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Pathway

New Zealand Refugee Family Resident Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

New Zealand's Refugee Family Support Resident Visa can help some family members join a New Zealand citizen or resident who was granted residence as a refugee, protected person, or certain Afghan pathway holder.

Type
Refugee family residence
Sponsor
Eligible refugee-background New Zealand citizen or resident
Core requirements
Sponsor eligibility, registration, invitation, relationship, and admissibility
What to know
The sponsor-registration tier matters
What it gives
If approved, the named family members receive New Zealand residence and can live, work, and study indefinitely.
Main limit
It is not a general family sponsorship route for every refugee-background resident, and it does not let the overseas applicant register themselves.

Summary

The Refugee Family Support Category is a capped residence route through which an eligible refugee-background sponsor in New Zealand can nominate certain family members. It uses a two-tier registration queue with 600 places a year. Tier 1 receives priority, and INZ is currently accepting only Tier 1 sponsor registrations.

The sponsor registers first. If INZ selects and accepts the registration, the named overseas family member is invited to apply for the Refugee Family Support Resident Visa. Registration or selection does not itself grant residence.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The sponsor must be at least 18, be in New Zealand, and be a New Zealand citizen or hold a current residence-class visa. They must have received New Zealand residence based on refugee or protected-person status, or one of the specified Afghan interpreter or evacuee categories, including certain accompanying partners and dependent children.

The sponsor must not have previously sponsored a successful Refugee Family Support or Refugee Family Quota case and must meet the general acceptable-sponsor rules. The category is for family who cannot qualify under another residence category.

Tier 1 is generally for a sponsor who has no immediate family living lawfully and permanently in New Zealand, or is the sole carer of a dependent relative there and has no other immediate family in New Zealand. A Tier 1 sponsor may nominate one parent, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, adult sibling, or adult child, plus that person's partner and dependent children.

Tier 2 has narrower family options and additional 3-year sponsor residence and physical-presence requirements. It is considered only if places remain after Tier 1, and INZ is not currently accepting new Tier 2 registrations.

After selection, the named principal applicant and included family must meet health and character requirements and apply within 12 months of INZ notifying the sponsor. Only family members named in the registration can normally be included, subject to the limited newborn rule.

What This Route Allows

If approved, the named family members receive New Zealand residence and can live, work, and study indefinitely. Travel conditions remain time-limited, and permanent residence is a separate later step.

The residence application and immigration levy are exempt from fees under the current operational instructions, but applicants still face document, medical, translation, travel, and settlement costs.

What This Route Is Not

It is not a general family sponsorship route for every refugee-background resident, and it does not let the overseas applicant register themselves. The New Zealand sponsor must qualify, register the exact family unit, wait for selection, and remain eligible.

Being “ready to register” is not the same as being eligible to apply for residence. A Tier 2 case also cannot be newly lodged while INZ accepts only Tier 1 registrations.

Next Steps

  1. Confirm the sponsor's original New Zealand residence category and current citizenship or residence status.
  2. Test the sponsor against the Tier 1 definitions and prior-sponsorship exclusions.
  3. Identify one permitted principal family member and every partner or dependent child to be named.
  4. Submit the current Tier 1 registration form and keep INZ informed of changes.
  5. If selected, gather passports, civil records, police certificates, medicals when requested, translations, and evidence that no other residence category applies.
  6. File the residence application within the 12-month invitation period.
Compare your options

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Sources