Partnership Resident Visa NZ: Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa

The Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa, often called the partnership resident visa, lets the partner of a New Zealand citizen or resident live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely. You can apply once you have lived together in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months, counted from when you were both 18. As at 3 November 2026 it costs from NZD $5,360, and INZ decides 80% of applications within 7 months (immigration.govt.nz).

If you have not reached 12 months of living together yet, this page is the destination rather than the next step. Start with our Partnership Work Visa guide, which covers the work and visitor options most couples use first.

Who can apply for the partnership resident visa?

You can apply if your partner is a New Zealand citizen or resident, you are both 18 or older, and you have lived together in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months since you both turned 18. Your partner has to support the application, and you both have to meet INZ’s health and character rules.

Three conditions catch people out:

• Your partner’s own status. If your partner’s residence comes from an Australian passport, Australian residence or a Resident Return Visa, they must be living in New Zealand when you apply. If your partner holds a work visa rather than residence, this visa is not available; look at the Partner of a Worker visa instead.
• Your partner’s sponsorship history. Your partner must not have supported a successful resident application in the past 5 years, or in more than one successful application in total.
• Deportation liability. Your partner must not be liable for deportation, and a suspended liability still counts against them.

How is the 12 months of living together counted?

INZ counts only the time you have shared one home as a couple, and since 25 September 2026 only the time after you were both 18 (immigration.govt.nz). A tenancy you shared at 17 is left out, so neither of you can qualify before 19. Resident applications lodged before 25 September 2026 are not affected. Our guide to the age rules covers the transition in detail.

The 12 months has to be shown, not stated. INZ looks for evidence spread across the whole period: a joint tenancy or property records, utility bills, and official mail addressed to each of you at the same address. Flatmate arrangements, holidays together, and keeping separate homes while staying at each other’s places do not count as living together.

If you have spent time apart, document why, for how long, and how you kept the relationship going. An unexplained gap draws more scrutiny than a documented one, and contradictions between your timeline, your partner’s statement and your documents are one of the most damaging problems in a partnership case.

What evidence proves a genuine and stable relationship?

Living together is one part of the test; the other is that the relationship is genuine and stable and likely to last. INZ weighs official records (a marriage or civil union certificate, joint bank accounts in active use, shared property, children’s birth certificates) more heavily than informal evidence such as photos and letters from friends.

A marriage certificate on its own does not pass the test. It proves the legal status, not the shared life. Couples without one can still qualify; our guide to applying without a marriage certificate explains what replaces it, and culturally arranged marriages have their own guidance.

What health and character checks apply?

You need a chest X-ray and a medical examination for this visa, and both must be less than 3 months old when INZ receives them (immigration.govt.nz). Our visa medical guide explains the process.

If you are 17 or older, you need police certificates less than 6 months old when you apply, from each country you are a citizen of and each country where you spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years. The certificates must show your record from any time, not only the last 10 years. Your partner must meet the character requirements too and provides police certificates from countries where they spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 17. See our police certificate guide for how to order them.

Can I stay in New Zealand while the application is processed?

Only on a valid temporary visa. A pending resident application does not keep you lawful on its own, so you need a visa that covers the whole processing period, which at 7 months for 80% of applications can outlast a visitor or work visa. Plan a further temporary application before your current visa expires. If you apply for a further temporary visa before your current one runs out, INZ normally grants an interim visa while that application is decided (immigration.govt.nz).

What can you do on the resident visa, and what comes next?

The resident visa lets you live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely. You can do almost any legal work and study anywhere for any length of time.

Your travel conditions last 2 years from your first arrival as a resident, or from the date the visa is issued if you are already in New Zealand. If you applied from outside New Zealand, you must arrive within 12 months of the visa being issued. If you are overseas when the travel conditions expire, the visa expires too, so plan any long trips around that date.

After 2 years in a row on the visa you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa, which removes the travel limit. After 5 years living in New Zealand as a resident you may be eligible for citizenship without getting a Permanent Resident Visa first.

INZ has one narrow exception. When you apply, it may grant a Permanent Resident Visa straight away if your partner is a New Zealand citizen, you have lived together for at least 5 years, and your partner has lived outside New Zealand for at least 5 years, spending less than 3 months a year here. It is discretionary, so treat it as a possibility rather than a plan.

Can my children be included?

Yes, children aged 24 or younger can be included in your application. You must be their parent or legal guardian, and they must be single (living with a partner means they are not single) and meet the health and character requirements. Children aged 18 or older must not have children of their own, children aged 21 to 24 must be financially dependent on you, and children aged 15 or younger need evidence they can legally leave their home country. Our dependent child visa guide covers the wider rules.

How do you apply?

1. Check you meet the 12-month rule from the date you were both 18, and that your partner’s status and sponsorship history fit INZ’s limits.
2. Ask your partner to complete the Partnership Support Form for Residence (INZ 1178).
3. Book your medical and X-ray close to lodging, so they are less than 3 months old when INZ receives them, and order police certificates for both of you.
4. Gather living-together and relationship evidence covering the full period, with certified translations where needed.
5. Apply online through INZ and pay the fee, and keep your temporary visa current while you wait.

If your case has gaps in the timeline, earlier visa declarations that don’t match, or a partner with sponsorship history, it is worth a review before you lodge. Book a free 15-minute discovery call: we’ll listen to your situation and match you with the right IAA-licensed adviser.