Processing of Parents Visa EOI in light of border opening in 2022
Azaria Bialik made this Official Information request to Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Response to this request is long overdue. By law Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment should have responded by now (details and exceptions). The requester can complain to the Ombudsman.
From: Azaria Bialik
Dear Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment,
Based on previous publications under OIA it got evident that the subject of reinitiating selection of EOI for the Parent Resident Visa was discussed by Immigration NZ for some time now with the intent to establish a plan.
In light of the announcement of NZ borders reopening in 2022 made by the government on 3rd February 2022, could you please provide information on how this will effect the processing of Parent Resident Visas?
Any information regarding the plan of handling this visa category would be appreciated since many families have been left in limbo form many years, and several petitions were initiated to address this problem.
In particular, could you please provide the following information:
1. Relevant correspondence
2. Date for initiating EOI processing and any relevant timelines
3. Expected processing timeframes
4. Quota of individual applicants or applications for 2022
5. Any changes to eligibility criteria
6. Number of case officers to handle this category
Yours faithfully,
Azaria Bialik
From: Ministerial Services
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Ref: 2122-1551
Dear Azaria,
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 4/2/22 requesting under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act), the following:
“In light of the announcement of NZ borders reopening in 2022 made by the
government on 3rd February 2022, could you please provide information on
how this will effect the processing of Parent Resident Visas? Any
information regarding the plan of handling this visa category would be
appreciated since many families have been left in limbo form many years,
and several petitions were initiated to address this problem. In
particular, could you please provide the following information: 1.
Relevant correspondence 2. Date for initiating EOI processing and any
relevant timelines 3. Expected processing timeframes 4. Quota of
individual applicants or applications for 2022 5. Any changes to
eligibility criteria 6. Number of case officers to handle this category”
Your request is being processed in accordance with the Act and a response
will be sent to you in due course.
If you have any enquiries regarding your request, or its urgency, feel
free to contact us via email at [1][MBIE request email].
Nâku noa, nâ
MINISTERIAL SERVICES
Ngâ Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140
NZBN 9429000106078
[2]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services
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1. mailto:[MBIE request email]
2. http://www.govt.nz/
From: Ministerial Services
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Ref: 2122-1550
Dear Azaria,
Please see correct reference number: 2122-1550
On behalf of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment I
acknowledge your email of 4/2/22 requesting under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act), the following:
“In light of the announcement of NZ borders reopening in 2022 made by the
government on 3rd February 2022, could you please provide information on
how this will effect the processing of Parent Resident Visas? Any
information regarding the plan of handling this visa category would be
appreciated since many families have been left in limbo form many years,
and several petitions were initiated to address this problem. In
particular, could you please provide the following information: 1.
Relevant correspondence 2. Date for initiating EOI processing and any
relevant timelines 3. Expected processing timeframes 4. Quota of
individual applicants or applications for 2022 5. Any changes to
eligibility criteria 6. Number of case officers to handle this category”
Your request is being processed in accordance with the Act and a response
will be sent to you in due course.
If you have any enquiries regarding your request, or its urgency, feel
free to contact us via email at [1][MBIE request email].
Nâku noa, nâ
MINISTERIAL SERVICES
Ngâ Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140
NZBN 9429000106078
[2]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services
show quoted sections
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[MBIE request email]
2. http://www.govt.nz/
From: INZ OIAs
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
Kia Ora Azaria,
Thank you for your email received on 4 February 2022 requesting the
following under the Official Information Act (OIA), your query has been
referred to our team and we will provide you a response as general
correspondence.
“In light of the announcement of NZ borders reopening in 2022 made by the
government on 3rd February 2022, could you please provide information on
how this will effect the processing of Parent Resident Visas? Any
information regarding the plan of handling this visa category would be
appreciated since many families have been left in limbo form many years,
and several petitions were initiated to address this problem. In
particular, could you please provide the following information: 1.
Relevant correspondence 2. Date for initiating EOI processing and any
relevant timelines 3. Expected processing timeframes 4. Quota of
individual applicants or applications for 2022 5. Any changes to
eligibility criteria 6. Number of case officers to handle this category”
Our response
The Government’s reconnecting plan is not related to the Parent Category.
While step five of the plan means most visa categories will reopen in
October, paused categories, such as the parent category, are not included
in this.
