Citizeo
Pathway

New Zealand Family Violence Resident Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

New Zealand's Victims of Family Violence Resident Visa is a protected route for people whose partnership with a New Zealand citizen or resident ended because of family violence and who cannot safely return home.

Type
Protected family-violence residence
Relationship
Former partnership with a New Zealand citizen or resident
Core requirements
Evidence of relationship, violence, partner status, and inability to return
What to know
Sensitive pathway where expert help is strongly recommended
What it gives
Approval grants residence and lets the applicant and included children live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely.
Main limit
It is not limited to married applicants, and the abuser does not have to be the New Zealand partner.

Summary

The Victims of Family Violence Resident Visa is a protected residence route for a person whose partnership with a New Zealand citizen or resident has ended and who has experienced family violence. The violence may have been committed by the partner, another family member, or another close person who lived with the applicant in a family relationship.

The applicant must also be unable to return to their home country for one of the reasons defined by Immigration New Zealand (INZ). The application currently has no visa fee and, if approved, grants residence independently of the former partner.

Pathway fit check

Eligibility

The applicant must have been in a partnership with a New Zealand citizen or resident, and that partnership must have ended. If INZ has not assessed the partnership before, the applicant may need to prove it was genuine and stable. Marriage is not required.

The applicant must prove family violence using evidence accepted under the immigration rules. Depending on the facts, this can include a New Zealand protection order, a relevant conviction, a Police complaint supported by a statutory declaration, or statutory declarations made in the prescribed way by the applicant and qualifying professionals. General relationship conflict without evidence meeting the rules is not enough.

The abuser must have been a family member or someone close to the applicant, and the two must have lived together in a family relationship. The applicant must also show that returning to the home country is not possible because either:

Evidence may address employment and education history, available support, and how separated, single, or divorced people are treated in the home community. The applicant and included children must meet identity, health, and character requirements.

Single dependent children aged 24 or younger may be included. Children aged 18 to 24 must have no children of their own; the usual dependency evidence should be prepared where required.

What This Route Allows

Approval grants residence and lets the applicant and included children live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely. The applicant can work for any employer and is no longer dependent on the former partner for immigration status.

The visa normally has travel conditions for 2 years from the first arrival as a resident. A Permanent Resident Visa may be available later if its separate requirements are met. The travel conditions must remain valid for return travel until permanent residence is granted.

What This Route Is Not

It is not limited to married applicants, and the abuser does not have to be the New Zealand partner. It is also not enough that a relationship ended badly: the family-violence evidence and the specific inability-to-return test must both be met.

The visa is not a sponsorship process involving the former partner. Applicants should not assume they must contact the abuser to prepare the case; the official evidence rules provide other ways to prove family violence.

Next Steps

  1. Address immediate safety needs first; call New Zealand emergency services on 111 if there is immediate danger.
  2. Confirm the former partner's New Zealand citizenship or residence and preserve relationship evidence.
  3. Compare the available family-violence records with INZ's exact accepted-evidence rules before filing.
  4. Gather evidence of cohabitation with the abuser and explain the family relationship.
  5. Document the applicable inability-to-return ground with financial, employment, education, community, country, or professional evidence.
  6. Prepare identity, medical, police, translation, and dependent-child records and use a safe address and contact method for the application.
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