Question
Will being HIV positive affect my move to New Zealand?
21 October 2021. Related: All topics, Travel.
I was planning to move to New Zealand with my wife and start a fresh life together. I have just found out that I may be HIV positive. Will this affect my plans to get a job or even the application forms?
Answer
NOTE: In October 2021 further HIV restrictions were removed in New Zealand. See:
https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2021/october/new-zealand-lift-travel-restrictions-hiv
Thank you for your question.
Being HIV positive will not affect you visiting New Zealand. If you are looking to move there permanently being HIV positive will make you ineligible for a residential and working visa.
However, don’t lose hope because Australia is currently reviewing its policies on HIV positive people migrating to live there. The laws are already relaxing and the renewed policies should be in place within the next 1-2 years.
New Zealand immigration would not comment on whether they would also change their policies when I contacted them. In the past Australia and New Zealand have adopted similar immigration practices to encourage movement between the neighbouring countries. To follow any progress on this go to the New Zealand immigration site
Good luck
This post was updated in 2021 from an original Q in 2010.
Hi Shat, The Netheralnds have no restrictions for people living with HIV. This means that no medical certificate or HIV test is required for entry.
Are you able to contact your local Netherlands embassy for further information about migrating?
Hi ,Am a mother of four kids I have HIV but my kids don’t have but I want to move to the Netherlands and work for my kids future …can I also move will it be possible for me???coz it’s the only hope I have for my kids brighter future…so where I can get help from who should I contact in order to process for the paper work
Hi Ryan, what is your fear for your girlfriend having contracted HIV? Are you on medication, or have you been using condoms? Since October 2021 NZ HIV testing is no longer a restriction for applying for NZ residency. Presumably your girlfriend is applying to remain longer than 12 months. In this case she will be required to test for HIV but even if she did test positive this would not be a barrier to her application. Instead it is considered wholly to assess her application completely but it no longer holds weight to prevent success of the application.
Hey there I’m an nz citizen living with hiv. I have
A South african girlfriend who has moved to nz with her family and they are going through the process for residency. I’m worried that she may have contracted hiv from me is there still hope for her family to live here
Hi Lisa,
Please see the post above. At the moment you might have issues getting in, not because of your status, but because of the pandemic.
Hello am planing visit New Zealand with a visiting letter but my fear if I will be allowed because am HIV Positive with medical
Hi Johann,
As the above post explains, New Zealand has issues with regards to permanent residency for people who are posiitve. Your best option is to contact the New Zealand embassy in South Africa. They should be able to advise you if there have been any changes and what the procedure is.
We are looking at immigrating to New Zealand from South-Africa. I am hiv + but my husband is hiv-. Will it be possible for us both to become permanent residents?
Hi Ram, I am sorry that your friends and family treated you and your wife so badly. There are lots of HIV positive people in Nepal so perhaps linking together you can help change things. I am sorry that i-Base is a resource about HIV treatment (not immigration etc). From the answer to the main question above, New Zealand doesn’t sound easy but other countries might have better policies. If you contact the Embassy or website for each country, you can ask similar questions.
Hi, i am from India but i live in kathmandu nepal because my wife from nepal only we get married in 2000, we are both HIV Positive, we get to know our status in 2011 after know our status we lost everything like family relation, friends,and job everything because of our society so that we don’t want to live kind of society…. so we are planing to move from here for better future and fresh better life so please help me or suggest, guide me how can i apply for Newzeland, Canada or any other country where we can live without discriminating life please mail me any kind suggestion….
Regards
Ram