Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa
Please Note: Temporary visa applications from outside New Zealand or a quarantine-free travel zone are currently suspended, unless you are exempt.
You can visit New Zealand to marry a New Zealand citizen or resident in a culturally arranged marriage, or live with them if you were married overseas. Once you live with your partner you can apply for a 12-month work visa.
- COME TO NEW ZEALAND TO GET MARRIED.
- COME TO NEW ZEALAND AFTER GETTING MARRIED OVERSEAS.
- APPLY FOR A PARTNERSHIP VISA ONCE YOU LIVE WITH YOUR PARTNER IN NEW ZEALAND.
- The marriage must be arranged by someone other than you or your partner (like a family member or a matchmaker) and follow an identified cultural tradition.
- If you come to get married in New Zealand your wedding must be within 3 months of arriving.
- If you get married outside New Zealand you must apply for your visa within 3 months of your wedding.
- records of any communication between the parents of the couple and any other person acting as a go-between or matchmaker
- documents indicating that the arrangement or ceremony is publicly recognised
- confirmation from a independent source that the arrangement or ceremony is part of the couple’s cultural customs
- a written account of how the marriage was arranged
- any other documents that show your marriage is culturally arranged.
Arrangements for your marriage, including facilitating the selection of who will get married, must be made by someone other than you or your partner.
Health and Character requirements:
You may need to have a chest x-ray, a medical examination or both as proof of your good health.
You may need to provide police certificates as proof of your good character.
If you are aged 17 or older and plan to stay in New Zealand for more than 24 months (including any time you have already spent in New Zealand), you must provide police certificates from:
- any country you are a citizen of
- any country you have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.
You do not need to provide police certificates if:
- you have provided them to us with an earlier visa application, and
- they were issued in the previous 24 months.
Genuine Intentions
You must genuinely intend to meet all the conditions of your visa
Your marriage must have no legal impediments
Legal impediments include, if:
- you, or your partner is already married to someone else
- you and your partner are close relatives.
We’ll ask you about your marital status and relationship to your partner when you fill in your application
You must have enough money to live on while you’re in New Zealand or have an acceptable sponsor
You must have at least NZ $1,000 per month, or NZ $400 per month if you’ve already paid for your accommodation.
Evidence can include:
- proof of accommodation pre-payment, like hotel pre-paid vouchers or receipts
- bank statements
- credit card statements
- bank drafts
- travellers’ cheques
- a ‘Sponsorship Form for Temporary Entry’ completed by an acceptable sponsor.
If you are sponsored, your sponsor must provide evidence they can look after you in New Zealand. Evidence can include:
- recent bank statements
- pay slips
- employment agreement
- accommodation ownership or payment of rent.
You must have a ticket to leave NZ or be sponsored for the cost of your onward travel
Your partnership must meet the requirements
You and your partner must be 18 or over when you apply. If either of you are 16 or 17, you must have your parents’ or guardians’ support.
You must have met each other before you apply.
Your NZ partner’s immigration status
Your partner must provide one of the following:
- a New Zealand passport
- a New Zealand birth certificate
- a certificate of New Zealand citizenship
- a New Zealand residence class visa.
If your partner is a New Zealand resident because of their citizenship or residence status in Australia, they may provide their Australian passport, permanent residence or resident return visa.
Your NZ partner’s character
Your partner must meet our good character requirements or be granted a character waiver. We may ask your partner to provide a police certificate from any country they have spent 12 months or more in over the last 10 years. This applies whether the time was spent in one or more visits.
Your partner will not meet our character requirements if they have any convictions for domestic violence or sexual offences. If your partner does not meet our character requirements, we will consider whether they are eligible for a character waiver.
Eligible NZ supporting partner
To be eligible to support a partnership based resident visa application, your partner must not:
- have supported a successful resident visa application for more than one previous partner
- have supported a successful resident visa application for a previous partner within the last 5 years
- have included a previous partner in their own successful residence application, within the last 5 years
- have themselves been included as a partner in a successful residence application, within the last 5 years
- be liable for deportation, or have their deportation liability suspended.
Your partner must complete a ‘Partnership support form for Residence/temporary entry’ as evidence of their support’.
