Extending the travel conditions of a resident visa

You can apply to extend your travel conditions for up to 12 months if, in at least 1 of  the 2 years before you apply, you spent 184 days or more living in New Zealand. We check our records to confirm this.

New Zealand tax residents can apply to extend their travel conditions for up to 12 months.

You are a New Zealand tax resident, if in the 2 years immediately before you apply for a variation of travel conditions:

• Inland Revenue confirms you had tax residence status for at least 12 months, and
• you spent 41 days or more in New Zealand as a resident in at least 1 of those 2 years.

Submit evidence of your tax residence status with your application including:

• a statement from Inland Revenue, or
• a Confirmation of tax resident status (INZ 1006) endorsed by Inland Revenue.

Confirmation of Tax Resident Status (INZ 1006) PDF 237KB

If you are also a tax resident of another country

Only New Zealand tax residents can apply to extend their travel conditions. Some countries have double tax agreements with New Zealand. If you are considered by Inland Revenue to be a tax resident in another country because of a double tax agreement, we will not consider you to be a New Zealand tax resident.

Double tax agreements | Inland Revenue

You can only apply for a variation of your travel conditions:

• at the same time as the principal applicant, or
• after they have applied for their variation.

You are normally granted the same travel conditions as the principal applicant, but there are some exceptions.

Non-principal applicant eligibility

When you apply you need to tell us why you want to extend your travel conditions and provide evidence to support your reasons for applying. This information helps us decide how long we will extend your multiple entry travel conditions for.

If you are seconded overseas as part of your New Zealand employment, you can apply to extend your travel conditions for 2 years. You can apply for this up to 4 times — this gives you a maximum of 8 years of multiple entry travel conditions.

With your application, include written confirmation from your employer:

• detailing the terms of your secondment
• saying how long it will last, and
• that they consider New Zealand to be where you would normally live.

If your visa was based on your relationship

You can apply to extend your travel conditions for 2 years if:

• we granted your resident visa on the basis of your partnership with a New Zealand citizen, and
• your relationship with that person is ongoing.

When you apply to extend your travel conditions, provide:

• a letter of support from your partner, and
• evidence that you are still living together.

If you have a resident visa in your own right

You can apply to extend your travel conditions for 2 years if you have been living with a New Zealand citizen in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months.

When you apply to extend your travel conditions, provide evidence that:

• your partner is a New Zealand citizen, and
• you have been living together in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months.

Partnership

If you are an Australian permanent resident or a citizen of Australia, you can travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you wish. Your New Zealand resident visa expires each time you leave.

You can apply to have multiple entry travel conditions added to your visa for up to 2 years if you:

• do not want your resident visa to expire each time you leave New Zealand
• plan to travel often and intend to:
• apply for a permanent resident visa, or
• sponsor a resident visa for one of your parents.

Australian Resident Visa — Travel conditions