The culturally arranged marriage visa: how it works

When a match for someone in New Zealand is found in India, Fiji or anywhere else, the first practical question is how the other person gets here. Immigration New Zealand has a visa built for exactly this situation, the Culturally Arranged Marriage Visitor Visa, and because it is designed around how our families actually arrange a marriage, it is worth understanding before the families agree to anything.

This is a plain-English guide to the rules as published on immigration.govt.nz in October 2026. Rules change; check the current page before you apply, and for anything complicated use a licensed immigration adviser or a lawyer.

Who it is for

Someone who has recently married, or is about to marry, a New Zealand citizen or resident, where the marriage was arranged by family following a cultural tradition. It lets the person come to New Zealand for up to three months to marry and begin living with their partner, and it is the first step on the road to a partnership visa and, eventually, residence.

It is not for a couple who met on their own and want to marry in New Zealand; there are other visas for that. The whole point of this one is that the marriage was arranged.

The four conditions

Immigration New Zealand’s wording, in its own words, comes down to four things:

1. The marriage must have been “arranged by someone other than yourself or your partner, and follow an identified cultural tradition.” Parents, elders, a matchmaker, a granthi, a priest: the arrangement has to have come from outside the couple, and it has to follow a tradition you can name and describe.
2. “You must have met each other before you apply.” Not necessarily for long, and not necessarily more than once, but in person. A match arranged entirely by video is not enough on its own.
3. The partner in New Zealand must be a citizen or resident who is eligible to support the application: at least 18, of good character, and within the rules on how many partners they have supported before and whether they are liable for deportation.
4. Neither of you can already be married, and you cannot be close relatives.

The timing

If the wedding is to be in New Zealand, it must happen within three months of arrival. If the wedding has already happened overseas, the application must be made within three months of the wedding. The visa itself allows a stay of up to three months, and it must not be overstayed.

Immigration New Zealand publishes a fee from NZ$441 and says about 80% of applications are decided within five weeks. Plan the wedding date around that, not the other way round.

What has to be shown

This is where arranged marriages done well are at an advantage, because the evidence Immigration New Zealand asks for is the paper trail of a proper rishta:

• Evidence that the marriage was arranged, such as records of communication with the matchmaker or the families, or a written account of how the arrangement was made and by whom, and of the tradition it followed.
• Evidence of the relationship, dated from after both of you turned 18: the meeting, the engagement, the families’ involvement.
• The partner’s side: the completed partner support form (INZ 1146) and the partner’s sharing ID.
• Money: at least NZ$1,000 a month for the stay, or NZ$400 a month if accommodation is already paid for, or an acceptable sponsor.
• Onward travel: a return ticket, or the money to buy one.
• Identity: a passport and an acceptable photo, and English translations of anything not in English.
• Health and character: good health is required; for a stay under six months a chest X-ray is normally not needed, and for a stay under twelve months a medical certificate is normally not needed, though either can be asked for. Police certificates are generally needed only where the total time in New Zealand will reach 24 months, but can be requested at any time.

Keep everything from the first introduction: who introduced whom, when, the family calls, the engagement. Families who treated the arrangement as a formal process have an easy application; families who did everything by phone and remembered nothing have a hard one.

What you can and cannot do on it

The visa does not allow work, although Immigration New Zealand notes that remote work for an overseas employer may be possible. Study is allowed for up to three months in any twelve. Dependent children can be included in the application.

After the wedding

Before the three months are up, the person applies from inside New Zealand for a partnership visitor visa or a partnership work visa, which can allow a stay of up to three years in total depending on how the relationship is assessed. If that visa is still being processed when the arranged-marriage visa expires, an interim visa keeps them lawful in the meantime. Partnership residence comes later, once the couple has been living together long enough to meet the partnership rules.

Which means the three months are not a holiday. Living together from the wedding, sharing an address and finances, and keeping the evidence of it, is what the next application is judged on.

Where a matrimonial site fits

Immigration New Zealand wants to see that the match was arranged by family within a tradition and that the two of you met before applying. A match found on Rishta is usually both: families are involved from the first message if they choose to be, a parent can make and manage the profile, and the conversations and the families’ calls are a record of how the rishta was arranged. Meeting in person before the application is on you.

If the match is already here, none of this applies and the only paperwork is the marriage itself, which our guide to registering a marriage in New Zealand covers.

This guide describes the published rules as at October 2026 and is not immigration advice. Check immigration.govt.nz for the current requirements and fee, and talk to a licensed immigration adviser about your own situation.