INZ 1178 Partnership Support Form: Fill In Online

What is INZ 1178 partnership support for residence?

When someone applies for New Zealand residence as the partner of a New Zealander, the New Zealand partner fills in the INZ 1178 Partnership Support Form. It confirms you're eligible to support them and that you're living together in a genuine and stable partnership.

The form asks for your details and immigration status, any partners you've supported before, convictions for domestic violence or sexual offences, the countries you've lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years, police certificates, and details of your partner and the family members in their application. It ends with a statutory declaration.

FileIt prints your answers onto Immigration New Zealand's own PDF in capital letters, as the form asks, with dates in their boxes and names with accents printed correctly. You then sign it in front of a Justice of the Peace, lawyer or notary.

Who fills it: The New Zealand partner (citizen, resident or Australian passport holder)
Given to: Your partner, for their Partnership Category residence application
Signatures: The New Zealand partner, witnessed by a person authorised to take statutory declarations
Police certificates: For countries you lived in 12 months or more in the last 10 years, less than six months old
Edition: INZ 1178 March 2021

Who needs to fill out INZ 1178 partnership support for residence?

New Zealand citizens and residence class visa holders supporting a spouse, civil union or de facto partner.
Australian passport holders living in New Zealand who support a partner's residence application.

When to use INZ 1178 partnership support for residence

When your partner applies for residence under the Partnership Category.
After checking you're eligible: no partnership-based support in the last five years, or more than once before, and no disqualifying convictions.

What you need before you start

Your passport or identity document details and immigration status.
The dates you lived in each country for 12 months or more in the last 10 years.
Police certificates for those countries if you're 17 or over (INZ obtains the New Zealand one).
Your partner's name and address and details of family members in their application.
The date you began living together, and a Justice of the Peace, lawyer or notary to witness your signature.

What’s on INZ 1178 partnership support for residence

The 2021 edition has 8 pages. FileIt asks for it in 10 parts:

To support a person under Family — Partnership CategoryNew zealand partner
Section A — Your details (A1-A10)New zealand partner
Section A — Contact details (A11-A14)New zealand partner
Section A — Partners you have supported before (A15)New zealand partner
Section A — Convictions, countries lived in and police certificates (A16-A18)New zealand partner
Section B — Details of the person being supportedNew zealand partner
Section C — DeclarationNew zealand partner
Section C — Witness details (if known in advance)New zealand partner
Section D — Immigration adviser's detailsNew zealand partner
Section E — Declaration by person assisting the New Zealand partnerNew zealand partner

How to fill out INZ 1178 partnership support for residence, step by step

1 Eligibility

Confirm you're a citizen, resident or Australian passport holder and that you're the partner of the person you're supporting.

2 Section A — about you

Give your details, immigration status, address, previous partners you've supported, convictions and the countries you've lived in.

3 Section B — your partner

Name your partner and the family members in their application, their country of residence, address, and when you began living together.

4 Section C — declaration

Answer the consent and confirmation questions and give your occupation. FileIt prints your name and address; the witness completes their part.

5 Sections D and E

Only if an immigration adviser or someone else helped you with the form.

Common mistakes to avoid

Signing the declaration before you're in front of the witness.
Leaving out countries you've lived in for 12 months or more, even intermittently.
Sending police certificates older than six months.
Getting advice from an unlicensed adviser, which makes Immigration New Zealand return the form.

After you fill it out

Sign Section C in front of a Justice of the Peace, lawyer or notary.

Attach the documents on the checklist: evidence of your immigration status and police certificates.

Give the form to your partner to include with their residence application.

FileIt keeps the completed PDF in your vault.

Fill out INZ 1178 partnership support for residence online with FileIt

Pick the person. Choose someone from People and FileIt fills in their name, date of birth, address and other details it already knows.
Answer plain-language questions. One part of the form at a time, with the official help text beside each question — 133 fields in all. Your answers save as you go.
Check the live preview. Watch your answers land on the real Immigration New Zealand (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) form, and let FileIt do any worksheet arithmetic.
Generate the official PDF. FileIt prints your answers into the agency’s own PDF and files it in that person’s folder in your vault.

FileIt fills the form — it never files or submits anything for you. Deliver the finished form to whoever asked for it, the way the form’s instructions say.

Start INZ 1178 partnership support for residence now — it’s free

INZ 1178 partnership support for residence: frequently asked questions

Who signs the INZ 1178?

The New Zealand partner signs the declaration, witnessed by a person authorised to take statutory declarations. Anyone who helped with the form signs Section E.

What counts as a partner?

The form says a partner is someone you're legally married to, in a civil union with, or in a de facto relationship with, opposite or same-sex.

Do I need a police certificate from New Zealand?

No. If you've lived in New Zealand for 12 months or more, the form says INZ obtains the New Zealand certificate after you submit.

Can I support more than one partner?

Applications won't be approved if you supported a partnership-based residence grant in the previous five years or more than one before.

Official sources

Blank form (PDF), published by Immigration New Zealand (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment): https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/forms-and-guides/inz1178.pdf
Official instructions and guidance: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/documents/forms-and-guides/inz1178.pdf
Edition shown on this page: INZ 1178, March 2021 (checked 2026-10-25).

FileIt is not affiliated with or endorsed by Immigration New Zealand (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) or any government. This page explains the form in general terms and is not legal, tax or immigration advice. Always read the official instructions, and check that you are using the edition the recipient accepts. Page last reviewed 2026-10-25.