Parent Boost Visitor Visa
You can apply for this visa if you have children who are New Zealand citizens or residents. It allows you to travel in and out of New Zealand to visit your family.
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Length of stay
Up to
5 years
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Cost
From
NZD $3000
To apply you must:
- be sponsored by your child who is a New Zealand citizens or resident
- have enough money to cover your living expenses, or have a sponsor who earns enough to support you
- be living outside New Zealand when you apply
- have medical or travel insurance
- meet our health requirements
- meet the other requirements of this visa.
This visa lets you:
- visit your children and grandchildren in New Zealand
- travel in and out of New Zealand
- include your partner in your visa application.
You can only have 2 Parent Boost Visitor Visas.
This is a temporary visa and it does not give you a pathway to a resident visa.
Applications for the Parent Boost Visitor Visa open on 29 September 2025.
How long you can stay
With this visa you can visit New Zealand for up to 5 years. It is a multi-entry visitor visa — this means you can visit New Zealand multiple times during the 5 years.
There is no time limit for how long each visit can be. However, you must leave New Zealand during the third year of your visa for a health and insurance check.
You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.
Who can apply
To apply for this visa you must:
- have a child or children who are New Zealand citizens or residents
- be sponsored by your child or grandchild
- have no dependent children
- have enough money to cover your living costs while you are in New Zealand, or have a sponsor who earns enough to support you
- be living outside New Zealand and be outside New Zealand while you apply
- be in good health
- have medical or travel insurance to pay for any health care or medical assistance while you are in New Zealand
- be of good character
- have genuine reasons for coming to New Zealand
- if bringing your partner, have evidence of your relationship, and of their good health and character.
Sponsorship
You must have at least 1 adult child aged 18 or older who can sponsor you. They can sponsor you jointly with one other person — you can have up to 2 sponsors (joint sponsors).
Your sponsoring child can be your:
- natural child
- adopted child
- partner’s child, if you lived with them for most of their life and until they turned 18
- grandchild, if their parents are deceased
- child you were the legal guardian of, if the child’s parents are deceased and you became their legal guardian before they turned 18, and you were the child’s most recent legal guardian.
Your sponsor or sponsors must be either a New Zealand citizen or resident.
If you have joint sponsors, they can be:
- your adult child and their partner, or
- your adult children (siblings), or
- your adult child and your partners adult child, if your partner is included in your application.
They must normally live in New Zealand and be living in New Zealand while they sponsor you. They must spend at least 184 days in New Zealand each year that you have a Parent Boost Visitor Visa. The 184 days starts on the first day you arrive in New Zealand on your visa.
Your sponsor or sponsors must agree to take on specific responsibilities while you have your visa, including:
- covering essential living costs, for example accommodation
- making sure you have access to health and financial support
- covering costs for repatriation or deportation, if required.
Sponsorship process for a visa
Enough money
You must show us how you have enough money to pay your living expenses while you are in New Zealand.
You must meet 1 of these options.
- You earn enough money each year to support yourself (annual income).
- You have enough money in a bank account to support yourself (personal funds).
- Your sponsor or sponsors will support you — if they earn enough (sponsor's income).
Annual income
You must earn at least:
- NZD $32,611.28 a year, or
- NZD $49,552.88 a year if you are including your partner.
These rates are based on the New Zealand pension and are updated in April each year.
Your income can come from different sources and be ongoing — this means you must earn it each year you have your Parent Boost Visitor Visa. The income can be earned by you alone, or together with a partner you have included in your application.
Examples of sources of income include:
- pensions
- earnings from rental properties
- dividends from share portfolios
- interest from investments
- profits from company ownership, or
- share market trading.
You must show that you earned this income during the 12 months before you apply for your Parent Boost Visitor Visa and that it is ongoing.
Personal funds
You must have funds in your bank account of at least:
- NZD $160,000, or
- NZD $250,000 if you are including your partner.
These rates are updated in April each year.
The money must be available in a bank account or accounts for you to use during your visit to New Zealand. If your funds are in a bank account outside New Zealand, include evidence you will be able to access it while you are in New Zealand.
You can include funds you own by yourself or jointly with your partner if you are including them in your application.
If you include funds you own with someone else, you can only use the portion of funds you own. For example, you have a bank account with your sibling with NZD $100,000 in it. You own equal shares in the account, so you can include NZD $50,000 in your personal funds assessment.
