Parent Resident Visa EOI Ballot cost and drawn algorithm
Y Chen made this Official Information request to Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
This request has an unknown status. We're waiting for Y Chen to read a recent response and update the status.
From: Y Chen
Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,
Immigration New Zealand charges $450 for submitting an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the Parent Resident Visa. Applicants are required to pay this fee to remain in the EOI ballot every two years. As of February 2025, there are 10,518 EOIs in the pool, generating approximately $4.73 million in revenue for Immigration New Zealand every two years.
Could you please provide a detailed cost breakdown associated with managing the Parent Resident Visa EOI, including:
- The cost of operating the ballot itself.
- Any other costs related to the EOI process, excluding the ballot.
In addition, could you please:
- Explain the rationale for setting the EOI fee at $450.
- Clarify why EOIs are required to expire every two years, rather than being valid for a longer period.
a. If EOIs did not expire, applicants would not need to pay the $450 repeatedly.
b. Retaining an EOI in the ballot pool does not appear to incur significant additional system costs.
I would also appreciate it if you could provide the standard operating procedure (SOP) for conducting the EOI ballot draw.
Furthermore, I am seeking information on the following:
- What tool is used to conduct the ballot draw, and who is the provider?
- What measures are in place to ensure the draw is conducted randomly and fairly for all applicants?
- What processes are used to ensure all submitted EOIs are correctly included in the ballot pool?
- Has the tool and its algorithm been reviewed?
If the ballot system has been developed in-house or MBIE owns the tool, I kindly request the source code.
Yours faithfully,
Y Chen
From: NoReplyMinisterialServices
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Kia ora Y Chen,
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 13/06/2025 requesting, under the Official
Information Act 1982, the following:
Could you please provide a detailed cost breakdown associated with
managing the Parent Resident Visa EOI, including:
- The cost of operating the ballot itself.
- Any other costs related to the EOI process, excluding the ballot.
In addition, could you please:
- Explain the rationale for setting the EOI fee at $450.
- Clarify why EOIs are required to expire every two years, rather than
being valid for a longer period.
a. If EOIs did not expire, applicants would not need to pay the $450
repeatedly.
b. Retaining an EOI in the ballot pool does not appear to incur
significant additional system costs.
I would also appreciate it if you could provide the standard operating
procedure (SOP) for conducting the EOI ballot draw.
Furthermore, I am seeking information on the following:
- What tool is used to conduct the ballot draw, and who is the provider?
- What measures are in place to ensure the draw is conducted randomly and
fairly for all applicants?
- What processes are used to ensure all submitted EOIs are correctly
included in the ballot pool?
- Has the tool and its algorithm been reviewed?
If the ballot system has been developed in-house or MBIE owns the tool, I
kindly request the source code.
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible, and no
later than 14/07/2025, being 20 working days after the day your request
was received. If we are unable to respond to your request by then, we will
notify you of an extension of that timeframe. If you have any enquiries
regarding your request feel free to contact us via email to
[1][MBIE request email].
Nāku noa, nā
Ministerial Services
Strategy and Assurance
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
15 Stout Street, Wellington 6011 | P O Box 1473 Wellington 6140
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[MBIE request email]
Things to do with this request
- Add an annotation (to help the requester or others)
- Download a zip file of all correspondence
Offensive? Unsuitable?
Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid requests for Official Information (read more).
If you believe this request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators
Report this request