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Pathway

New Zealand Dependent Child Resident Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

A New Zealand citizen or resident can support a resident visa for a single dependent child aged 24 or younger. Older children face additional rules about having children of their own and financial dependence. The parent normally must live in New Zealand. First check whether the child is already a citizen.

Supporting parent
A New Zealand citizen or resident whose main home is normally in New Zealand
Maximum age
24
Dependency
Single; ages 18–24 must have no children, and ages 21–24 must also depend financially on an adult

Summary

New Zealand’s dependent-child residence category lets an eligible child join a citizen or resident parent, with evidence of the legal parent-child relationship and any required custody, consent, or adoption records. For older children, immigration considers actual support, work, study, and living arrangements when deciding whether the child is dependent. Living with a partner means the child is not treated as single.

Check previous family applications and any overseas adoption before relying on this route. Some children omitted from earlier family applications are excluded, and many overseas adoptions fall under restrictions introduced in September 2025. The child must also meet the applicable health, character, and English requirements.

Applying for residence for a dependent child
  1. Check citizenship, age, and dependency Confirm that the child needs a visa and meets the rules for their age.
  2. Document the parent-child relationship Check custody, consent, adoption rules, and any earlier family applications.
  3. Apply with the required personal and financial records Check the conditions and travel dates on the approved visa.

An independent adult child does not qualify simply because their parent lives in New Zealand.

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Eligibility

The supporting parent must be a New Zealand citizen or resident, be the child's parent under the relevant legal rules, and have the legal right to remove the child from their home country. New Zealand must normally be the parent's main place of residence.

The child must be 24 or younger and single. The detailed dependency rules are:

For an older dependent child, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) considers work, study, ability to support themselves, living arrangements, and the financial support actually provided. A child living with a partner is not treated as single.

The child must meet health and character requirements and, where the relevant residence rules require it, English requirements from age 16. Consent, custody, and adoption evidence may be needed. An overseas adoption must be recognized under New Zealand law. Interim restrictions introduced on September 18, 2025 exclude many overseas adoptions; check the exempt-country and adoption rules before relying on an order.

Important exclusions apply where a child could have been included under the former Family Quota, Refugee Family Support Category, Samoan Quota, or Pacific Access Category but was left out. For other omitted children, INZ may ask why the child was not included in the parent's original residence application.

What This Route Allows

The child can live, study, and, when old enough, work in New Zealand indefinitely. Any conditions attached to the supporting parent’s visa under section 49 also apply to the child’s resident visa.

The child’s permission to leave and return as a resident has an expiry date, shown in the visa’s travel conditions. Permanent residence and citizenship are later, separate steps and depend on the child's circumstances and the conditions attached to the residence.

What This Route Is Not

It is not available to an independent adult child merely because their parent is a New Zealand citizen or resident. It is also not a way to avoid custody, other-parent consent, or intercountry-adoption requirements.

The supporting parent's status alone does not prove dependency. For a child aged 21 to 24, detailed current financial evidence is central.

Next Steps

  1. Check first whether the child is already a New Zealand citizen.
  2. Confirm the supporting parent's status and main residence in New Zealand.
  3. Gather the child's full birth or adoption record and custody records, consent, or proof of the legal right to take the child out of their country.
  4. For ages 21 to 24, prepare bank transfers, living-cost records, study records, employment evidence, and an explanation of dependency.
  5. Review whether the child should have been included in an earlier residence application.
  6. Prepare identity, medical, police, and any English evidence, then apply online.

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Discussed in these reports

Other routes in New Zealand.

Sources