RESIDENT VISAS

Resident Visas: Your Pathway to Permanent Residency in New Zealand

A resident visa offers the chance to live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely, giving you and your family stability and security in this beautiful country. At A+ Immigration Services, we specialize in helping migrants achieve their residency goals, assessing their circumstance and offering the best residence pathways.

Skilled Residence

There are 5 skilled residence pathways in New Zealand. These pathways are for people who have skills that will contribute to New Zealand's economic growth. You must have a job or job offer in skilled employment in New Zealand.

Skilled Migrant Category: 6 points
Straight to Residence: Green List Tier 1
Work to Residence: Green List Tier 2
Work to Residence: Care Workforce
Work to Residence: Transport Sector

Some of the visas on these pathways allow you to apply for residence straight away, such as the Straight to Residence Visa. Other pathways may require you to work in New Zealand before you can apply for residence, such as the Work to Residence Visa. You need to meet specified requirements for their pathway, along with standard requirements in areas like age, English language, health, and character.

Parent Resident Visa

The Parent Resident Visa allows parents of New Zealand citizens or residents to apply for permanent residence. To be eligible, parents must meet certain criteria, including having an adult child in New Zealand who can sponsor them. Additionally, the sponsoring child must meet specific income thresholds to ensure they can financially support their parent.

This visa is subject to an annual cap, which limits the number of visas granted each year. Due to this cap, applicants are entered into a ballot system, where selections are made randomly from the pool of applicants. Only those selected in the ballot can proceed with their residency application. As a result, there may be waiting periods depending on the demand and the number of available spots.

Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa

This visa allows partners of New Zealand residents or citizens to apply for residence. Applicants must prove that they are in a genuine and stable relationship with their New Zealand partner, meet health and character requirements, and demonstrate the duration of their relationship. Depending on the length of time the couple has been together, they may qualify for either a work visa or a resident visa.

Frequently asked questions

Resident Visas

This visa is for people who have skills that will contribute to New Zealand's economic growth. You must have a job or job offer in skilled employment in New Zealand. Your job must pay at least the median wage. You need 6 points to apply for the Skilled Migrant Category Resident Visa.

-Claim 3 to 6 points for your qualification (Bachelor’s degree or higher), New Zealand occupational registration or income. However, you cannot combine points from any of these skill categories. For example you cannot combine points from your qualification with points from your income.

-Claim 1 point for each year of skilled work in New Zealand, up to a maximum of 3 points. These points can be combined with the points from your qualification, New Zealand occupational registration or income.

Selections for the Parent Resident Visa ballot occur four times a year: February, May, August, and November, typically on the second Tuesday of the relevant month.

To be included in a selection, you must submit your Expression of Interest (EOI) by the last day of the month prior to the selection. For example, if you want to be considered for the August selection, your EOI must be submitted by 31 July.

Each year, enough EOIs are selected to meet the quota of 500 Parent Resident Visa approvals. If your EOI is not selected within two years, it will expire, and you will need to submit a new one.

You can submit your EOI online or via a paper form. If selected, you’ll need to meet income and sponsorship requirements to proceed with the visa application.