Common topic

Parent Resident Visa overview and application numbers

05 November 2024

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

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 6 February 2025.

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

There are 10 parent resident visa EOIs in the queue. Please note these EOIs were selected on 11 February 2025.

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

Table 2: Number of Parent Resident Visa EOIs in ballot by submission month
Submission month EOIs Number of people
October 2022 1 2
November 2022 0 0
December 202 0 0
January 2023 6 8
February 2023 115 172
March 2023 153 230
April 2023 150 235
May 2023 363 549
June 2023 1,027 1,566
July 2023 2,325 3,594
August 2023 1,145 1,751
September 2023 299 453
October 2023 480 717
November 2023 224 335
December 2023 166 237
January 2024 495 744
February 2024 247 373
March 2024 214 412
April 2024 490 740
May 2024 247 372
June 2024 214 311
July 2024 427 633
August 2024 210 317
October 2024 354 554
November 2024 171 260
December 2024 157 239
January 2025 437 644
February 2025 44 62
Total 10,518 15,939

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

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

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 1,101 1,771
October 2023 1,499 2,260
November 2023 811 1,194
February 2024 11 17
May 2024 17 28
August 2024 9 12
November 2024 8 12
February 2025* 10 16

*Please note these EoIs were selected on 11 February 2025

Table 4: Decisions on parent queue EOIs selected

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 783 141 177
October 2023* 1,328 89 81
November 2023 749 38 24
February 2024 9 1 1
May 2024 17 0 0
August 2024 9 0 0
November 2024 8 0 0

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

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 2023 301 450
May 2024 100 147
August 2024 100 151
November 2024 400 609
February 2025 600 910

Table 6: Decisions on parent ballot EOIs selected

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 9 0
February 2024 286 14 1
May 2024 98 1 1
August 2024 96 4 0
November 2024* 372 27 0

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

Table 7: Parent Resident Visa applications submitted by submission month

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 96
April 2023 148
May 2023 209
June 2023 241
July 2023 153
August 2023 139
September 2023 216
October 2023 216
November 2023 388
December 2023 556
January 2024 471
February 2024 642
March 2024 311
April 2024 100
May 2024 89
June 2024 101
July 2024 30
August 2024 36
September 2024 76
October 2024 19
November 2024 18
December 2024 58
January 2025 79
February 2025 14

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

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 31 1 3 38
November 2023 192 6 2 46
December 2023 247 6 2 110
January 2024 185 2 1 160
February 2024 161 2 6 195
March 2024 211 8 4 177
April 2024 512 8 10 202
May 2024 108 7 9 363
June 2024 77 12 10 126
July 2024 349 9 8 225
August 2024 351 6 9 289
September 2024 402 8 4 261
October 2024 333 6 6 414
November 2024 50 9 1 180
December 2024 0 3 4 77
January 2025 0 9 1 19
February 2025 109 7 9 0

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

Table 9: In progress Parent Resident Visa applications allocated vs in queue by submission month
Submission date Queue Allocated Total
March 2023 0 0 0
April 2023 3 0 3
May 2023 1 0 1
June 2023 0 8 8
July 2023 5 1 6
August 2023 1 3 4
September 2023 3 2 5
October 2023 5 4 9
November 2023 10 7 17
December 2023 16 18 34
January 2024 26 19 45
February 2024 35 45 80
March 2024 51 46 97
April 2024 21 13 34
May 2024 35 21 56
June 2024 51 25 76
July 2024 21 8 29
August 2024 36 0 36
September 2024 72 0 72
October 2024 19 0 19
November 2024 18 0 18
December 2024 58 0 58
January 2025 67 0 67

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.