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Pathway

New Zealand Refugee Family Resident Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

An eligible refugee-background New Zealand citizen or resident can register to sponsor certain relatives for residence. The category has 600 places a year and currently accepts only Tier 1 registrations. The named relative can apply after selection and an invitation; registration alone does not give residence.

Sponsor
An eligible New Zealand citizen or resident from a specified refugee or protected-person background
Current registrations
Tier 1 only; new Tier 2 registrations are not being accepted
Tier 1 relatives
A parent, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, adult sibling, or adult child, with eligible accompanying family

Summary

New Zealand’s Refugee Family Support category provides a residence process for eligible relatives of qualifying sponsors, who must first register under the applicable family-support tier. Current registration is limited to Tier 1; new Tier 2 cases are not being accepted. The relative's residence application follows the program's selection and invitation process rather than arising automatically from the family link.

Sponsoring family through Refugee Family Support
  1. Check the sponsor and Tier 1 rules Confirm the original residence category, family situation, and earlier sponsorships.
  2. Register all eligible family members The New Zealand sponsor submits the registration and keeps details current.
  3. Apply for residence if selected and invited Provide the required records within the 12-month deadline.

Registration alone does not grant residence, and the family must be unable to qualify under another residence category.

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Eligibility

The sponsor must be at least 18, be in New Zealand, and be a New Zealand citizen or hold a current Resident Visa or Permanent Resident 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 name 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 main 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. Permission to leave and return as a resident has an expiry date. Permanent residence is a separate later step.

The current rules waive the residence application fee and immigration levy, 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, name all the family members to be included, 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 submitted 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. Check that the sponsor meets the Tier 1 rules and is not excluded because of an earlier sponsorship.
  3. Identify one eligible main 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.

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Sources