The funds cannot be gifted or borrowed, and they cannot have any debt owed against them.
Sponsor's income
Your sponsor or sponsors must earn at least the minimum income each year.
Check table 1 for the minimum income for 1 sponsor and table 2 for the minimum income for 2 sponsors.
| Date | Minimum income to sponsor 1 parent | Minimum income to sponsor 2 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 3 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 4 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 5 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 6 parents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From 29 September 2025 | NZD $69,804.80 | NZD $104,707.20 | NZD $139,609.60 | NZD $174,512 | NZD $209,414.40 | NZD $244,316.8 |
| Date | Minimum income to sponsor 1 parent | Minimum income to sponsor 2 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 3 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 4 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 5 parents | Minimum income to sponsor 6 parents |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| From 29 September 2025 | NZD $104,707.20 | NZD $139,609.60 | NZD $174,512.00 | NZD $209,414.40 | NZD $244,316.80 | NZD $279,291.20 |
How the minimum income is calculated
The minimum income your sponsor needs to earn is an annual amount based on the New Zealand median wage (the median income).
The amount a sponsor needs to earn to sponsor 1 parent is:
- the current median income for a single sponsor
- 1.5 times the current median income for joint sponsors.
The minimum income increases by half the median income for each additional parent.
The median income will be updated in April each year.
Medical or travel insurance
You must have at least 1 year of medical or travel insurance to cover your health care and medical assistance costs. After that, you must have insurance cover each time you visit New Zealand.
Your insurance must include the minimum coverage in table 3.
| Coverage type | Minimum coverage amount (in NZD) |
|---|---|
| Emergency medical care | $250,000 each year |
| Cancer treatment | $100,000 each year |
| Repatriation | $250,000 |
| Return of remains | $50,000 |
Your insurance coverage does not need to be in New Zealand Dollars (NZD). We will use the exchange rate in place when you purchased your insurance to check it meets the minimum NZD coverage amounts.
Your insurance company must have a credit rating of at least:
- A (strong), or
- an equivalent from an internationally recognised rating agency.
You must show us evidence of your medical or health insurance during your application and health and insurance check.
When you first apply, do not purchase your medical or travel insurance until your application is approved in principle. Go to step 6 of 'How to apply' for more information about sending us evidence of your insurance.
Note
If you do not have valid insurance while in New Zealand, it may impact your eligibility for future visas. For example, if you want to apply for a Parent Resident Visa. It may also result in your visa being cancelled or make you liable for deportation.
Bringing your partner
You can include your partner in your visa application, or they can apply for their own visa.
To include your partner on this visa, you must provide proof of:
- your relationship with your partner, for example, a marriage or civil union certificate or joint mail sent to a shared address with your partner
- your partner's identity, good character and good health.
Your partner must have medical or travel insurance during their visits.
You will not be able to include a partner after you are given a Parent Boost Visitor Visa. They must apply for their own Parent Boost Visitor Visa, or you can include them in your second Parent Boost Visitor Visa application.
Health
You, and your partner if they are included in your application, must be in good health.
You must provide a chest X-ray and a medical examination during your application. You must visit a panel physician to get your chest X-ray and medical certificate.
They can either send it to us directly or give you a copy for you to provide during your application.
Note
Do not apply for a chest X-ray or medical examination until you start your Parent Boost Visitor Visa application. Panel physicians cannot complete chest X-rays or medical examinations for Parent Boost Visitor Visa applications until 29 September 2025.
After you submit your application, we will check any medical information you have submitted. We will contact you if we need new medical information.
You do not need to provide medical certificates when you make your application if you have provided them to us before and those certificates were issued in the last 12 months. We may request further medical information if we did not assess you as having an acceptable standard of health.
The acceptable standard of health is higher for Parent Boost Visitor Visa than other visitor visas. For more information about our acceptable standard of health requirements:
Note
Evidence of a chest X-ray or medical examination must be less than 3 months old when we receive it.
People applying for a Parent Boost Visitor Visa are not eligible for a medical waiver.
Health and insurance checks
You, and your partner if included, must complete a health and insurance check during the third year of your visa. During the health and insurance check, you must show that you are still in good health and meet the conditions of your visa.
You must provide a chest X-ray and a medical examination and evidence you have had acceptable insurance during your time in New Zealand.
