The New Zealand government has just announced changes to the Parent Resident visa category.
The parent category has been closed by the Immigration Minister the Hon Michael Woodhouse in late 2016 to clear a backlog of applications.
This visa allows parents of adult New Zealand citizens or residents to join them.
1) While this is good news, the income thresholds for sponsors have been significantly raised.
2) Parents and settlement funds will not be considered.
3) There is a cap of 1000 applicants per year.
4) The 2- tier system has also been done away with.
5) Applications at the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage who do not meet the new criteria has a number of options available to them:
- (a) they can withdraw and apply for a refund,
- (b) update their EOI to meet requirements or simply
- (c) leave their applications in the queue because they meet the new criteria.
6) However, existing residence applicants will be assessed based on the criteria that were used at the time of the applications.
New Sponsor Income thresholds
Here is a snapshot of the new financial requirements based on a median salary of NZD $53,040:
Accessed 7 Oct 2019
