The New Zealand Government has announced a change to immigration health requirements that will affect dependent children of temporary visa holders. Effective from 17 March 2025, if new student and visitor visa applicants who are applying as a dependent child (of a work, student, or military visa holder) have a severe cognitive impairment or developmental disorder that requires significant support, they will no longer meet the health requirement threshold.<\/p>\n
This update aligns the health requirements<\/a> for temporary entry visas with those already in place for residence class visas. However, it is important to note that this change does not apply to children applying for a Fee Paying Student Visa.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Government has introduced this change to:<\/p>\n This measure is intended to reduce the likelihood of families settling in New Zealand under temporary arrangements, only to later discover they are ineligible for residence due to the health requirements of their dependants. By setting clear expectations from the outset, the Government aims to make the immigration journey more transparent and fair.<\/p>\n Ultimately, the policy seeks to balance New Zealand\u2019s immigration objectives\u2014welcoming people needed for work, study, or travel\u2014while maintaining a sustainable healthcare and education infrastructure.<\/p>\n It\u2019s important to understand how your dependent children can also obtain the appropriate visa. There are two main pathways available:<\/p>\n Please note: Dependent children are not eligible for work visas.<\/p>\n The definition of a dependent child varies on the visa type (resident or temporary) they are applying for and the child\u2019s age.<\/p>\n A child is considered dependent for a resident visa if they:<\/strong><\/p>\n Additional requirements:<\/strong><\/p>\n For temporary visas such as student visas (primary or secondary level) or most visitor visas, a child is considered dependent if they:<\/p>\n Note that if the child is 18 and\/or 19 they must not have children of their own.<\/p>\n Important: There are specific exceptions for children aged 20 to 24 who may still be considered dependent if they are:<\/p>\n Navigating visa eligibility and application requirements can be complex. At Absolute Immigration NZ, our team of migration experts are here to guide you every step of the way\u2014ensuring the right visa pathway for your family or business.<\/p>\n Contact our immigration experts on aisupport@absoluteimmigration.com<\/a><\/p>\n Photo credit: Tourism NZ Visual Library The New Zealand Government has announced a change to immigration health requirements that will affect dependent children of temporary visa holders. Effective from 17 March 2025, if new student and visitor visa applicants who are applying as a dependent child (of a work, student, or military visa holder) have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":54532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[217,283,580,579,500],"class_list":["post-54520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-immigration","tag-new-zealand-visas","tag-policy-update","tag-student-visa","tag-visitor-visa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54520"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54566,"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54520\/revisions\/54566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/absoluteimmigration.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Key reasons for change<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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A more transparent and sustainable approach<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>Understanding visa options for dependent children<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Who is considered a dependent child?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Resident visa \u2013 dependent children<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Temporary visas \u2013 dependent children<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Children aged 20 or over cannot be included in a parent\u2019s visitor or student visa application and, in most cases, are not eligible to apply for a visa solely based on their relationship with you. They will need to submit their own individual visa application to join you in New Zealand.<\/p>\nExceptions \u2013 Child of a New Zealander or Worker visitor visas<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Eligible residence visas include:<\/h4>\n
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Need support with dependent child visas?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
.<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"