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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.

5 November 2024
7 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 as 6 February 2025.

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

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

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 2022

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

273

412

April 2024

490

740

May 2024

247

372

June 2024

214

311

July 2024

427

633

August 2024

210

317

September 2024

298

429

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

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 EOI’s were selected on 11 February 2025.

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 1,329 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

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
August 2024 100 151

November 2024

400

609

February 2025*

600

910

* Please note these EOI’s were selected on 11 February 2025.

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 13 2
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

Submission month Submitted applications

December 2022

1

January 2023

11

February 2023

32

May 2023

95

April 2023

147

May 2023

209

June 2023

237

July 2023

152

August 2023

138

September 2023

213

October 2023

214

November 2023

385

December 2023

550

January 2024

467

February 2024

638

March 2024

310

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

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

248

6

2

110

January 2024

185

2

2

160

February 2024

161

2

8

195

March 2024

211

8

5

177

April 2024

516

9

13

202

May 2024

109

7

9

363

June 2024

77

12

11

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

18

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

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.