Family Category
 
Please note that this information was gathered from publicly available information on the Immigration New Zealand website. It is summarised here for your information only, SA Going To NZ does not claim to have any knowledge of the immigration process and as such this article is not immigration advice. It is up to you to decide which immigration option is best for you. Although this information is valid at the time of writing, it is important to ensure that it is still so by visiting the INZ site and checking for yourself.
You can do that on the Immigration New Zealand website HERE
 

In order to immigrate under this category you must already have family in New Zealand that are citizens or Residents. Obviously a cousin of a cousin is not considered family, it needs to be direct family like your partner, child, parent, brother or sister. That family member as well you yourself will need to meet certain requirements before your application will be granted. Let's look at the requirements for yourself first.

In this article we are presuming that you are the person wanting to immigrate to New Zealand and your partner / family member is already in New Zealand

Your Requirement for the Family Category
1) Be able to prove your partnership / relationship to/with the person sponsoring you.
2) be of good health and character
3) you may be required to prove English language ability in certain cases.

Your Partner / Family Member's requirements
1) Have no domestic or sexual offences against their name in the past 7 years or been the perpetrator of an incident of family violence that enabled another person to gain premanent residence as a result of that violence in the past 7 years.
2) have not sponsored more than one other family member. In the case of a partner you may not have sponsored a partner in the previous 5 years.
3) Meet the minimum income requirement of ND$29 897, 92c gross p/a
4) have been a citizen or resident for at least the past 3 years and have spend at least 184 days per year in those 3 years inside New Zealand
5) the balance of family for the person who is being sponsored must be in New Zealand after the sponsorship.

What does balance of family mean?
It means that the majority of the family must be in New Zealand if that person joins you. NZIS call it your family centre of gravity. Here are a few examples below of a parent who wants to join his / her children in New Zealand to illustrate this concept a bit better :

Parent with no dependent children

Parent with no dependent children
No. of children
In New Zealand
In home country
Third country
Eligible?
2
1
1
YES
5
2
1
2
YES
4
1
1
2
NO
6
2
1
3
NO
6
2
1
2
YES

Parent with dependent children

Parent with dependent children
No. of children
In New Zealand
In home country
Third country
Eligible?
2
1 adult
1 dependant
YES
4
1 adult
1 adult, 2 dependants
NO
4
1 adult
2 dependants
1 adult
NO
4
1 adult
1 adult, 1 dependant
1 adult
YES
6
2 adults
2 dependants
2 adults
YES

You can obtain more information regarding the Family Sponsorship category by visiting the Immigration New Zealand website HERE