Partner of a Worker Work Visa NZ

No. Working Holiday Visas are explicitly on the ineligible-supporting-visa list. The Working Holiday Visa is a holiday-primary visa with limited work rights and isn't recognised as a basis for partner support. Your options would be: apply for a Partnership-based Work or Visitor visa (a different category, evidenced against the genuine-and-stable test), or apply independently for a Visitor, Student, or Work visa in your own right.

Depends on the specific job. The general rule for Level 4–5 is NZD $52.50/hour. But if your partner's job is in the care workforce, transport sector agreement, or on the Green List, lower thresholds apply ($28/hr for care/transport with sector rates, $35/hr for Green List). If your partner was already supporting you on this visa on 26 June 2024, the grandfather rule applies at $26.85/hr. Talk to a licensed adviser about the specific job; the wage rule has more exceptions than the headline number suggests.

Any legal employment, including self-employment without hiring employees. The work rights are broad, with no employer-specific or ANZSCO-specific restrictions. This differs from the AEWV (which is tied to a specific accredited employer and Job Check role) and from the Working Holiday Visa (which restricts permanent positions and business ownership).

Yes, but only up to 3 months in any 12-month period. Beyond 3 months of study, you'd need a Student Visa. The 3-month allowance is for incidental study (English language classes, professional development, short courses), not for completing a degree or diploma.

No. They're 2 separate visa categories. The Partner of a Worker Work Visa (this one) requires your supporting partner to hold an eligible NZ work visa. The Partnership-based Work Visa (under partnership-based visas) requires your supporting partner to hold NZ citizenship, NZ residence, or Australian citizenship/residence. The two visas have different supporting-partner requirements and different evidence stacks; choosing the right category depends on your supporting partner's status.

Material changes to your supporting partner's situation can affect your visa. If your partner switches employers (and the new role doesn't meet the wage threshold), if the new role is in a different ANZSCO level, or if the supporting partner's visa is cancelled or expires, your Partner of a Worker visa is affected. Notify INZ of material changes; concealing changes is a separate compliance issue beyond the underlying eligibility question.

As a current guide, INZ aims to process 80% of Partner of a Worker Work Visa applications within around 6.5 weeks (about 3 weeks on average). INZ updates these figures weekly, so confirm the latest on immigration.govt.nz. A complete, well-evidenced application (especially the relationship evidence stack and the supporting partner's wage evidence) is the biggest factor in avoiding delay.

Usually yes, for any further stay. Partner visas are assessed and dated against the visa your supporting partner holds, and the Partner of a Student Work Visa and Partner of a Worker Work Visa are separate categories with different requirements. When your partner moves onto a Post-Study Work Visa, your continued stay is normally a fresh Partner of a Worker application supported by that new visa. Time it so you hold a valid visa throughout the transition, and remember that an interim visa's conditions can differ from the work rights you hold today.

Dependent children apply in their own right as dependents of the principal work-visa holder: usually a dependent child student visa for school-age children, or a dependent child visitor visa for younger ones. The supporting worker must meet the dependent-child income threshold (currently NZD $58,240 per year; confirm the current figure with INZ). Many dependent children of work-visa holders can enrol in school as domestic students, but confirm that status with INZ and the school before relying on it. Our dependent child visas guide covers the detail.