Contents
Emergency Housing: Contents

Residence criteria

To qualify for an Emergency Housing Grant, a client must meet the following residence criteria:

  • qualify for and be getting a main benefit, New Zealand Superannuation or Veterans Pension
    or
  • be ordinarily resident in New Zealand at time of application and
    • be a New Zealand citizen or
    • hold or be deemed to hold a residence class visa under the Immigration Act 2009 or
    • be recognised as a refugee or a protected person in New Zealand under the Immigration Act 2009 or
    • qualify for and be getting the Special Needs Grant Family Violence Programme (for people who have come to New Zealand on a temporary visa with intention of applying for a residence visa under the spouse or de facto partner policy, but the relationship has ended due to family violence and they are now living apart from their partner and have lost all financial support)

Australia clients

Australian citizens or residents are lawfully allowed in New Zealand, as they are considered to hold a residence class visa.

However, they must still be ordinarily resident in New Zealand and meet all other qualifications for an Emergency Housing Grant.

For more information see:

Legislation

  • Residential criteria clause 10 Emergency Housing Grants Programme
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A protected person under the Immigration Act 2009 means a person recognised as a protected person in New Zealand under the:

Legislation

A refugee means a person recognised under the Immigration Act 2009 as:

or

Legislation

A person can be a New Zealand citizen by either:

For New Zealand citizenship, New Zealand includes the self-governing states of:

Citizenship is granted by the Department of Internal Affairs.

Note people born in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, or Tokelau may not automatically be New Zealand citizens. To be considered a New Zealand citizen from birth, a person born on or after 1 January 2006 must have:

A residence class visa means a:

A residence class visa allows people to live in New Zealand indefinitely. The visa also lets people work and study in New Zealand. There are different travel conditions based on the type of residence class visa.

Residence class visas are granted by Immigration New Zealand.

For the purpose of deciding if a person meets the residence criteria for financial assistance from MSD, people who ...