Planned Visa Policy Reforms for Families and Partnership Categories

The government is poised to revamp visa regulations affecting relatives of non-native permanent residents and citizens, as indicated by Immigration Minister Erica Stanford. The anticipated revisions could facilitate longer visits for parents and grandparents from abroad.
 
Stanford has also highlighted the need to reassess partnership visa rules, particularly criticizing the efficacy of visas designed for culturally arranged marriages.
 
However, these adjustments to partnership visas might be postponed, as the government prioritizes other initiatives, such as refining the accredited employer work visa program.
 
Prior electoral pledges by the National and ACT parties included the introduction of extended, interim visas for non-native parents of residents and citizens.
 
In line with the coalition's pledge, the government plans to institute a renewable five-year visa for parents, with a stipulation for families to bear healthcare costs independently.
 
At present, excluding the residence visa—which was reinstated after a six-year suspension—parents are able to visit for up to 18 months within a three-year timeframe under a multi-entry visitor visa.
 
While the implementation timeline for these visa changes is influenced by broader policy decisions, they are assured to be enacted within the current legislative period as part of the coalition's commitment.
 
Minister Stanford acknowledges the urgency of other matters such as the accredited employer work visa and combating migrant exploitation, and future reforms are being lined up in a structured sequence for when and how they should occur.
 
The Association for Migration and Investment anticipates that these changes will be well-received by migrants' parents, potentially reducing the burden on parent residence visa applications.
 
Following the establishment of a yearly 2,500-visa limit for parents and grandparents by the prior administration in 2022, demand has substantially outpaced supply.
 
Currently, over 13,000 expressions of interest have been lodged for the parent resident visa draw, with 308 individuals having been selected so far. With prior applications now addressed, the selection process is expected to quicken to meet the full annual quota.
 
Coalition agreements suggest a healthcare surcharge may be introduced for the proposed five-year renewable visa.
 
The treatment of culturally arranged marriage visas has been a point of contention, particularly following 2019 policy tightening by Immigration New Zealand, which impacted couples in arranged marriages who had not cohabitated before arrival.
 
This policy faced pushback from various community sectors, pointing out its failure to accommodate non-cohabitating partnerships due to religious or other valid reasons.
 
Recent statistics reveal a close tally between the number of approved and rejected culturally arranged marriage visas.
 
Acknowledging the existing policy shortcomings, Stanford expresses a need to revisit these visas, although a comprehensive review might be delayed due to an extensive policy agenda. The minister assures that the concerns surrounding the current state of culturally arranged marriage visas are in view for future deliberation.