The new policy came into effect on 30 July 2012. As we know, the new parent category policy have two tiers with separate requirements applying to each. Applicants that meet the tier one criteria will be given priority. All applicants must meet the general requirements of family relationship (with their sponsor), and being of good health and character.

Tier one – People applying under tier one must meet the following requirements:
They must have either:

  • a guaranteed life-time minimum income of $27,203 per annum for a single person or $39,890 per annum for a couple, or
  • minimum settlement funds of $500,000 which they bring to New Zealand, or
  • a sponsoring adult child who has an income of at least $65,000 per annum or $90,000 per annum when combined with the sponsor’s partner’s income, and
  • They must not have any dependent children, and
  • They must meet at least two competencies of International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Level 4.0, meet an equivalent requirement or pre-purchase English for Speakers of Other Languages tuition at a cost of $1,735.

Tier two – People applying under tier two must meet all of the following requirements:

  • They must have a sponsoring adult child who has an income of at least $33,675 per annum.
  • If the applicants have other adult children, the children must all live lawfully and permanently outside the country in which the parents live.
  • They must not have any dependent children.
  • They must meet at least two competencies of IELTS Level 4.0, meet an equivalent requirement or pre-purchase English for Speakers of Other Languages tuition at a cost of $1,735.

EXISTING APPLICATIONS

However, there were applications submitted to Immigration New Zealand before 30th July 2012. With these existing applications,
If they meet Tier 1 requirements they can submit an Expression of Interest (EOI).

If the applicants have received an Invitation to Apply for Residence and they later apply under Tier 1, the old application will be lapsed and the application fee will be waived by Immigration New Zealand.

If they meet Tier 2 requirements, then they need to apply under Tier 2 and the application fee will be not waived.

The applicants need to fill the EOI form and send the form to Immigration. When applying under Tier 1 or Tier 2, the applicants who have submitted their medical and PCC previously may be considered valid by Immigration.

All the EOIs submitted will be drawn from the pool four times in one year i.e. after every three months. So the draw will be in the months of February, May, August and November. EOIs will be drawn in the order in which they were accepted i.e. according to the date they are accepted by the Immigration.
Immigration will select around 600 applications per draw. The priority will be given to Tier 1 EOIs. The remaining place will be filled with the existing applications (applications which were applied earlier and are under process) from the queue. When the queue is gone then the Tier 2 EOIs will fill the rest of the places.

The first draw will be made in November 2012.

Once the EOIs are submitted to Immigration and they are selected in the draw and then the Immigration will send Invitation to Apply for Residence. The Invitation to Apply for Residence application need to be submitted to Immigration within 4 months from the date the Invitation was received. The applicants need to send all the relevant documents along with the Invitation to Apply for Residence application.

If you need more information please contact:
RAJ PARDEEP SINGH / ASHIMA BUDGOOJAR
Barrister & Solicitor
Kenton Chambers Lawyers
Ph: 64 9 358 1900
Fax: 64 9 358 1903
Email: raj@kentonlaw.co.nz /
ashima@kentonlaw.co.nz
www.kentonlaw.co.nz