Partner's age limit?

[gcapd]

Hi there. My dad applied for his residence visa and included my mother as a partner/wife. We realized that she is 56 years old from the time of lodgement. I believe 55 years old is the cut off age for residency. Will this disqualify my mother from the application? Thanks in advance.

[JandM]

What kind of residence visa is it he has applied for?

[gcapd]

South Island Contribution Work to Residence Visa

[gcapd]

South Island Contribution RESIDENCE VISA sorry.

[Kelerei]

Not all residence class visas have an age limit applied to them (the Skilled Migrant Category is probably the best known example where there is an age limit applied).

For the South Island Contribution Resident Visa, there is no mention of an age limit for principal applicants under the relevant immigration instructions (RW8). Any dependent applicants must meet the generic criteria at R2.1 to be included in the application -- there is no consideration of age for a partner (INZ's primary concern here is that the partnership is genuine and stable), but there are upper limits on age for dependent children. As such, it appears that your partner's age will not be considered by INZ when making their decision.

In fact, it appears that for the Work to Residence streams, INZ applies age restrictions on principal applicants at the point where the initial Work Visa is applied for, and does not apply them when the subsequent application for the associated Resident Visa is made. For South Island Contribution, compare RW8 (the Resident Visa instructions) with WR7 (the Work Visa instructions) -- the age restriction is at the point where the initial Work Visa is applied for, per WR7.10(g). A quick check of other Work to Residence streams indicates that this pattern holds for Talent (Accredited Employer), Talent (Arts, Culture and Sports) and Long Term Skills Shortage List as well.

[JandM]

Also, a simpler summary under the heading Bring family https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...-visa#criteria repeating what Kelerei has found. There's no mention of an age restriction.

[gcapd]

Thank you for the enlightenment.