We investigated relationships between saccadic and vergence components of gaze shifts as ten humans switched visual fixation between targets aligned in the mid-sagittal plane that lay in different vertical directions and at different distances. When fixation was shifted between a higher distant target and a lower near target, peak convergence velocity followed peak vertical saccadic velocity by a median interval of 12 ms. However, when fixation was shifted between a lower distant target and a higher near target, peak convergence velocity followed peak vertical saccadic velocity by a median interval of 76 ms. For the two stimulus arrangements, the median intervals by which peak divergence velocity followed the peak vertical saccadic velocity were 4 ms and 20 ms, respectively. The dissociation interval between the peak velocities of convergence and upward saccades increased with vertical saccade size, required convergence angle and elevation of the endpoint of the movement. Velocity waveforms of vergence responses were more skewed when peak velocity was closely associated with saccadic peak velocity than when the vergence responses were delayed. Convergence peak velocities did not vary in any consistent pattern, but divergence peak velocities were generally smaller with responses that were delayed. Vergence movements were accompanied by small, high-frequency conjugate oscillations, suggesting that omnipause neurons were inhibited for both types of responses. In conclusion, the present findings indicate that the dynamic properties of horizontal vergence movements depend upon the direction and timing of vertical saccades; these findings suggest experimental tests for current models of saccade-vergence interaction.