For more information about the health and insurance check:
Health and insurance checks
Character
You, and your partner if they are included in your application, must be of good character.
You may need to provide police certificates as proof of your good character.
If you have a criminal conviction, or are a security risk to New Zealand, we might not give you a visa.
You must provide police certificates if:
- you are aged 17 or older, and
- your total time in New Zealand will be 24 months or longer — this includes time you spent in New Zealand in the past on other visas.
Police certificates must be from:
- countries you are a citizen of, and
- countries you have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.
You do not need to provide police certificates if you provided them with an earlier visa application and they were issued in the last 24 months.
If we ask for a new police certificate when processing your application, you must to send us a new one.
Note
Your police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your application. Allow yourself enough time to get these certificates.
Genuine intentions
You must have genuine reasons for coming to New Zealand.
When deciding whether your intentions are genuine, we consider all the information that:
- you provide to support your application
- we have about your personal circumstances
- you have given to us before.
You can upload evidence with your application to show you plan to stay in New Zealand temporarily and that you will leave before your visa expires. Examples of evidence you can provide include:
- a statement or evidence of your plans after you visit New Zealand
- evidence of your family ties or commitments in your home country
- evidence of previous travel.
Our 'Genuine intentions to visit or work in New Zealand' page has more information about how to show you have genuine reasons for coming to New Zealand.
Documents you need
When you apply
When you apply, you must provide:
- a copy of your passport or certificate of identity
- 1 acceptable photo of you
- proof you have enough money to live on
- evidence of a chest X-ray, if required
- evidence of a medical examination, if required
- proof of your relationship to your sponsor
- police certificates, if required
- translated versions of all your documents if they are not in English.
Providing your passport for an online application
Visa and NZeTA photos
If you are bringing your partner with you, you will also need to provide evidence of your relationship, and your partner's identity, health and character.
Your passport or certificate of identity must be valid for at least 3 months after the date you plan to leave New Zealand.
Before you travel to New Zealand
Alert
You may not be allowed to check in to your flight if your passport is close to expiring. Check that it will not expire while you are in New Zealand or close to when you plan to leave New Zealand.
- a passport from Hong Kong
- a Hong Kong document of identity
- a Hong Kong British National Overseas passport (HKBNO)
- a passport from Macau.
You must also provide a completed supplementary form giving more details of your background and intentions.
You may also provide your Hukou — household registration book as an additional form of identity.
If you are applying within China, Hong Kong or Macau, you must also provide a completed supplementary form if you are applying with:
You must also provide a copy of your identity card.
How to apply
You must be outside New Zealand when you apply.
Note
To help prevent delays with processing, make sure your application contains all the required documents.
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Step 1: Check you are applying for the right visa
If you are only planning to visit New Zealand once or for short visits, you could apply for the Visitor Visa or Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa instead. They have fewer requirements to meet.
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Step 2: Gather your documents
The section 'Who can apply' explains the requirements for this visa and what you will need as proof.
Get documents translated
For your application you must provide:
- English translations of any documents that are not in English
- scanned copies of the original documents.
Organise proof of identity, citizenship and age
If you need a new passport, allow yourself enough time to get it.
When you apply, make sure you enter your identity details exactly as they appear on your passport or certificate of identity.
Make sure your photos are acceptable for a New Zealand visa.
Alert
If there are any mistakes in your identity details, your application may be delayed. We may also decline your application or refuse you entry to New Zealand.
Book your medical appointments
You will need to book an appointment for a chest X-ray and medical examination.
We will prompt you during your application if you need to provide a chest X-ray and medical examination. To complete your application, you must provide the:
- eMedical reference code from the clinic submitting your health information
- name of the clinic submitting your health information, if there is no eMedical reference code, or
- the medical certificate and chest X-ray certificate, if the clinic gave these to you.
Note
Evidence of a chest X-ray or medical examination must be less than 3 months old when we receive it. Allow yourself enough time to get these.
Apply for police certificates, if required
Check what you will need to include for this visa.
When we process your application, we will contact you if we require police certificates from you.
Note
Your police certificates must be less than 6 months old when you submit your application. Allow yourself enough time to get these certificates.
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Step 3: Submit your application and pay the fee
- Log in to your account or set up an account if you do not have 1 already.
- Apply online, upload your documents and pay the applicable fees.
