Victims of Family Violence Work Visa

You can apply for this visa if you have experienced family violence and have been in a partnership with New Zealand citizen or resident, or hold a partnership-based visa with a temporary migrant.

Length of stay

6 months

Cost

NZD $0

Processing time
is a
high priority
With this visa you can
  • Work anywhere in New Zealand for any employer.
Things to note
  • You can apply for this visa if you have experienced family violence and your partner was a New Zealand citizen or resident.
  • You can apply for this visa if you hold a partnership-based visa with another temporary migrant. For example, if you hold a Partner of a Worker Work Visa or a Partner of a Student Visitor Visa.
  • You cannot include dependent children in your visa application, but they can apply for visas based on their relationship to you.
    Dependent children

Who can apply

The criteria and evidence below will provide you with the information you need to meet the requirements of this visa.

View All Evidence

Acceptable photos

Note

If you do not have access to your passport or certificate of identity, provide your original birth certificate or certified copy.

Tips

You may provide your original passport or a certified copy when you submit your application. If you provide a certified copy, we may request your original passport to complete your application.

If you have a criminal conviction or are a security risk to New Zealand we may not be able to grant you a visa.

Good character for temporary visas

You must provide police certificates if your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer across all visits. This includes any time you have spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas, even if you have been out of the country since then.

You also must provide police certificates if we ask for them.

Police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your application. They must be from any country you are a citizen of, or have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

If you are 16 years old or younger you do not need to provide police certificates.

Providing police certificates

How to get a police certificate

If you have already sent us police certificates with a previous visa application and they are less than 24 months old, you do not need to send them again.

When we decide if your intentions are genuine (bona fide), we consider all the information:

  • you provide to support your application
  • we have about your personal circumstances, and
  • you provided in any previous applications.

Genuine intentions to visit, study or work in NZ

If your partnership was with a New Zealand citizen or resident and it has not previously been assessed by us, you may be required to provide evidence of your relationship. You can find more details of how we assess relationships and evidence examples on our partnership page.

Partnership

You need to provide evidence showing that:

  • the abuser is a family member or someone close to you, and
  • you lived at the same address.

Evidence can include:

  • a confirmation from the New Zealand Police
  • a statutory declaration by an authorised professional
  • a statutory declaration from you
  • any other evidence.

Professionals who can make statutory declarations for a family violence visa

Process and cost

2
We make a decision about your application

Your application for a Victims of Family Violence Work Visa will be determined by immigration officers who have received specialist training on this category.

If there is anything else you need to do, we will be in touch.

If you are in New Zealand, and your current temporary visa expires before your new visa is granted, we will normally issue you an interim visa to let you stay in New Zealand lawfully.

Interim Visa

Timeframes - Processing
is a high priority

You must apply for this visa in New Zealand. This visa is a priority for us.

How to submit

How to apply

Postal address

Immigration New Zealand
PO Box 76895
Manukau City
Auckland 2241
New Zealand

Courier address

Immigration NZ
DX Box: EP71514
20 Fairfax Avenue
Penrose
Auckland 1061
New Zealand

Conditions

Travel

After you arrive, you can travel in and out of New Zealand as many times as you like before your visa expires.

Work

You can work in any employment you like, as long as:

  • the work you do is legal
  • you do not provide commercial sexual services
  • you do not invest or operate in a business that provides commercial sexual services
  • you have any occupational registration that is needed to do that work in New Zealand.

Occupational registration

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes

If you want to stay longer you may be able to apply for another visa type depending on your circumstances.

Explore visas

If your partner was a New Zealand citizen or resident you can apply for a Victims of Family Violence Resident Visa.

If you have applied for a Victims of Family Violence Resident Visa you can apply for a further Victims of Family Violence Work Visa. Each work visa you are granted will allow you to stay and work in New Zealand for an additional 9 months while your residence visa is processed.

Victims of Family Violence Resident Visa