Parent Resident Visa expression of interest (EOI) selection process

When you submit your Parent Resident Visa EOI it goes into a ballot.

Bringing or joining family

To apply for a Parent Resident Visa, you must first submit an expression of interest (EOI). If we select your EOI, we may invite you to apply for residence.

We randomly select EOIs every 3 months by ballot. The ballot contains EOIs received from 12 October 2022. The first selection was 8 August 2023.

How the ballot works

  • Selections occur in February, May, August and November, and generally take place on the second Tuesday of the relevant month.
  • To be included in a selection your EOI must be submitted by the last day of the month before the selection. For example, submit your EOI on or before 31 July to be in an August selection.
  • We select enough to reach 500 visa approvals each year.
  • EOIs in the ballot expire after 2 years.
  • You can submit your EOI online or using the paper form.
Note

You can only be included in 1 EOI in the ballot. If your EOI in the ballot pool includes someone in another ballot pool EOI, we will remove it from the pool and notify you.

EOIs received before 12 October 2022

EOIs received before 12 October 2022 were held in a queued pool. In November 2023, all EOIs in the queued pool were selected. If you had been included in an EOI in the queued pool on 7 October 2019 and that EOI was withdrawn before 12 October 2022, you can resubmit an EOI into the queued pool using the Parent Category Resubmission of Expression of Interest Form (INZ 1374).

Parent Category Resubmission of Expression of Interest Form (INZ 1374) PDF 931KB

Resubmitted EOIs will be selected from the queued pool in date order with the oldest being selected first, based on the submission date of the previous EOI.

We select resubmitted EOIs at the same time that we select from the ballot. This is generally on the second Tuesday of the relevant month.

If you resubmit an EOI into the queued pool you can also submit an EOI into the ballot pool.

What happens when your EOI is selected

  • Once EOIs are selected they go through a checking process. Checks generally take around 2 weeks. After we check your EOI you will either be invited to apply for residence or advised if your EOI will be declined.
  • We do not contact people whose EOIs are not selected.

Parent Resident Visa