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Parent Resident Visa overview and application numbers

The Parent Resident Visa enables New Zealand residents and citizens to sponsor their parents for residence in New Zealand, to support skilled migration.

27 June 2024
6 minute read

The visa is a 2-stage process. People first submit an Expression of Interest (EOI). If the EOI is selected and it meets the requirements, Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will issue an Invitation To Apply (ITA). Only people who have received an ITA are able to make a residence application and this application must be made within 4 months of the ITA being issued.

INZ can approve a maximum of 2000 visas per year to people who submitted EOIs before the restart of selections was announced on 10 October 2022. These EOIs are in a queue and selected in date order, with the oldest selected first.

A maximum of 500 visas a year can be granted to people who submitted EOIs on or after 10 October 2022. These EOIs are placed in a ballot and are selected randomly. EOIs in the ballot expire 2 years after they are submitted.

Once all the EOIs in the queue submitted before 10 October 2022 have been selected, the full amount of 2,500 visas will be available to people with EOIs in the ballot.

More information on the application process and criteria can be found on the Parent Resident Visa details page.

Parent Resident Visa: Visa details

Parent Resident Visa Data

The data in these tables is valid at 17 June 2024.

Table 1: Number of Parent Resident Visa EOIs in queue by submission month

There is 1 parent resident visa EOI in the queue.

Table 2: Number of Parent Resident Visa EOIs in ballot by submission month

Submission month EOIs Number of people
October 2022 228 368
November 2022 243 374
December 2022 113 170
January 2023 156 226
February 2023 139 207
March 2023 159 237
April 2023 159 249
May 2023 381 576
June 2023 1,092 1,667
July 2023 2,485 3,828
August 2023 1,208 1,848
September 2023 314 475
October 2023 503 755
November 2023 238 356
December 2023 179 256
January 2024 527 788
February 2024 261 396
March 2024 291 437
April 2024 524 781
May 2024 268 397
Total 9,616 14,614

Note: There may be some variation to numbers previously published.

Table 3: Number of EOIs and applicants selected from the queue by selection month

Selection month Number selected Number of people
November 2022 370 600
February 2023 1,100 1,777
May 2023 670 1,094
August 2023 1,100 1,771
October 2023 1,499 2,260
November 2023 811 1,194

Table 4: Decisions on parent queue EOIs selected

Selection month Invitation to apply issued Declined Withdrawn
November 2022 182 129 59
February 2023 752 188 160
May 2023 489 92 89
August 2023* 781 141 177
October 2023* 1,327 89 81
November 2023* 747 37 24

* At time of publication a small number of EOIs from these draws have not yet been finalised.

Table 5: Number of EOIs and applicants selected from ballot by selection month

Selection month Number selected Number of people
August 2023 200 306
September 2023 100 154
November 2023 200 308
February 2024 301 450
May 2024 100 147

Table 6: Decisions on parent ballot EOIs selected

Selection month Invitation to apply issued Declined Withdrawn
August 2023 195 4 1
September 2023 99 1 0
November 2023 191 8 0
February 2024 286 14 1
May 2024 98 1 1

Table 7: Parent Resident Visa applications submitted by submission month

Submission month Submitted applications
December 2022 1
January 2023 11
February 2023 32
March 2023 95
April 2023 148
May 2023 209
June 2023 239
July 2023 152
August 2023 138
September 2023 215
October 2023 216
November 2023 386
December 2023 552
January 2024 468
February 2024 640
March 2024 310
April 2024 100
May 2024 89
June 2024 45

Note: This table only reflects applications that were accepted for processing. There may be some variation to numbers previously published. This data only includes Family Parent Visa Applications (grounds code: ABBIBO).

Table 8: Parent Resident Visa by month

Decided month Approved* Declined Withdrawn Completed**
January 2023 1 0 0 1
March 2023 7 1 0 2
April 2023 10 0 1 5
May 2023 10 0 1 10
June 2023 43 2 1 19
July 2023 48 0 1 24
August 2023 41 1 2 40
September 2023 38 0 1 34
October 2023 30 1 3 38
November 2023 189 5 2 46
December 2023 245 6 2 110
January 2024 181 2 1 160
February 2024 159 2 6 195
March 2024 195 8 4 177
April 2024 450 7 9 202
May 2024 93 5 9 363
June 2024 16 10 9 109

Note: This data only includes Family Parent Visa Applications (grounds code: ABBIBO). There may be some variation to numbers previously published.

* Approved refers to applications approved in principle. After an application is approved in principle, applicants have 6 months to provide evidence of meeting the English Language requirements and passport documentation. Once this information is received and the requirements are met, the application is completed and visas will be issued.

** Completed only includes completed and approved applications.

Table 9: In progress Parent Resident Visa applications allocated vs in queue by submission month

Submission date Queue Allocated Total
February 2023 0 2 2
March 2023 0 4 4
April 2023 0 11 11
May 2023 0 6 6
June 2023 0 31 31
July 2023 0 29 29
August 2023 0 27 27
September 2023 0 51 51
October 2023 0 64 64
November 2023 0 138 138
December 2023 0 258 258
January 2024 0 324 324
February 2024 0 565 565
March 2024 176 129 305
April 2024 52 47 99
May 2024 83 6 89
June 2024 45 0 45

Note: This data only includes Family Parent Visa Applications (grounds code: ABBIBO).

Applications in queue refer to those that have been accepted for processing and have not yet been assigned to an immigration officer for an initial assessment of the application.

Allocated applications refer to applications that have been accepted for processing, have been assigned to an immigration officer for an initial assessment, or have had an initial assessment done by an immigration officer, but are pending as further information is required before the application can be finalised.