can my mum and sister come with us

[clarebear]

Hi. am new to this forum so any advice would be great, my husband and children are planning to start the process asap, but would love my mum (retired) and sister to immigrate with us. There dont qualify under their own catergory, so unsure if and how we could include them on my husband application which would be under the skilled migrant.
Many thanks.

[ebianca]

Hi

I'm pretty sure you couldn't include them on your husbands application as they are not dependent family.
Once you have held residency for 3 years you can sponsor family to come and live in NZ which could work for your mum- this is what Taffy and Motherbear will be doing later this year.
As for your sister i'm not sure how sponsoring goes on that front- an option for your sister could be work to residence if she could get herself over and find a job and apply for work permit then after 2 years (i think) she could apply for residency in her own right.What work does she do?

[MotherBear]

Hi Clarebear and welcome.

Beth's right in saying that you need to have held residency for 3 years before you can sponsor a parent. I believe, when you fill in the residency application form, you can enter the names of family members who might be likely to consider immigration at some later stage so it would be worth putting your mum and sister on there. The main problem with sponsoring family is that success could lie in how the rest of your close family pans out. There's a thing called the centre of gravity where the parent being sponsored must have either an equal number of children in NZ and UK or more in NZ. The family must be seen to be leaning more towards NZ than the UK.

This relates to your mother's application and this would be your bit. As far as your sister is concerned she wouldn't be able to apply if she has any other siblings in the UK. She would also need to have an offer of employment. You can read up on it here .

On the application form for residency your hubby would need to enter details of all your family members under the heading Your partner's family details. That will cover them if you want to sponsor them at a later date.

[clarebear]

hi thanks for that, its pretty much what i thought, the trouble lays with my sister, who is under the care of my mother, following a brain injury, who also happens to be the biological mother to two of my children, who have lived with me for the last 8 yrs, and who will be coming with us. Complicated i know, hence she coundnt come under any other catergory other than a sponsored family member as far as i know, unless iam wrong if so let me know, please. If my mum and sister came over, i would only have one other sibling left in the UK

[MotherBear]

Hmmm, that is a difficult and a sad one. If your sister didn't go to NZ it would mean that your mother would have one child in NZ and two in the UK which would disqualify her from being sponsored under the centre of gravity ruling. Technically, your sister is dependent on your mother, so I don't know how she would stand. Would I be right in assuming your sister wouldn't be able to work in NZ? Does she need any special care? If she did come up for sponsorship she would need to have a strict medical to ensure she wouldn't be a 'burden', as they call it, on the NZ health service. Eveyone who applies for residency or any long term visa has to do this.

[clarebear]

hi she doesnt require any special medical care, although she is on medication, as for working then probably not, but she is financially independent, following a criminal injuries claim. Shes under the care of my mum as she is deemed not capable of living independently, as her injury has left her with memory impairment, i think its going to be complicated but hopefully possible.

[MotherBear]

It is a difficult and unusual situation, but maybe not one that's insurmountable. Perhaps an email to INZ to clarify how you stand with this might be in order. It's certainly worth a try. When I've got a bit of free time, I'll wade through the INZ Operations Manual, which is like a maze, to see if I can spot anything of use. There is such a thing as a medical waiver for cases where someone might not generally be allowed in, but I'm more concerned about the bit where it says she would need a job offer. We need to find out if this ruling can be overcome.

[clarebear]

Hi thanks motherbear, Ive emailed INZ and they suggested the family sponsorship catergory for my mum and sister, Ive read about the humanitarian catergory that allows a small number of applicants each year, but dont know much about it.

[Taffy]

Hi Clare,

I would say that as your sister is still dependant on your mum, she would be permitted to come with your mum by default should you sponsoring her be successful. The humanitarian category is usually for people in countries with war or political issues.

[clarebear]

Hi Taffy thanks for that, sounds reasurring
Clare