- Check the 'How to pay and submit' section for fees.
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Step 4: Your sponsor completes their form
We will notify your sponsor or sponsors they must complete their sponsorship form.
- They must log in to their account or set up an account if they do not have one already.
- They apply online and upload their documents. If they will support you while you are in New Zealand, they must upload evidence of their income.
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Step 5: Wait for our decision
We will let you know when we need more information to process your application.
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Step 6: Approval in principle — send us evidence of your medical or travel insurance
If we approve your application, we will approve it in principle. Approval in principle means you must complete the next step before we give you your visa.
You must provide evidence of your acceptable medical or travel insurance. Your medical or travel insurance must be valid for at least 12 months.
Check the 'Medical or travel insurance' section for the full list of requirements for your insurance.
If you do not complete this step within 3 months from when your application was approved in principle, we will decline your application.
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Step 7: Check your application status
Log in to your account to check the status of your application.
Checking your visa application status
If we approve your application, we will give you an eVisa and send you a copy.
Check the 'While you are in New Zealand' section to find out what you can and cannot do when you come to New Zealand.
How to pay and submit
We cannot display any process or costs information until you have provided your country details.
Enter your details so we can show information that is relevant to you.
When you get your visa
You must come to New Zealand within 6 months of the date you get your visa. Your 5 year stay will begin from the first date you enter New Zealand.
You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.
When you arrive
Entry permission
You must apply for permission to enter New Zealand. You do this by completing a New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) form.
New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.
Before you travel to New Zealand
Alert
You can be refused entry permission if you:
- are not a genuine visitor
- do not meet our character requirements
- have had a change in circumstances since we issued your visa
- refuse to let us take your photo, fingerprints or an iris scan
- cannot provide evidence of any onward travel or the money required to leave New Zealand.
While you are in New Zealand
Your visa conditions are recorded in your eVisa.
Medical or travel insurance
You must have medical or travel insurance:
- for the first year of your Parent Boost Visitor Visa, and
- while you are in New Zealand on this visa.
You will need to show evidence of your insurance during your health and insurance check and if you apply for a second Parent Boost Visitor Visa.
Health and insurance check
During the third year of your visa, you must complete a health and insurance check to show you continue to meet the conditions of your visa. This includes that:
- you still meet our health requirements, and
- you have maintained your insurance for your periods of stay in New Zealand.
As part of the check, you must provide:
- a chest X-ray and medical examination — evidence must be less than 3 months old when we receive it, and
- evidence you have had acceptable medical or travel insurance during the first year of your visa and for each of your visits to New Zealand.
You must leave New Zealand and stay outside New Zealand until we confirm you have met the conditions of your visa. This could take up to 3 months.
You must use a doctor or radiologist from our approved list of panel physicians for your health and insurance check. The doctor or radiologist must be outside New Zealand.
Doctors who can do X-rays and medical examinations
You must provide a new chest X-ray and medical examination even if you have:
- already provided a chest X-ray and medical examination, and
- your certificates were issued within the last 12 months.
You must complete the health and insurance check before the fourth year of your visa starts. If you do not complete the health and insurance check or you do not meet our acceptable standards of health, your visa may be cancelled.
How to pay and submit your health and insurance check
More information about how to complete the health and insurance check will be available in the future.
There will be a form and processing fee for the check.
The fee will be:
- NZD $325 for most people
- NZD $240 if you are eligible for the Pacific fee band.
Travel
You can travel in and out of New Zealand while you have this visa.
Work
You cannot
Study
You can study for up to 3 months in any 12-month period.
Staying longer
You can only apply for 2 Parent Boost Visitor Visas. If you want to stay longer, you must apply for a different visa. This visa does not give you a way to apply for a resident visa.
You must leave New Zealand when your visa expires.
Applying for a second Parent Boost Visitor Visa
You can apply for a second Parent Boost Visitor Visa.
You must leave New Zealand when you apply for your second Parent Boost Visitor Visa.
When you apply, you must show that you:
- met the conditions of your first Parent Boost Visitor Visa, and
- meet all the current requirements, including any income or sponsorship requirements, and
- had acceptable medical or travel insurance during each of your previous visits to New Zealand.
You must provide a chest X-ray and medical examination. Evidence of a chest X-ray or medical examination must be less than 3 months old when we receive it.