a military and has arrived here under a military visa, then you will be entitled to reunite with him or her under this visa type.
Things to know about various visas for family reunification in NZ
If you want to immigrate to New Zealand under any of the visas presented above, or other visas that can be obtained for the purpose of reuniting with family members, you will get specific rights (related to study or work, the duration of the residency) or various obligations (meeting various financial thresholds). In the following list, we present few of such matters:
- the Parent Retirement Resident Visa grants the right to permanent residency, but the visa holder must have an annual income of NZ$60,000, along with the obligation to invest in NZ NZ$1 million in 4 years;
- the Partner of New Zealander Visitor visa grants the right to stay here for a period of 2 years;
- various visas grant the opportunity to study in NZ for 3 months, but not work here (this is the case of the Partner of a Student Visitor Visa or the Partner of a Military Visitor Visa);
- the Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa allows the possibility of staying here for a period of 18 months in a 3 years period;
- the Child of a Worker Visitor Visa can be used by parents who arrived here for employment as long as the children have an age below 19 years old.
Are there any visas for family reunification in NZ for refugees?
Yes, persons who migrate to NZ as refugees have the possibility of obtaining family reunification visas for their family members living overseas. However, this possibility is available only as long as the person who arrived here as a refugee or as a protected person received the NZ residency in between his or her arrival and the moment when the application for family reunification in NZ is done.
Below, we invite you to watch a video on how to obtain a family reunification visa in New Zealand:
However, there are few things one should be aware of. First, this visa option is capped at 300 visas per year. Still, in the case of a successful application, the person who was issued with this visa can migrate to NZ on an indefinite basis and this will open the legal pathway not just to simply stay in this country, but also to study and work here.
The refugee visa for family reunification can be used for various close relatives, including the spouse or the partner of the applicant, as well as for any dependent children with an age below 24 years old. For the procedure that has to be completed in this case, our immigration lawyer in New Zealand remains at your disposal.
We invite you to address to our lawyer in the case in which you are interested in applying for permanent residency or if you want to know the steps for obtaining citizenship in this country. You are welcome to contact us for any matter that is regulated under the law for immigration to New Zealand.