As you will be aware, Parent Resident Visa category expression of interest
selections have been suspended since 2016. Immigration New Zealand was due
to make the first selections under the new criteria in May 2020, but
selections were further suspended due to the impacts of COVID-19 on visa
processing. A planned review of the category will look at barriers to
access, including the income thresholds. It is intended that selections
for the Parent Resident Visa category will resume once this review has
been undertaken.
Nga Mihi,
BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TEAM
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140
NZBN 9429000106078
[1]457667B6
[2]www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand government
services
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2. http://www.govt.nz/
From: Azaria Bialik
Dear INZ OIAs,
Thank you for the quick reply to my query.
I am disappointed to learn that there are still obstacles to assessing the Parent Resident Visa category EOI's under the current eligibility criteria even though it was previously claimed that those applications are not processed due to border restrictions.
INZ website states that "Due to COVID-19, selections for expressions of interest are suspended until further notice". Could you please provide a bit more clarity about the review progress of this category, present relevant correspondence, indicate when such notice is expected, and explain how come that this category review is not yet concluded considering that this category is undergoing a review from 2016?
I believe those details are important to the public and need to be broadly discussed.
Please try to provide as much information as possible since there are thousands of families effected and currently cannot unite with their parents even though they are meeting eligibility criteria.
Yours sincerely,
Azaria Bialik
From: Immigration
Dear Azaria
Please find attached a response to your correspondence.
Ngâ mihi
Office of Hon Kris Faafoi MP
Minister of Broadcasting, Minister of Justice, Minister of Immigration.
Private Bag 18041 | Parliament Buildings | Wellington 6160 | New Zealand
Authorised by Hon Kris Faafoi MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington 6011
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From: Azaria Bialik
Dear Minister of Immigration,
Thank you for your reply that shades a bit of light on the future of the Parent Resident Visa.
In your reply you stated that EOI selection and assessment will be made possible only after another review of the Parent Resident Visa is concluded. Since 2016 there were several reviews already and plenty of time to establish a policy.
The current income threshold presents a conservative approach that ensures that high income migrants that are already contributing significant amount of tax to the country can bring their parents. This high income bar could potentially be reviewed and optimized, but there is a large pool of applicants that are meeting this high income threshold and therefor didn't claim their application fees refund from INZ.
When the selection of EOI was suspended due to Covid in 2020 the justification was that those applicants won't be able to enter the country anyway, and therefor there is no point is assessing their applications. Now the borders are about to open and this justification no longer applies.
Could you please provide a clear explanation why INZ is not starting to assess EOI's based on the current income criteria for parents but is ready to assess EOI's under SMC?
Yours sincerely,
Azaria Bialik
From: Azaria Bialik
Dear Immigration,
I believe that 20 working days have lapsed since I posted the follow up OIA request on 29 March, and I haven't yet received the requested information.
Yours sincerely,
Azaria Bialik
From: K Faafoi (MIN)
Dear Azaria Bialik,
On behalf of Minister Faafoi, the Minister of Immigration, thank you for
your below email.
We have no further information to provide beyond what has been provided to
you previously on 24 March 2022 in response to your correspondence.
Thank you again for taking the time to write.
Kind Regards
Office of Hon Kris Faafoi
Minister of Justice | Minister of Immigration | Minister for Broadcasting
and Media
Executive Wing | Private Bag 18041 | Parliament Buildings | Wellington
6160 | New Zealand
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transmission error has misdirected this email, please notify the author by
replying to this email and destroy the message. If you are not the
intended recipient, any use, disclosure, copying or distribution is
prohibited and may be unlawful.
Please note information about meetings related to the Ministers’
portfolios will be proactively released (this does not include personal or
constituency matters). For each meeting in scope, the summary would list:
date, time (start and finish), brief description, location, who the
meeting was with, and the portfolio. If you attend a meeting with the
Minister on behalf of an organisation, the name of the organisation will
be released. If you are a senior staff member at an organisation, or meet
with the Minister in your personal capacity, your name may also be
released. The location of the meeting will be released, unless it is a
private residence. The proactive release will be consistent with the
provisions in the Official Information Act, including privacy
considerations. Under the Privacy Act 2020 you have the right to ask for a
copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to
be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of
your information, or to have it corrected, or are concerned about the
release of your information in the meeting disclosure, please contact the
sender. You can read more about the proactive release policy at
[2]https://www.dia.govt.nz/Proactive-Releas...
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