Residence Visa NZ

Residence Visa for New Zealand

Know about the 2021 Residence Visa

NZ Residency Requirements:

To live in New Zealand permanently, you must have an New Zealand Resident Visa followed by a Permanent Resident Visa after two years and then Citizenship if you so desire. Most pathways leading to New Zealand residency start with a Temporary Visa, which allows you to work, study or own a business in New Zealand.

There are a few types of visas which allow residence in New Zealand right away, such as the Skilled Migrant Category visa. However, you need to comply with the conditions attached to your visa, to ensure your pathway to the residence is not interrupted.

Migrating to a new country is a huge decision, and therefore before moving to New Zealand permanently, you will need to consider which visas you are eligible for and whether those visas lead to permanent residence NZ.

You also need to make sure that you are ready to move to New Zealand because you will need enough time to complete the requirements of your Temporary or NZ Resident Visa conditions.

The government-funded public services that you will be able to access in New Zealand depends on the visa you hold. The easiest visa to get isn’t necessarily the best.

The range of popular visas that will allow you to live in New Zealand permanently are:

Skilled Residence Pathways

• Straight to Residence Visa – You can apply for this visa if you work or have a job offer from an accredited employer and the job is in an occupation listed on Tier 1 of the Green List.
• Work to Residence Visa (Green List pathway) – You can apply for this visa if you work or have a job offer from an accredited employer and you have worked in a role that is in Tier 2 of the Green List for at least 24 months
• Care Workforce Work to Residence Visa – You can apply for this visa if you work or have a job offer from an accredited employer and have worked for 24 months in a care workforce role
• Transport Work to Residence Visa – You can apply for this visa if you work or have a job offer from an accredited employer and you have worked in New Zealand for 24 months in a transport role.
• Skilled Migrant Category (SMC) Resident Visa – You can apply for this visa if you work or have a job offer from an accredited employer and meet the 6-points An Expression of Interest (EOI) needs to be submitted for this.

Family Residence Pathways

• Partner of a New Zealander Resident Visa
• Parent Retirement Resident Visa
• Parent Resident Visa
• Dependent Child Resident Visa

Business Residence Categories

• Active Investor Plus Visa
• Employees of Relocating Business Resident Visa
• Entrepreneur Work Visa
• Entrepreneur Resident Visa

Other Residence categories:

• Religious Worker Resident Visa
• Intercountry Adoption Resident Visa
• Australian Resident Visa

Transitional Residence Categories

If you have been granted a Work Visa under Long Term Skills Shortage List or Talent Visa then you can test your eligibility for residence under these categories if you are currently on that visa and have held that visa for at least 24 months –

• Long Term Skill Shortage List Resident Visa
• Talent (Accredited Employer) Resident Visa
• Talent (Arts, Culture, Sports) Work Visa
• Talent (Arts, Culture, Sports) Resident Visa

Residence Visa NZ fee:

For indicative consultation & visa fees please click here

Resident visa NZ processing time:

The time taken by Immigration New Zealand to process an application differs from category to category. The processing times can be found here

If you would like to know more about Residence Visa pathways, process, assessment criteria and the pitfalls that you should be aware of, please call us today on +64 9 379 0219 or email contact@nzimmigration.info