Quote:
Originally Posted by joemack
Do we know when the new rules come into force. Joe.
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Hi Joe,
On the news article dated 12th Oct. it refers to 'under changes announced today', so I don't know if that means they came into force that day or were just announced as coming into force at some future date. I've looked on the INZ site and there's nothing in there about it so far, although another article I posted about changes to rules for bringing household goods into NZ was in there. The actual page where it tells you about sponsoring parents still remains the same as before. I guess we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled to see if something more specific appears in the media or INZ site.
As far as I can see, the only changes that affect us parents who are being sponsored is that our sponsors must be earning $30k+ per annum and must be able to support us for 5 years instead of 2 as previously stated. The latter bit is somewhat unnecessary for us as we'd hope to be providing for ourselves, but I dare say it's important for those from some other countries where parents can't always support themselves and look to their offspring for this. The rest of the article refers to partners, visitor visa changes and the abolishment of the Family Quota, which was like a lottery for those who couldn't get into NZ any other way.
I would hope we wouldn't have to worry too much about this as it stands. My main worry is that something else will crop up before we have a chance to apply (from next August onwards). It's making me nervous the way they keep talking about too many older people in NZ putting a strain on the health system. Articles like
this don't help either as both my hubbie and I have osteopenia (early stages of osteoporosis). I'd hate to think they'll now add this to their list of conditions thou shalt not have.