About this visa Parent Resident Visa
You may be able to move to New Zealand to join your adult New Zealand citizen or resident child. You’ll need to send us an expression of interest explaining how you’ll meet the requirements for tier one or tier two of our two-tiered system and be sponsored by your child. If we invite you to apply for residence and your application is successful, you’ll be able to live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely.
With this visa you can
- Live, work and study in New Zealand.
- Include your partner in your residence application.
Things to note
- Applications made before the category closed may have been queued.
Parent resident visa quota and queue - Grandparents and legal guardians may be able to apply for residence under this category.
- If you have any dependent children, you’re not eligible for this visa.
The application process
1 You send us your expression of interest
You must complete and send us a ‘Parent Category Expression of Interest Form’ together with your application fee.
You’ll need to let us know if your expression of interest (EOI) is for tier one or tier two of our two-tiered system.
2 We invite you to apply for residence
If we select your EOI from our selection pool, we may invite you to apply for residence. We select tier one EOIs first.
3 You send us your residence application
You must complete and sign a ‘Parent Category Residence Application’. You’ll need to send it to us with your application fee, immigration levy and supporting documents, including your sponsoring child’s completed ‘Sponsorship Form for Residence’.
4 We make a decision about your application
If there’s anything else you need to do, we’ll be in touch. If we approve your application in principle based on the settlement funds you will bring to New Zealand, you’ll need to transfer the funds before we can grant residence.
Please check that you meet the detailed criteria before you apply for a visa or travel to New Zealand