17 July 2023
Wendy Yang
[FYI request #23172 email] Ref: DOIA 2223-2952
Tēnā koe Wendy,
Thank you for your email of 18 June 2023 requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the
Act), the following information:
1. Count of EOIs and applicants currently in the Parent resident category queued pool.
2. Count of EOIs and applicants currently in the Parent resident category ballot pool
3. Will 2000 visas be granted to 2000 applicants in the queued pool until 30 June 2023?
4. How many visas have been granted until now since the category reopened?
5. Will the same 2000 visas be granted to 2000 applicants in the queued pool until 30 June
2024 until the queued Pool of EOI is cleared?
6. Will 500 visas be granted to 500 applicants in the ballot pool from August 2023 to 30 June
2024?
7. If applicants in the queued pool have been reduced to below 2000, will the remaining
quota add to the ballot pool?
8. If the queued pool of EOI is cleared, will the quota of the ballot pool become 2000 per year
or 2500 per year?
9. What date is the first selection from the ballot pool in August 2023 and how many EOIs are
expected to select from the ballot pool at each selection at least?
Our Response
Questions 1 and 2 As at 29 June 2023, there was a total of 3,468 Parent Category Expressions of Interest (EOI) in the
queue, representing 5,348 clients; and a total of 3,081 Parent Category EOIs in the ballot, representing
4,668 clients.
Questions 3 to 9 The Parent Resident visa category reopened on 12 October 2022 and Immigration New Zealand (INZ)
resumed selecting existing EOIs from the queued pool on 14 November 2022.
Initially, the intention was to select EOIs from the queue in sufficient quantity to grant 2,000 visas per
year from the start of the 2023/24 financial year, until the queue was gone. However, this would have
meant that clients submitting EOIs after 12 October 2022 would not have had the opportunity to be
selected for several years. To remedy this, a quota of 500 was added to the selection of new EOIs.
The cap for Parent Resident visa category is now 2,500 people per year. Until the queue is cleared,
2000 visas per year will be allocated to those with EOIs in the queue, and from 1 July 2023, 500 visas
per year will be allocated to those whose EOIs are in the ballot.
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When the number of EOIs in the queue reduces below 2000, INZ will select additional EOIs from the
ballot aiming to fill the annual limit of 2,500 people from both pools. Once the queue is cleared, the
number of people, who can be granted visas under the Parent Category will remain at 2,500, with the
full quota being selected from the ballot.
Queue: INZ selects at least 400 EOIs from the queue at each selection. Before each selection, INZ
decides if there is a need to select more than 400 EOIs, as some EOIs may include two people, and
some may not result in a visa approval. If invited to apply, clients have four months to submit their
application. As the first selection was not until November 2022 (meaning many applications were not
received until March 2023), it was not possible for INZ to reach the 2,000 cap for the financial year
ended 30 June 2023. As at 29 June 2023, a total of 28 Parent Resident visa applications, representing
47 applicants, had been approved since the category reopened on 12 October 2022.
Ballot: Parent Category EOIs received from 12 October 2022 go into a ballot. INZ will randomly select
EOIs from this ballot every three months until it reaches 500 visa approvals in a year. The first selection
will be in August 2023. Although there is no specific selection date at this stage, INZ will announce it
in July 2023. As the first selection is earlier in the financial year than was the case for the queue, it is
anticipated it will be possible to reach 500 approvals from the first 2024/25 financial year onwards.
Please refer to INZ’s website for more information:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-
us/media-centre/news-notifications/parent-resident-visa-restarts
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of the Ministry’s response
to your request, in accordance with section 28(3) of the Act. 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, please contact
[email address]. Nāku noa, nā
Stephen Vaughan
Chief Operating Officer Immigration
Immigration New Zealand
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