AUCKLAND – The government of New Zealand is exploring the possibility of amending the visa conditions for overseas parents and grandparents.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford confirmed the development which could enable long-stay visits for overseas parents and grandparents.
Regarding the existing legislation, aside from the residence visa – which had been on hold for six years – parents can stay for up to 18 months in a three-year period on a multiple-entry visitor visa.
Regarding the timeline of implementation of the change, the minister said the timing of changes will depend on other policy changes but as a coalition commitment, it will happen this term.
“We’re working through that at the moment,” Stanford affirmed.
The minister also commented on the partnership visa policy and said she wants changes to the partnership visa policy, describing the culturally arranged marriage visa as not fit for purpose.
‘Whether or not we get to that in our first term, I’m not sure yet – we’ve got a really, really heavy policy program this term. And so it’s certainly on my mind, because I know the culturally arranged marriage visa, for example, is not fit for purpose, we do need to turn our minds to that,’ the minister said.
The minister elaborated that the partnership changes may not happen this parliamentary term, adding that the authorities were currently discussing the accredited employer work visa and migrant exploitation.
‘There are some some (sic) immediate things that have taken our attention like AEWV (accredited employer work visa) and migrant exploitation that we’ve been working very hard on and will be announcing. Everything else at the moment we’re putting into a a pipeline of work about when it will happen and what sort of changes are required,’ the minister said.
It bears mentioning that the long-term stay allowed to the elderly is a piece of welcome news.
The statistics in this regard are already not very bright as the annual quota of residence visas brought in by the last government in 2022 for parents and grandparents is 2500, and it is already significantly over-subscribed, rnz reported.
