Can I take my elderly mother with me?

[philchick]

Hi,

I'm finding it difficult to find out whether my mum can come with me, the wife and my daughter. She is widowed and a pensioner. Any advice appreciated. We have family living in NZ already (wife's sister).

[MotherBear]

Now that I've finally got my Internet connection back ?::) I'll have a go at answering this as it's very close to my heart, being in the same situation, only that I, myself, am the elderly mother wanting to immigrate?:D .

There are several basics to take into consideration:

A parent wishing to immigrate must have their centre of gravity in NZ. ?This means that the balance of children must either be equal i.e. one child in NZ and one in, say, the UK or there must be more children in NZ than in the UK.

This relates to what your mother needs to know and this is what you need to know. This is a link to the steps to apply so you can see what sort of things are required.

Another big factor is that, in order to be able to sponsor your mum to live in NZ permanently, you must have held Permanent Residency for 3 years. ?Once the application goes in it can take quite a long time (possibly up to a year) for it to be approved and PR to be granted to your mum. ?Retired parents aren't NZIS's greatest concern as we aren't of any use to the country and, therefore, we're put on a back burner. ?Any applicant would be subject to the usual strict medical and police checks and it's sometimes the medical that can be the stumbling block as NZ really doesn't want people who will 'be a burden' on their health service. ?That's not to say that people who have certain medical problems won't be allowed in, it's just that if their treatment is likely to be costly and time-consuming they might be turned down.

If you haven't held your PR for 3 years and, therefore, aren't eligible to sponsor her for quite a while, the best option, if she can stand the travelling, is for her to spend 6 months with you in NZ on a Visitor's Visa and return home for 6 months. ?This is because you have to spend an equal amount of time out of the country as you do in it and a VV, if you're from the UK, lasts for 6 months. ?It is possible to extend the VV for 3 extra months but then your mum would have to stay out of NZ for a corresponding 9 months.

If you need to know more, please let me know.

[philchick]

Thanks for that info.

I am the only child and have only just started the EOI process for myself.

I now know where we stand so can prime my mother accordingly.

Again, many thanks, and good luck with your application.