Hi Jodie,

If I remember rightly Taffy got his PR last August-ish, so can?t sponsor us for another 2+ years :icon_frown: . Hubster is 56 now (55 is cut-off point) so not eligible to get in any other way, as we don?t have $2 mn. to spare under the Investor's Category (huh! I wish). He didn?t really want to take work in NZ anyway, as the salary would probably be a lot less than he?s getting here in the Middle East (no taxation for a start).

Hatter is right in what he says about the centre of gravity. I have one son in NZ and one in the UK, so that's OK. Depends whether you have more than one sibling in the UK as to whether you can sponsor your parents.

I'll now continue as if there isn't a problem with the centre of balance. I would assume that your dad wants to continue to work in NZ rather than retire there like us? If so, and he hasn?t got any posh degrees or a job offer to allow him to be rushed through on the PR bandwagon, has he thought of doing what so many others are doing on here i.e. just coming down on a visitor?s visa and looking for work down there. It?s the quickest way and he may well be lucky enough to pick up a job offer in a short time.

Once he has a job offer under his belt, he can apply for a Work Permit which allows him to stay legally in NZ whilst he progresses his PR application. WPs can often come through very quickly. We have a whole heap of members about to head down under these similar conditions within the next few months. Some are going on visitor?s visas and some with WHVs, but to the same end i.e. they?ll be looking for work when they arrive. Your mum would also enter NZ on a visitor?s visa and tag along on his shirt tails under the Partnership category once he gets a WP.

I don?t think your dad could start his own business until he has PR. With the points system, he could still submit and EOI with 100 or over, it?s just that priority is given to those with 140 or over.

If your parents had been coming down to retire, the best they could do for the time being would be to spend 6 months in NZ on visitors visas ( ?NZ summer time :icon_biggrin: ) and return to the UK for 6 months (in time for the UK summer time ? yippee another summer! :023: ) until you have PR and can sponsor them. If you have problems with the centre of gravity thing, this would also be the only alternative, but would be a long term solution if they can't claim PR.

Just a couple of ideas.