Want to join your partner while they study in New Zealand?

This is a work visa for the partner of an international student. It is normally granted for the same length as the student’s own visa.

You can work for any employer, in any job, anywhere in New Zealand, as long as the work is legal and you hold any occupational registration the job requires. You cannot provide commercial sexual services, or invest in or operate a business that provides them.

You can be self employed or own a business, but you cannot employ anyone, either directly or through a business you operate.

You can study for up to three months in any 12 month period. You can also travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you like while your visa is valid.

This visa is not available to every partner of every student. Whether you are eligible depends on what your partner is studying.

Your partner’s course has to be one of the following, and it has to be the actual course they are enrolled in, not a related or similar one.

• A Level 9 or 10 qualification on the New Zealand Qualifications and Credentials Framework. This covers master’s degrees and doctorates, of any subject.
• A Level 7 or 8 qualification specified for a Green List role, listed in Appendix 13 of INZ’s Operational Manual either as the role’s entry requirement or as a registration qualification.
• A Level 7 or 8 qualification on INZ’s list of qualifications eligible for a Post Study Work Visa.
• A Level 7 or 8 qualification on the former Long Term Skill Shortage List, only if your partner’s study started on or before 7 September 2022.

A Postgraduate Diploma does not qualify automatically. It must be an exact qualification specified for a Green List role or on the Qualifications Eligible for a Post-Study Work Visa list.

A standard bachelor’s degree with no professional registration or Green List link, and most diplomas and certificates, do not qualify. Check your partner’s specific qualification against INZ’s list of Post Study Work Visa qualifications and the Green List in Appendix 13 before relying on it, and check again close to when you apply. These lists change, and eligibility is assessed against the list as it stands on the day you lodge your application, not the day your partner enrolled.

From 25 September 2026, both the applicant and the supporting partner must be 18 or over at the time of applying. The previous option for 16 and 17 year olds to apply with the consent of a parent or guardian has been removed.

To be granted the visa, you must:

• Have an eligible supporting partner. Your partner must hold, or be applying for, a New Zealand student visa for one of the qualifications above, and must complete INZ’s Form for Partners Supporting Partnership-Based Temporary Entry Applications (INZ 1146).
• Be living together. You and your partner must be living together in a genuine and stable relationship at the time you apply, not planning to once you arrive.
• Have at least NZD 4,200 available for your living expenses, shown through bank or credit card statements, bank drafts or traveller’s cheques.
• Be in good health. Assessed from your answers on the application; see the health section below.
• Be of good character. See the character section below.
• Have genuine intentions for coming to New Zealand, assessed on the whole of your application and anything INZ already knows about your circumstances.

Your supporting partner must meet INZ’s supporting-partner character requirements or be granted a character waiver. A student visa holder will not meet those requirements if, during the seven years before the partnership application, they were convicted in New Zealand or overseas of an offence involving domestic violence or an offence of a sexual nature. If this applies, INZ must consider whether a character waiver is justified.

You need to show how long you have been together, how long you have lived together, that you share finances and other responsibilities, that you spend time together, and that other people recognise the relationship. Photos, correspondence, joint accounts and leases, and statements from people who know you as a couple all help. Our Proof of Relationship Guide sets out what INZ weighs most heavily and the mistakes that weaken an otherwise genuine relationship’s evidence.

Health
You do not automatically need a chest X-ray or medical certificate. INZ asks you health questions when you apply, and your answers decide whether evidence is required. As a general guide, you will not normally need a chest X-ray if you are staying less than six months, and you will not normally need a medical certificate if you are staying less than 12 months. If you are staying more than six months, you will need a chest X-ray if you are a citizen of, or have spent more than three months in the last five years in, a country that does not have a low incidence of tuberculosis. Even where nothing is required at the time you apply, INZ can still ask for evidence later while your application is being processed, so it pays to check before you lodge rather than assume.

