On 11 October 2016, the INZ announced that the number of placed available for the Capped Family Categories would be reduced to a total of 4,000 visas across the 2016/17 and 2017/18 years (down from a total of 11,000 approvals for the 2014/15 and 2015/16). Expressions of Interest that are submitted after 11 October are not likely to be drawn over the next two years and applicants are advised not to submit further EOIs.
Those EOIs already in the pool area unlikely to be drawn in the next two years either. Applicants that already have Invitations to Apply can still submit their applications but these will be added to the queue and will not be processed until placed are available.
There are currently 1,000 applications on hand and these are likely to be decided during the year starting July 2017.
A further 950 Invitations to Apply have been issued and a small proportion fo thse will be decided during 2017/18, but most will be decided in the year that starts in July 2018.
If you would like to discuss how this affects your plans for your parents OR other possibilities such as the Parents and Grandparents Visitor visa, contact us for a free 30 minute discussion.