27 January 2023
Jaskaran Walia
[FYI request #21294 email]
DOIA 2223-1155
Dear Jaskaran
Thank you for your email of 29 November 2022 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982, the following:
For the first draw of EOI’s on 14th Nov 2022 for Parent resident category from the queue
containing EOIs received before 12 October 2022. INZ notification said they are going to select
370 EOI.
1) Can you please confirm if the draw actually did take place on 14th Nov 2022. If no, please
provide the reason why not. We have no visibility if the draw took place or not so asking the
question.
2) Can you please provide the total number of EOI selected along with total number of
applicants selected from the first draw on 14th Nov 2022?
3) Can you please provide the total number of ITA sent from the first draw on 14th Nov 22?
4) Can you confirm my understanding is correct that EOI in queue doesn't necessary means
ITA. So, count of EOI selected v/s ITA sent could be different. Hence, asking both the figures in
above 2 questions.
5) At the time of response, can you please provide stats of application received for parent
resident visa after ITA was sent? Also, how many applications have decision made with count
of approved or declined.
6) Minister announced as part of reopening parent category that "If you withdrew your EOI
because you could not meet the previous income limit set before October 2019 we will invite
you to resubmit an EOI to the queue."
Is there a last date for people to resubmit the EOI to regain the position in the queue? If so,
what is that last date.
7) In response to FYI request below for question 5.
https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffyi.org.nz%2Frequest
%2F20849-questions-regarding-parent-resident-visa-
pool&data=05%7C01%7CMinisterialServices%40mbie.govt.nz%7Ccbf5d774b35f473acbae08
dad1dd3f4a%7C78b2bd11e42b47eab0112e04c3af5ec1%7C0%7C0%7C63805304542811735
7%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1ha
1
WwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=8tYBqG9McAju%2BNwXMKnimm4uc2f
xINMLLcnjBm089b0%3D&reserved=0
MBIE said
"Additionally, an applicant may have multiple Family Parent Resident Visa category EOIs in
the pool at the same time. An applicant might update their EOI multiple times by submitting
a new EOI."
Is MBIE/INZ making attempt to clean up the EOI queue so that we have more realistic stats on
exact unique and valid EOI in the queue?
Is MBIE/INZ thinking of leveraging their modern online immigration system to assign a Queue
number/Token number for EOI as they have the date when each EOI was applied? Once the
issue of resubmitting of withdrawn EOI is sorted, if my number in queue is hypothetically 1000,
I know exactly when my EOI would be potentially selected.
Our Response Response 1 and 2
The first selection was on 14 November 2022. A total of 370 expressions of interest (EOIs)
representing 598 people were drawn from the Parent Resident Visa category pool on 14 November
2022.
Response 3
As at 16 January 2023 the total number of invitations to apply (ITAs) issued since 14 November 2022 is
147. The remaining EOIs have had an initial assessment undertaken and the majority have had a
request for information sent by Immigration New Zealand (INZ) to the client, meaning INZ is awaiting
the person’s response. A further 61 EOIs have been either declined or withdrawn.
Response 4
An EOI selected from the pool is not guaranteed to receive an ITA. A person whose EOI has been
selected may be issued an ITA for a resident visa under the Parent Category if they meet the necessary
criteria.
Response 5
As at 15 January 2023, eight visa applications have been submitted; two of these were returned to the
applicants without being accepted, as they did not meet lodgement criteria. The other six applications
have been accepted and remain on hand with no decisions having been made.
Response 6
INZ encourages people to resubmit EOIs earlier rather than later. There has not been a deadline set
however, when all EOIs in the queue submitted before 12 October 2022 have been selected, the
requirements of the Parent Category will change so that selections will only happen from the ballot of
new EOIs. Once that happens, the ability to select from the queue will be disestablished and therefore
it will not be possible for people who withdrew earlier to resubmit into the queue.
Initial estimates are that the queue will be cleared by August 2026
, www.immigration.govt.nz/new-
zealand-visas/apply-for-a-visa/tools-and-information/support-family/parent-resident-visa-eoi-
selection. However, it is possible that it may be cleared earlier than that if fewer than anticipated EOIs
result in visa approvals. If that happens, INZ will be able to select more EOIs in each selection without
exceeding the limit of 2000 visa approvals a year.
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Response 7
INZ’s system records each EOI with a unique reference number and the date on which the EOI was
made as well as other key information such as the people included in the EOI and the sponsor(s). A
specific ‘queue number’ is not created.
A filtered version data with duplicates removed is used to calculate estimated selection dates for each
EOI based on date. However, it is not possible to provide an exact selection date for any given EOI even
knowing the exact place in the queue of each EOI. This is because:
• there is no deadline for EOIs to be resubmitted. Resubmitted EOIs can slot in ahead of an
existing EOI, which would mean that existing EOI would be ‘moved back’ in the queue.
• EOIs can be withdrawn. There is no deadline other than selection to withdraw EOIs, so
withdrawals will continue while the queue is in place at a rate that is not able to be precisely
predicted. Where an EOI is withdrawn, EOIs lodged afterwards ‘move up’ in the queue.
• the number of EOIs in each selection in the future will need to be adjusted, as the Government
has set a limit of 2,000 visa approvals for the parent category from the queue per year. This
limit informs the number of EOIs in each selection, but it is not as simple as selecting EOIs
containing 2,000 people each year. Some selected EOIs do not qualify to be invited to apply,
some people are invited to apply but never do so, and some apply but the applications may be
subsequently declined. The proportion of EOIs that do not result in visa approvals due to these
factors is referred to as the ‘drop off rate’. INZ must select a higher number than EOIs
containing 2000 people per year, in order to account for the drop off rate.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this decision. Information
about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802
602.
If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request or this response, or if you require any further assistance,
please contac
t [email address]
Yours sincerely
Nicola Hogg
General Manager, Border and Visa Operations
Immigration New Zealand
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