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.

 Note also that it is a condition of the visa that sponsors must spend at least 184 days per year in New Zealand during the sponsorship period.

Financial requirements

Applicants must meet 1 of the following financial criteria:

  • the sponsor earns at least the New Zealand median wage (as published by Immigration New Zealand from time to time) to sponsor 1 parent or 1.5 times the median wage for joint sponsors, 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

  • Length of stay - Whereas the Parent and Grandparent Visitor Visa only permitted a maximum stay of 18 months over the course of the 3 year visa, there is no limit on the amount of time that that the holder of a Parent Boost Visitor Visa may remain in New Zealand during the 5 year period.

  • Multiple entry visa – The visa is multiple entry, meaning parents can enter and depart from New Zealand multiple times.

If the sponsoring adult child’s parents are deceased, that sponsor’s grandparent and partner or their legal guardian and partner may be eligible to apply, if the applicable requirements are met. However, only one grandparent and their partner, or one legal guardian and their partner, may be sponsored.

Key potential challenges and risks

There are a number of challenges and complexities for this visa category. 

One challenge is 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 challenge is meeting the Immigration New Zealand health requirements for this category. In addition to holding health insurance, applicants must also meet Immigration New Zealand’s stringent health requirements. Importantly, the standard of health required is the same one that applies to application for New Zealand 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. As applicants for this visa are not eligible to be considered for a medical waiver, if an applicant does not meet health requirements the whole application must be declined. Furthermore, after three years (but before four years) visa holders must complete another compliance check from outside New Zealand, which includes submitting a form with a fee, providing a recent medical and chest X-ray certificate, and showing proof of maintained insurance. Applicants must remain outside New Zealand until Immigration New Zealand confirms that these compliance requirements have been met.

Securing the right level of health insurance may also be a challenge for some applicants, as they might find it difficult to secure health insurance that meets INZ’s requirements and at a reasonable cost that is not prohibitive.

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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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. 

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