Residence visa applications under Adult Child/Adult Sibling category are no longer accepted effective 16 May 2012. This category has been completely removed from the immigration instructions.
Applications for residence for parents will not be accepted anymore after 16 May 2012 until July 2012.
Several changes will be made to Parent Category requirements and processes after July 2012:
People will need to submit an expression of interest (EOI) before they can apply under the category (No documents required at that stage).
There will be a two tier system for applications with different requirements and priorities given to each tier.
There will be new requirements that people will need to meet in order to gain residence under the category. These are different for each tier and are discussed below.
Fees
It will cost NZ$420 to submit a Parent Category EOI. In addition to this, the application fee for the Parent Category is NZ$1,350 (offshore fees may be different).
An EOI system means that a person will need to submit an EOI and be sent an invitation to apply for residence (ITA) before they can make a residence application. EOIs submitted will be entered into a pool and drawn later, depending on the number of places available in the New Zealand Residence Programme. Pool draws will occur every three months.
How will the EOI pool draw work and how will EOIs and applications be prioritised?
A limited number of EOIs will be drawn every three months, based on their tier and in date order. The number of EOIs will be enough for approximately 1,000 people, depending on the New Zealand Residence Programme.
The two-tiered system for the Parent Category means that tier one EOIs, existing Parent Category applications and tier two EOIs will be assessed in order of priority. Tier one EOIs will be drawn first to fill available places, in date order; if places are available, existing applications (accepted on or before 15 May 2012) will be processed second, also in date order; if further places are available, tier two EOIs will be drawn after this, also in date order.
What will be the requirements for each tier?
The two tiers will have some common requirements and some that are specific to each particular tier.
In both tiers, applicants will need to meet common requirements to:
Have an acceptable standard of health
Be of acceptable character
Demonstrate the relationship between the applicants and their sponsor
Meet a minimum standard of English (meet at least two competencies of International English Language Testing System Level 4), meet an equivalent requirement or pre-pay English language tuition, and
Not have any dependent children.
The specific requirements for each tier are outlined below:
Tier one
Tier one applicants must:
have a guaranteed lifetime minimum income of NZ$27,203 per annum for a single person or NZ$39,890 per annum for a couple, or
bring at least NZ$500,000 in settlement funds to New Zealand, or
have a sponsoring adult child who has an annual income of at least NZ$65,000, or NZ$90,000 when combined with their partner’s income, and
Tier one applicants will not be subject to requirements preventing them from gaining residence based on the location of any other adult children they may have.
Tier two
Tier two applicants must have a sponsoring adult child who has an income of at least NZ$33,675 per annum, and
Any other children the applicant has must live outside the country in which the applicant lives.
If you fall into this category & you are concerned about your immigration status please contact Sergey at [email protected] or Simona at [email protected] or call 415 3392 North Shore Immigration for an appointment.
Article written by Sergey Gimranov, Senior Adviser at North Shore Immigration Services.

You can obtain more information regarding the Family Sponsorship category by visiting the Immigration New Zealand website HERE