Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will restart accepting EOIs (Expression of Interest) for Parent Resident Visas again from February 24, 2020 – the applications will now be adjudicated against a yearly quota of 1000 visas, and there are new criteria for sponsors and applicants.

Follow the earlier news on Parent Resident Visa to Open Again from February 2020 to see what changes have been introduced for this visa category.

What if you had already submitted your EOI before the visa closed? If you had filed your EOI before the visa closed on October 7, 2019, you have the option of:

• Updating your EOI to meet the new criteria, or
• Withdrawing your EOI and ask for a refund of the fee you paid for your EOI

How can you update your existing EOI for your Parent Resident Visa?

You will need to complete the EOI update form and email it to eoiupdate@mbie.govt.nz. The form to be filled for the update is available at INZ 1249 (Parent Category Expression of Interest Update Form), and the updated guide for the visa application form is available at INZ 1207 (Parent Category Guide).

INZ will select the EOIs based on the date they received them, irrespective of whether the application was filed under tier 1 or tier 2.

How do you request a refund for your Parent Resident Visa EOI?

To get a refund, you will need to fill the Parent Visa Category Refund Request Form. Here are the sections to be filled:

• Fill the details of the person who submitted the EOI originally (not the sponsor) in Section A and have them sign it
• Provide the reason for the refund request in Section B
• Furnish the details of the bank account from which the EOI fee was tendered in Section C. You must include proof of bank account – this can be in the form of your bank statement or a screenshot of your online bank account. Note that the person who initially paid the EOI fee will need to write an email to the INZ if you wish to receive the refund in a different account.

You may want to use a New Zealand based bank account for your refund as reimbursements to bank accounts outside the country take longer and may entail a processing fee from your bank.

The refund form is available at Customer Refund Request Form — Parent Category EOI (INZ 1246).

If you are using a credit card account for the refund, post the completed form to:

Immigration New Zealand
PO Box 76895
Manukau 2241
Auckland
New Zealand

Otherwise, you can email the completed refund form to eoifeerefund@mbie.govt.nz

INZ will process the refunds in the order they receive the request – the time for the repayments to be processed is unknown as it depends on the number of refund request INZ receives.

What happens if you do not withdraw the EOI for your Parent Resident Visa?

INZ will place your EOI in a new queue depending on the date your application was accepted.

If INZ selects your EOI, they will assess it based on the new requirements. Note that you will not be eligible for a refund if your application is declined.

Existing Parent Resident Visa applications will not be affected – your application will be assessed against the visa requirements in force when you had initially applied. If INZ had already begun processing your visa application on the day the changes were announced, they would adjudicate it using the old Parent Resident Visa rules.

Professional Visa Solutions is on top of the new changes and is ready to help you with new Parent Resident Visa applications. You can also Book a consultation regarding any questions you may have for filing an updated EOI or withdrawing your existing application.