10 February 2025
Mary
[FYI request #29626 email]
DOIA-REQ-0007897
Tēnā koe Mary
Thank you for your email of 19 December 2024 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
(MBIE) requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the following:
I kindly request clarification on the following matters related to the Parent Resident Visa
process, particularly regarding the steps following applicants’ fulfillment of all pending
requirements stated in the Approval-in-Principle (AIP) letter:
1. For the 2,500 yearly parent visas, how many have been issued to date in the current
financial year? Please provide a monthly breakdown, categorised by the queued pool and the
ballot pool.
2. Is the visa quota allocated at the Approval-in-Principle (AIP) stage, or is the quota only
applied after applicants have fulfilled all AIP conditions (such as payment of ESOL fees,
passport verification) and the eVisa is granted?
3. If the visa quota is exhausted, for applications that have been approved in principle and
where applicants have met all AIP conditions, will applicants be notified when the quota limit
has been reached?
4. Please provide the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), staff guidance, templates, and
any other relevant documentation outlining the steps involved in issuing an eVisa once
applicants have met all AIP conditions after their application has been approved in principle.
5. Clarification on "Internal Process" Status:
When an application is advised by the immigration officer that it is undergoing an "internal
process" after meeting all AIP conditions and while still awaiting the eVisa, could you please
clarify what specific steps or procedures this status entails?
6. Why is it that in some cases, an eVisa is issued within the next working day, while in other
cases, it takes weeks or even months? What factors influence this variation in processing
times?
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Our Response
Question 1: For the 2,500 yearly parent visas, how many have been issued to date in the current financial
year? Please provide a monthly breakdown, categorised by the queued pool and the ballot pool.
Table: The number of Parent Resident Visas issued in the 2024/25 financial year to date broken down
by issue month and EOI selection type, as at 21 January 2025.
Month
Ballot
Queue
Total
July 2024
26
311
337
August 2024
61
367
428
September 2024
48
344
392
October 2024
106
509
615
November 2024
42
232
274
December 2024
99
10
109
January 2025
14
3
17
Total
396
1,776
2,172
More information on Parent Resident Visas can be found on the Immigration New Zealand (INZ) website:
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/about-us/media-centre/common-topics/parent-resident-visa
Question 2: Is the visa quota allocated at the Approval-in-Principle (AIP) stage, or is the quota only
applied after applicants have fulfilled all AIP conditions (such as payment of ESOL fees, passport
verification) and the eVisa is granted?
I refer you to immigration instruction F4.1.10(a) of the INZ Operational Manual which states the limit or
quota is on the number of resident visas that can be granted under the Parent Category. Furthermore,
instruction R5.60(b) states the date of the final decision on an approved application is the date the
residence class visa is granted.
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#44878.htm
https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/#31001.htm
Question 3: If the visa quota is exhausted, for applications that have been approved in principle and
where applicants have met all AIP conditions, will applicants be notified when the quota limit has been
reached?
The INZ website will be updated once the limit for either the queued or ballot visas issued has been
reached. At that point, further visas will not be able to be issued until the new ‘quota’ becomes available
on 1 July 2025.
Question 4: Please provide the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), staff guidance, templates, and
any other relevant documentation outlining the steps involved in issuing an eVisa once applicants have
met all AIP conditions after their application has been approved in principle.
Please refer to the attached appendix for the following Standard Operating
Procedure Approve
application (issue eVisa and notify applicant).
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Question 5: Clarification on "Internal Process" Status:
When an application is advised by the immigration officer that it is undergoing an "internal process"
after meeting all AIP conditions and while still awaiting the eVisa, could you please clarify what specific
steps or procedures this status entails?
Issuing of visas is systematically managed to ensure the visa limits for this category are not exceeded.
Question 6: Why is it that in some cases, an eVisa is issued within the next working day, while in other
cases, it takes weeks or even months? What factors influence this variation in processing times?
Applications that have been approved in principle (AIP) are placed in a queue and are regularly checked
to see whether AIP conditions have been met. However, processing times will vary as we progress
towards the annual visa limit. For example, as INZ nears the visa limits, visa issuing will slow to ensure
the limits are not exceeded.
You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of this response. 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 contac
t [email address]
Nāku noa, nā
Jock Gilray
Director Visa
Immigration New Zealand
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
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