Religious Workers Resident Visa — Support a candidate's visa application
If you represent a religious organisation, which is also a registered charity, and need a religious worker long term, you can support their Religious Worker Work Resident Visa application. You can only employ people already living in New Zealand who have been doing religious work here on a valid Religious Workers Visa for at least 3 years.
To support your candidate's visa application, you must:
- have a long-term need for a religious worker
- offer them ongoing religious work and your sponsorship for at least 5 years.
This option lets you:
- employ people already living in New Zealand who have been doing religious work here on a valid Religious Worker Work Visa for at least 3 years.
How to support your candidate's visa application
Sponsorship
You must sponsor your candidate for a period of 5 years from the first day they are given residence.
To sponsor a religious worker’s resident visa application, you must be a representative of a religious organisation that:
- is registered as a charity with Charities Services
- can meet the requirements for acceptable sponsors for a period of 5 years after your Religious Worker’s Resident Visa is issued, including providing them with accommodation and financial support if they need it
- has a genuine need for the sponsored religious worker to do religious work for them.
You must complete a Sponsorship Form for Religious Workers, as evidence of your sponsorship.
Your responsibilities as a sponsor
Provide a job offer
You must provide religious work for at least 5 years.
The work you offer can be paid or unpaid, but it must be mostly made up of 1 or more of the following religious activities:
- teaching religious scripture or philosophy
- leading religious ceremonies, worship or prayer
- ordaining new religious leaders, initiating new members into your religious community, carrying out religious ceremonies
- providing spiritual guidance and care.
If the work is paid employment for salary or wages, you must provide an employment agreement that complies with employment law.
Employee rights and responsibilities — Employment New Zealand
Your employment agreement and job description must be included with your 'Sponsorship Form for Religious Workers'.
If the work is unpaid or paid by other means, you must provide a job description.
Process to support religious worker for a Religious Workers Resident Visa
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Step 1: Provide a job offer and sponsorship to religious worker
Give a job offer to the religious worker and make sure you include all of the information they will need to support their visa application.
Complete a Sponsorship Form for Religious Workers, as evidence of your sponsorship and also give this to the religious worker.
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Step 2: Religious worker applies for a resident visa
Your religious worker completes a residence application.
For us to accept their application, they must send us:
- all the information we ask for
- evidence they have an offer of religious work and
- a 'Sponsorship Form for Religious Workers' that you have completed and given to your candidate.
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Step 3: Wait for a decision
We make a decision about your candidate’s application as soon as we can. You can view our historic visa timeframes below.
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Step 4: Religious worker continues to work for you
If the religious worker is issued a Religious Workers Resident Visa, it will be conditional on:
- them doing religious work for you for a period of 5 years, and
- you sponsoring them for a period of 5 years from the first day we give them residence.