Character
You must be of good character, and INZ may ask for a police certificate as proof. A certificate is required, less than six months old when you apply, if you are 17 or older and your total time in New Zealand, including any earlier visas, will be 24 months or longer. It must come from every country you are a citizen of and every country you have spent more than five years in since turning 17. If you provided a certificate with an earlier application, you don’t need a new one provided it is less than 24 months old, or less than 36 months old if you are the partner of a PhD student.

A conviction, or being assessed as a security risk, can mean INZ declines the visa outright. Non-English certificates need a certified translation, even where they record no convictions.

You can work for any employer, in any legal job, anywhere in New Zealand, provided you hold any occupational registration the job requires. You can be a sole trader, but if you operate a business you cannot employ staff through it, directly or indirectly. You can study for up to three months in any 12-month period without a separate student visa, and travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you like while the visa is valid.

You cannot include dependent children in your work visa application. They must make separate applications. A dependent child aged 19 or younger may be eligible for a Dependent Child Student Visa based on your Partner of a Student Work Visa.

A child studying at primary or secondary school may be treated as a domestic student, meaning international school tuition fees may not be payable. A Fee Paying Student Visa may instead be required for tertiary study or where the child does not meet the dependent-child requirements.

If your partner’s course is not on Level 9 or 10, and not one of the specified Level 7 or 8 qualifications above, you are not eligible for this work visa. The usual alternative is the Partner of a Student Visitor Visa, which lets you be in New Zealand with your partner and study for up to three months. You cannot work in New Zealand on it, although you may be able to work remotely for an employer or client based outside New Zealand.

You can apply for the Partner of a Student Work Visa at the same time your partner applies for their student visa. You will only be granted the visa after your partner’s application is approved.

It is worth checking both options early, because switching from a visitor visa to a work visa later still depends on your partner’s course meeting the same qualification test.

You can lodge your application at the same time your partner applies for their student visa. INZ will not decide your case until your partner’s student visa is approved, so your visa is always the second decision. If you are already in New Zealand on another visa that is due to expire while you wait, INZ will normally issue an Interim Visa so you remain lawful, though an interim visa’s conditions are not always identical to the visa you are waiting for, so check what it allows before relying on it to work.

• The course does not actually qualify. A course that sounds like it should be on the Green List or the Post Study Work Visa list, but is not, or an intake that started after a list changed. Check the specific qualification, not the subject area.
• Thin relationship evidence. Evidence that shows the relationship exists but not that you are living together in a genuine and stable way, particularly for couples who have been together only a short time or have spent long periods apart.
• The supporting partner’s character. A conviction or an incomplete INZ 1146 form can hold up or sink the application even where your own case is straightforward.
• Funds that don’t add up. Statements that don’t clearly show NZD 4,200 available, or that overlap with money already committed to your partner’s tuition and living costs.
• Applying before the student visa is lodged, or with mismatched dates, which can leave your application waiting on a file that does not yet exist.

The application fee starts from NZD 1,630. INZ’s published processing time is 80 percent of applications decided within five weeks, though this changes with volumes, so check the current figure on INZ’s Partner of a Student Work Visa page before you plan around it.

Can my partner support my visa on any bachelor’s degree?
No. A standard bachelor’s degree only qualifies if it is specifically listed as the entry or registration requirement for a Green List role. Most bachelor’s degrees do not qualify on their own.

Do I need a job offer?
No. You can work for any employer in any legal job once the visa is granted.

Can I apply before my partner’s student visa is approved?
Yes, you can apply at the same time, but INZ will not grant your visa until your partner’s student visa is approved.

How long does the visa last?
The same length as your partner’s student visa.

Can my children come with me?
Not in your initial application. Once you hold the work visa, you can support them to apply for their own visa.

What if my partner finishes their course early or changes course?
Your visa was granted on the basis of a specific qualification. If your partner’s course or qualification changes, get advice before assuming your visa is unaffected.