BRIEFING
Options for managing oversubscription to the parent category visa
Date:
12 December 2024
Priority:
Medium
Security
In Confidence
Tracking
REQ-0007390
classification:
number:
Purpose
1.
This paper provides advice on options for managing the inadvertent oversubscription to the
parent category resident visa and seeks your agreement to the recommended course of
action, which is to tem
porarily increase the cap (for this year only) to enable the visas already
approved in principle t
o be granted. This matter is scheduled for discussion at your regular
meeting with officials on Monday 16 December 2024.
Recommended action
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment recommends that you:
a
Note that a large number of applications for parent category resident visas have been
“approved in principle”, in error, which if visa are granted would result in 331 parent category
visas being granted in excess of the annual cap
Noted
b
Agree to one of the two options below for managing this situation:
EITHER
i) Retain the standard cap and defer granting parent category resident visas in excess of the
cap until the next year (i.e. from 1 July 2025) and offer people a free visitor visas if they wish
to travel to New Zealand before then
Agree/disagree
OR
ii) Temporarily increase the cap for the parent category resident visa (for this year only) via
an instructions change to enable the visas which have already been approved in principle to
be granted
(recommended option)
Agree/disagree
c
Note that, despite funding being provided to the Ministry of Social Development for potential
benefit uptake, MBIE and Treasury consider that an increase can be treated as fiscally
neutral as fewer visas were granted last year
Noted
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d
Discuss this mat er at your regular officials meeting on Monday 16 December 2024.
Discuss
Andrew Craig
Policy Director
Hon Erica Stanford
Employment, Skil s & Immigration Policy
Minister of Immigration
Labour, Science and Enter prise, MBIE
12 / 11 / 2024
..... / ...... / ......
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331 more people have been told they have been approved for a parent
visa than can be approved before 1 July 2025
1.
Immigration New Zealand (INZ) is able to grant resident visas to up to 2500 in the parent
category each financial year, with 2000 to be granted to people who have made ‘queue’
applications and 500 who have made ‘ballot’ applications.
2.
INZ have told 331 more people they have been approved in principle, for a Parent Resident
Visa than the 2500 cap al ows. These people have been asked to submit their passport (for
final identity checks) and wil be expecting to receive an approved visa shortly after.
3.
Unless a temporary adjustment is made to standard settings to manage this situation, INZ
wil need to defer providing visas to this cohort until July.
4.
We recommend agreei
ng to a one-off increase to the cap to accommodate this group. The
alternative is to delay approval of the visas until 1 July, offering a free visitor visa in the
interim. (A third option to have the 331 applicants individually considered and granted a visa
by a Minister or an INZ Delegated Decision Maker has been discounted as less efficient and
less certain in the outcome.)
5.
Of icials wil be available to discuss this mat er with you at the upcoming regular officials’
meeting on Monday 16 December 2024.
Options
Option One: Retain the status quo/standard settings (not recommended)
6.
Under this option, the cap wil not be increased, and the ‘excess’ cohort (of around 300) wil
have their visas granted in July 2025 when the new financial year starts. If you select this
option, this cohort wil have their passports returned to them after they have been scanned
and wil not be required to resubmit them later. If they wish to travel to New Zealand before
their resident visa is granted INZ wil consider granting temporary visas, most likely a visitor
visa (waiving the application fee).
7.
While this option may be the easier of the two from an implementation perspective, it may not
be well received by affected parties and could impact some migration plans. While the visitor
visa wil enable this cohort to travel to New Zealand, the additional benefits of residence
status (such as access to public healthcare and ability to buy residential property without
restrictions) wil be delayed until the parent category visa is granted later in 2025.
8.
There wil also be additional costs associated with providing temporary visas (e.g. visitor
visas) free of charge to this to cohort, although the magnitude of this wil depend on the
uptake. While INZ have confirmed that neither approach would impact work programme
delivery, this option is expected to be comparatively less demanding on INZ resources as
further detailed in paragraph 12.
Option Two: Grant visas now (in excess of the cap) (recommended option)
9.
Under this option, the cap for ‘queue’ applications wil be temporarily increased for this year
only to enable visas to be granted for all applications for parent category visas that have
already received approval in principle to date. No further ‘queue’ applications in this category
wil be approved until the next financial year (i.e. from 1 July 2025).
10. This change needs to be made through immigration instructions. Applications must be
assessed on the instructions in force at the time. As the instructions include the cap limit, and
the legislation does not al ow for retrospective changes to residence instructions, the visas
can only be granted this financial year by effectively creating a new (temporary) parent
category for this group (as was done for the Community Organisation Refugee Sponsorship
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category volume increase). Applicants wil also have to reapply, but INZ wil make this as
streamlined as possible and already paid fees wil be recognised.
11. This option eliminates any actual or expectations-based impacts for applicants from an error
made by MBIE. Both options wil likely result in this error being likely public as an instructions
change is notified. This option may raise a call for revisiting the Parent Category cap
permanently, though this one-off action can be justified as addressing an error that affected
expectations for some applicants.
12. Both options are expected to be broadly similar in terms of the overall impact on INZ’s
resources, in that they both create additional work (e.g. issuing additional visitor visas in the
case of the latter option and preparing instructions and processes for this option) that is
relatively minor and transient in nature.
13. INZ have confirmed t hat neither approach would impact work programme deliver. New costs
are limited and can be
absorbed.
14. We considered reducing a future year’s cap by a corresponding amount, but do not
recommend this. Last years cap was not met by approximately the same level. INZ have
already started to invite applicants to apply for next year and current instructions with the
2500 limit apply to any applications (though this is a limit not a requirement).
15. When the cap was increased from 1,000 to 2,500 additional funding was provided to Ministry
of Social Development (MSD) to cover potential costs of parents seeking hardship benefits
(despite sponsorship). We do not consider that additional funding needs to be provided for a
small increase. There was a smaller number (i.e. around 250 fewer than the cap) of parent
visas granted in 2023/2024 approximately offsetting the additional volume this year. MSD is
automatically funded for benefits so wil not be short of funding if any higher demand did
eventuate.
16. We have discussed this with the Treasury who advise that, based on the information they
have been provided, the proposals do not warrant Cabinet approval from a fiscal perspective.
Of icials have not yet had the opportunity to discuss this with MSD but benefits are
automatically funded so there would be no negative impact on MSD baselines.
17. MBIE officials are also of the view that a small one-off increase to the cap would not warrant
Cabinet consideration from a policy perspective either.
18. Should you agree to this option, proposed amendments to immigration instructions wil be
provided to you for certification in January 2025.
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