Visitor Visa for Guardians of Students

Who are guardians and what is their role? 

The primary function of guardians is to take care and protect the interests of a person who is deemed to be in need of such assistance. Most commonly, guardians act in the best interests of elderly or young people simply because those may not handle their affairs in an effective manner.

If a youngster is under 10 years of age and you are planning to apply for a student visa for them to study in New Zealand, by law they must be accompanied by either a parent or a legal guardian. who will live with, and care for them on a daily basis.

Such parents or guardians must have a legal right to stay in New Zealand. With this in mind, they may have to apply for a special Visitor Visa for Guardians of Students. The students’ and the guardians’ visas go hand in hand, and if you are wondering about how tight their connection is, consider the following example. If a student visa holder becomes liable for deportation from New Zealand, their guardian will find themselves in the same shoes and will have to leave the country to avoid unlawful status.

What if a student is older than 10?

Between 10 and 17 a New Zealand student visa holder may have a guardian, though this is not a must. 

What about domestic students?

These do not fall under the requirement to have a guardian. You may be curious whether your child needs a visa? Ask our immigration adviser today at your free online consultation. You will be amazed to know that children of holders of most work visas, for example, Essential Skills Work Visas are viewed as ‘domestic’.

In line with other temporary class visas, guardians will have to stay in compliance with all other requirements such as being of good character and having genuine intentions to comply with the visa conditions (‘bona fide’ visitors).