Parent Boost Visitor Visa

Expert Immigration Advice for the New Zealand Parent Boost Visitor Visa

I’ll help you bring your parents to New Zealand for a long-term visit.

What is the Parent Boost Visitor Visa?

Launching on 29th September 2025, the Parent Boost Visa is a multiple-entry visitor visa that will allow parents of New Zealand citizens and residents to visit for up to 5 years. Applicants may apply for a second visa, enabling a total stay of up to 10 years, provided they continue to meet all eligibility requirements.

While not a pathway to residence, the visa will offer a way for families to spend time together over the long term. Those seeking permanent residency should consider their potential eligibility under the Parent Resident Visa or Parent Retirement Resident Visa categories.

Who is eligible?

To be granted a Parent Boost Visa, Immigration New Zealand has indicated that applicants must demonstrate that they are of good character, meet the acceptable standard of health (aligning with the standard for residence), and can meet a number of other requirements including the following key ones. 

Sponsorship

Applicants must have an eligible sponsor who is:

  • their biological or adopted child

  • a New Zealand citizen or resident.

 The sponsor must also agree to take on specific responsibilities for the full duration of the visa, including:

  • covering essential costs such as accommodation and daily living costs

  • ensuring access to health and financial support

  • covering costs related to repatriation or deportation, if required.

 Financial requirements

Applicants must meet 1 of the following financial criteria:

  • the sponsor earns at least the New Zealand median wage (or 1.5 times the median wage for joint sponsors) to sponsor 1 parent, with the amount increasing by 0.5 times the median wage for additional parents being sponsored, or

  • the parent(s) have a personal income equivalent to New Zealand Superannuation currently NZD $32,611.28 gross per annum for a single parent and NZD $49,552.88 for a couple, or

  • the parent(s) have sufficient personal funds: NZD $160,000 for a single applicant or NZD $250,000 for a couple.

 Health insurance

Applicants must hold at least 1 year of health insurance that covers:

  • emergency medical care (minimum NZD $250,000 a year)

  • repatriation

  • return of remains

  • cancer treatment (minimum NZD $100,000).

They must also maintain valid health insurance for the entire duration of their stay in New Zealand.

Applicants will be required to undergo 2 health assessments to ensure they are of an acceptable standard of health. The first health check is completed as part of the initial visa application. In the third year of the visa, applicants must get a second health check while outside of New Zealand. They will also need to show proof that they have held valid health insurance while visiting New Zealand.

Failure to maintain valid health insurance while in New Zealand may result in visa cancellation or make the individual liable for deportation. It may also impact a person’s eligibility for future visas, including residence under the Parent Category.

Key features and benefits

The key features and benefits of the Parent Boost Visitor Visa include:

  • Length of the visa – whereas the Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa is only valid for 3 years (with an option to apply for a further 3 years), the Parent Boost Visitor Visa will be valid for up to 5 years, with the option to extend for a further 5 years

  • Multiple entry visa – the visa will be multiple entry, meaning parents can enter and depart from New Zealand multiple times.

Based on the information provided by Immigration New Zealand to date, it appears that grandparents will not be eligible to apply for a Parent Boost Visitor Visa (unlike the Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa).

It’s also unclear at this stage what (if any) restrictions there will be on the duration of stay permitted under the Parent Boost Visitor Visa. For example, the holder of a Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa is only permitted to stay up to 6 months each time, and no more than 18 months in total across the visa’s 3-year duration. Potentially, we will see a similar rule apply for the Parent Boost Visitor Visa.

Key potential challenges and risks

There are a number of anticipated challenges and complexities for this visa category, as well as a few potential ones we will only know about when Immigration New Zealand publishes the full requirements for this category. 

One challenge will be meeting the financial requirements and providing the correct level of evidence to prove they are met. It’s important to note that the onus is always on the visa applicant to prove they meet the requirements, by providing all of the necessary documentary evidence required for an immigration officer to decide the application. Generally, for offshore temporary visa applications, immigration officers will simply decide the application based on the submitted information and documents and will not for example write to request further information or documents. This highlights the importance of providing the correct quality and quantity of evidence with an application from the outset.

Another likely challenge will be meeting the Immigration New Zealand health requirements. In addition to holding health insurance, applicants must also meet Immigration New Zealand’s stringent health requirements. Importantly, Immigration New Zealand has indicated that the standard of health required is “aligning with the standard for residence”, which is a high standard and one that many applicants (especially the elderly who are more likely to have health conditions) might not meet.

Given that the Parent Boot Visitor Visa does not provide a pathway to New Zealand residence, if residence is the goal, I would always recommend exploring the Parent Category or Parent Retirement Category options as the earliest opportunity, given the ever increasing risk of a health condition preventing an applicant or their partner from meeting Immigration New Zealand’s health requirements for these residence categories.

Visa fees

This information has not yet been published by Immigration New Zealand.

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Why choose James McLeod as your Immigration Lawyer?

Passionate about reuniting families, I hate seeing them forced to live apart and stuck in different countries because they received poor immigration advice or tried to apply for a visa themselves. 

The various Parent Visa categories are complicated, and mistakes can be difficult and costly to fix. Why take chances with one of the most important applications you’ll ever make?

I’ve helped hundreds of families achieve their dream of living in New Zealand, and I’d love to talk about your immigration goals.

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I’m more than happy to chat about assisting you and your family.