NZ Parent Resident Visa category which was effectively closed since 2016 due to suspension of selection of EOIs finally restarts with an increased annual quota from 1,000 to 2,500 visas, lower income requirements for sponsors and allowing 2 adult children as sponsors rather than just one adult child.

PARENT RESIDENT VISA OVERVIEW

Parent visa is a two-step invitation only process with parents initially submitting their expression of interest to apply for parent resident visa and subsequently applying for the visa upon receiving invitation to apply. As mentioned, parent visa is subjected to an annual quota of 2,500 visas and EOIs will be selected from the pool (for pre-12 October 2022 EOIs) or drawn by ballot (for EOIs submitted on or after 12 October 2022) as under:

• Existing EOIs in the pool as as on 11 October 2022 and meeting the new reduced sponsor income criteria will be selected from the pool every 3 months in the date order of submission. Those who have withdrawn their EOIs but meet the reduced income requirements, will be reinvited to apply. The first selection will take place on 14 November 2022
• All those submitting new EOIs effective from 12 October 2022 will go in the ballot and remain the ballot earlier of selection or 2 years from submission. 500 visas will be issued annually from the ballot. First random draw from the ballot will take place in August 2023 and EOIs can be submitted physically (paper application) anytime now or online from May 2023.

All those selected will be Invited To Apply (ITA) for parent resident visa and can submit their resident visa application thereafter.

CAN I SUBMIT MY EOI IN PARENT RESIDENT VISA EOI BALLOT NOW?

New EOIs under parent resident visa category can be submitted in the ballot anytime from 12 October 2022. However, considering that EOI expires within 2 years from submission, the 1st ballot draw will take place only in August 2023 and selection will be done by ballot (not date of submission of EOI), it is in your interest to submit the EOI closer to the ballot draw date to take advantage of the maximum time within the 2 year validity period. As EOIs will be selected randomly, date of submission will be irrelevant for selection.

PARENT RESIDENT VISA REQUIREMENTS

To qualify for the parent resident visa, parents must meet the following requirements:

• not have any dependent children;
• be sponsored by either 2 adult children or one adult child and partner;
• sponsor must meet the following sponsorship requirements:;
• • Should be aged 18 years or over;
  • Must either be a New Zealand citizen or resident adult child residing in New Zealand for at least 3 years and spent 184 or more days in New Zealand in each of these 3 years;
  • Singly or jointly with another adult child or partner earn at least 1.5 times the median wage in New Zealand for 2 of the 3 years before being invited to apply for residence;
  • Sponsor minimum income requirements depends whether there is a single or joint sponsor, number of parents being sponsored and number of parents sponsored earlier and currently ranges between NZ $86,611.20 to NZ $202,092.80;
  • If sponsoring jointly with partner, the partnership requirements must be met;
  • Commit to meet parents living expenses for 10 years, if parents are unable to meet the same.
• meet English language requirements or pre-purchase English language tuition;
• meet Health and Character requirements.