June 9, 2025

As soon as this new visa was announced over the weekend, many people started complaining:

– Health insurance will cost too much!
– The $3000 visa application fee is too high!
– We shouldn’t need to meet a high-income threshold for our parents to be approved a Parent Boost visitor visa.

These are all valid concerns, but there is a bigger hurdle to your parents being approved Parent Boost visitor visas which you may not have thought about.

Remind me, what is the Parent Boost visitor visa?

This is a five-year visitor visa, available for parents of New Zealand citizens and residents. It can be extended for a further five years, for a maximum stay of 10 years in total.

To apply, parents must:

Have health insurance that covers medical emergencies and cancer treatment for the first year. They must also promise to keep this insurance the whole time they stay in New Zealand.

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Be sponsored by their adult child in New Zealand who earns:

– $69,805 a year (that’s $33.56 per hour) to sponsor one parent, or
– $104,707 if the income is shared with a partner to sponsor one parent
– $104,707 alone or $139,610 jointly to sponsor both parents

If the child in New Zealand does not earn this much, parents can still apply by showing savings:

– $160,000 for one parent, or
– $250,000 for two parents (a couple)

Another option is to show proof of guaranteed retirement income.

Applications under the Parent Boost category open on 29 September 2025.

So why might your parents still be declined?

Even if you meet the income or savings requirement, can pay the $3000 visa application fee, and buy health insurance, there is still a 16% chance that your parents will be declined a visa.

This estimated decline rate is based on the historical decline rate for the three-year Parent/Grandparent Multiple Entry visitor visa, a category which has been open for many years.
In my experience, almost all applications declined under this category are because applicants do not meet “acceptable standard of health” (ASH) requirements.

Like the new Parent Boost category, a Parent/Grandparent Multiple Entry visa application requires elderly parents to complete Immigration New Zealand’s General Medical and Chest X-ray Certificates.

Even though they are willing to pay for health insurance for five years, INZ will not approve them Parent Boost visas if they are:

– likely to be a danger to public health; or
– likely to impose significant costs or demands on New Zealand’s health services.

There is no “medical waiver” provision under the Parent/Grandparent Multiple Entry category, and there is unlikely to be one under the Parent Boost category.

What’s worse is that your parents will need to prove evidence of their health TWICE: once before they lodge their Parent Boost visa application, and once more after three years. If their health has deteriorated by the time they complete their second medical certificate (which needs to be completed offshore), they may not be able to return to New Zealand.

What are the workarounds?

It’s possible to do INZ Medical Certificates before lodging a visa application and view the results. If your parent has a medical condition, a doctor should be able to tell them what treatment they will need in the next five years.

For a couple applying together under Parent Boost, the principal applicant should always be the healthier of the two.

That way, if the secondary applicant is found not to be of an acceptable standard of health, they can withdraw their spouse from the application, and they won’t have wasted their $3000 visa
application fee.

If you have parents in India who are currently in good health and if you meet the income/funds requirements for the Parent Boost, I strongly recommend that they apply as soon as possible. The longer they wait, the higher the risk of being declined for health reasons.

DISCLAIMER: This article does not constitute immigration advice. Individuals need to seek personal advice from a New Zealand licensed immigration adviser or lawyer to assess their unique situation. Ankur can be contacted at info@visamatters.co.nz.