Immigration Act 2009, ss 81–85 INZ Operational Manual: Temporary Entry, E7.32, L2.30

If you apply for a Temporary Visa, Immigration New Zealand can instead grant a Limited Visa, which lets you be in New Zealand for a particular purpose only – this could be, for example, to go to a wedding or funeral, to get medical treatment, to do a short full-time study course, to visit a sick or injured relative, or to do seasonal work like picking fruit.

The visa has to include an expiry date, but the immigration laws don’t set down any maximum time a Limited Visa can be granted for.

Immigration NZ will consider granting a Limited Visa if you’ve applied for a Student Visa or Visitor Visa and they’ve decided there’s a small risk you’ll stay in New Zealand illegally after the visa expires (they call this “overstaying”). But for any greater risk – what Immigration NZ calls a risk that’s “more than marginal” – they’ll refuse you a visa.

Immigration Act 2009, ss 81(c)(i), 85, 206(2)(a)

Limited Visas have some important restrictions that don’t apply to Temporary Visas:

• As a Limited Visa holder, you can’t apply for a different type of visa, whether before or after your Limited Visa expires – you can only apply for another Limited Visa.
• Once your Limited Visa expires and you’re here illegally, you can be deported from New Zealand immediately, with no right to appeal your deportation to the Immigration and Protection Tribunal.
• Once your Limited Visa expires, you can’t ask for a visa as a special case under section 61 or through a special direction.

Immigration Act 2009, s 80

If you’re in New Zealand under a Temporary Visa and you’ve applied for another visa (whether a Temporary or Resident Visa), Immigration New Zealand can grant you an “Interim Visa” so that you can maintain your legal status while they’re dealing with your application. This normally happens automatically.

Interim visas are normally granted for either 6 months or until a couple of weeks after your visa is declined, whichever is first. Immigration NZ normally doesn’t keep issuing interim visas even if it takes them longer than 6 months from when your interim visa was issued to decide the application, which is why it is good not to rely on interim visas.