- 2 acceptable photos of your head and shoulders
- your original or a certified copy of your passport or certificate of identity
- your original or a certified copy of your full birth certificate.
South Island Contribution Resident Visa
You can apply for New Zealand residency if you have a South Island Contribution Work Visa, and have remained employed in the same industry and region for the last 2 years.
Length of stay
Indefinitely
Cost
Processing time
With this visa you can
- Live, work and study in the region recorded on your South Island Contribution Work Visa.
- Include your partner and dependent children aged 24 and under in your residence application.
Things to note
- To apply for this visa, you must have held a South Island Contribution Work Visa for 2 years.
South Island Contribution Work Visa
What you need to apply
Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.
View All Evidence
If you are 17 or over, you must provide a police certificate from:
- your country of citizenship
- any country you have lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years.
Police certificates must be less than 6 months old at the time you apply.
If you provide a police certificate that is not in English, you must provide an English translation.
This includes police certificates that record no convictions.
You must have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of your good health.
You must:
- currently hold a South Island Contribution Work Visa
- have held a South Island Contribution Work Visa for 2 years
- have been employed for 2 years in a full-time role in the region and industry specified by your South Island Contribution Work Visa.
Employment must have been with an employer who is not included on the list of non-compliant employers.
You must hold current employment or have an offer of employment which is:
- full-time
- paid by salary or wages
- genuine
- sustainable and ongoing (i.e. permanent or indefinite, or for a stated term of at least 24 months)
- based in the South Island region recorded on your South Island Contribution Work Visa
- based on terms and conditions which are not less than those of the New Zealand market
- with an employer who has a history of compliance with immigration and employment law, and is not included on the list of non-compliant employers maintained by the Labour Inspectorate.
You can include your partner and dependent children in your application for a resident visa.
You must provide evidence:
- of your relationship with your partner and dependent children
- that your partner and dependent children meet the identity, character, and health requirements for this visa
We will automatically consider your child dependent if they were granted a work visa when your South Island Contribution Work Visa was granted.
Process and costs
The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.
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Enter country detailsHow to submit
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Enter country detailsConditions
These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.
Entry permission
You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing a digital New Zealand traveller declaration (NZTD), or an NZTD paper declaration.
New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.
You can be refused entry permission if:
- you don’t meet our character requirements
- your circumstances have changed since you were granted a visa
- you refuse to let us to take your photo, or provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if we ask you for them.
Travel
You can travel in and out of New Zealand as often as you like until your travel conditions expire — normally 2 years from the date you first arrive in New Zealand as a resident.
If you are outside New Zealand when your travel conditions expire, your visa will expire as well.
To travel in and out of New Zealand after your travel conditions expire, you need to apply for:
- a variation to your travel conditions, or
- a Permanent Resident Visa.
Your travel conditions will expire 2 years from the date you first arrive in New Zealand as a resident.
If you are outside of New Zealand when your travel conditions expire, your visa will expire as well.
Keep your visa in a valid passport
If you want to travel, your visa must be in a valid passport.
If your passport expires, you must apply to transfer your visa to a new passport before you can travel.
To transfer your visa, you must:
- send us your old and new passports
- complete an ‘Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa’
- pay a transfer fee.
Application for transfer or confirmation of a visa
Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa (INZ 1023) PDF 375KB
Work
You must work in the region specified in your visa approval letter for 24 months from the date your resident visa is granted.
The region specified will be the same region as specified by your South Island Contribution Work Visa.
You must provide evidence you have met your visa conditions within 30 months of being granted a resident visa.
Study
Once granted a resident visa, you can do any study you like.