Eligibility Quiz
Are you (the sponsor) 18 years or older and currently living in New Zealand?
Requirements
Eligibility is divided into two parts: the Sponsor (the person already in New Zealand) and the Applicant (the family member overseas).
1. The Sponsor
To sponsor a family member, you must be at least 18 years old, live in New Zealand, and be a New Zealand citizen or hold a residence class visa. Crucially, you must have originally been granted residence in New Zealand as a:
- Refugee or Protected Person;
- Afghan interpreter; or
- Afghan evacuee who supported the New Zealand Defence Force.
The "One-Time" Rule: You can only successfully sponsor a family member under this category once. If you have previously sponsored someone who obtained a visa under the RFSC or the former Refugee Family Quota, you are ineligible to sponsor again.
Tier 1 vs. Tier 2 Priority
The system prioritizes those with no family in New Zealand:
- Tier 1 (Currently Open): You qualify if you have no other family members eligible for residence under any other category and no immediate family (partner, parent, or adult child) living lawfully and permanently in New Zealand. (An exception exists if you are the sole carer of a dependent relative in NZ).
- Tier 2 (Currently Closed): This tier is for sponsors who do have immediate family in New Zealand. You must have been a citizen or resident for at least 3 years and spent at least 184 days in New Zealand in each of those years. Note: Tier 2 only opens if the annual 600-person quota is not filled by Tier 1.
2. The Applicant
The person being sponsored must be a family member.
- Tier 1 can sponsor: A parent, grandparent, grandchild, uncle, aunt, nephew, niece, adult sibling, or adult child.
- Tier 2 can sponsor: A parent, adult sibling, adult child, or grandparent (only if the grandparent was the sponsor's legal guardian).
- Exclusions: The applicant cannot apply if they qualify for a New Zealand visa under any other category (such as a standard Partnership or Parent visa).
Conditions & Warnings
Tier 2 registrations are currently closed and will be returned if submitted.
Strict annual quota of 600 places often leads to multi-year backlogs.
Sponsors can only successfully use this pathway once in their lifetime.
All family members must be included in the initial registration or they may be barred from future residence.
Qualifications
No language requirement mentioned for this humanitarian pathway.
Fees
No sponsorship registration fee, visa application fee, or immigration levy. Applicants must pay for medicals and police certificates.
Program Details
New Zealand is on our roadmap
We can notify you when we're ready to support New Zealand.
Key Developments
The New Zealand government confirmed that the annual quota for the Refugee Family Support Category will remain at 600 places for the 2025–2028 cycle, while folding expired subcategories like the Afghan refugee allocation back into general protection places.
immigration.govt.nz ↗Updated immigration instructions clarified that while Tier 1 sponsor registrations remain open, Tier 2 registrations are currently closed and will only reopen if annual places are not filled by Tier 1 applicants.
immigration.govt.nz ↗Immigration New Zealand implemented a new requirement that all supporting documents not written in English must be accompanied by a certified English translation to be accepted for processing.
immigration.govt.nz ↗