Family Quota For Immigration Set at Zero for 2004 !!!!!!

John Miller

What An Absolute Bummer. Eek

Things just seem to keep getting harder. Hmmm

http://www.immigration.govt.nz

No places are available under the Family Quota this year. This means that no registrations will be accepted this year. We will advise next year whether places will be available in 2005.

FAMILY QUOTA Q&As
March 2004

Q. What is the Family Quota?
A. The Family Quota is a residence category available to those family members of New Zealand citizens and residents who are ineligible under any other residence policy. Under the Family Quota, NZ citizens and residents enter a registration containing the name of a family member and that person’s partner and children into a ballot. Once a year, enough registrations are randomly selected from the ballot to fill the Quota.

The available number of places is determined by the Minister of Immigration each year by looking at the demand for places in the other categories of the Family Sponsored Stream.

Q. What is happening to the Family Quota in 2004?
A. This year, the Minister has set the number of places in the Quota at zero. This means that no registration period or ballot will be held.

Q. Why is the Government doing this?
A. The Family Quota is just one category available to New Zealanders who wish to sponsor their family members for New Zealand residence. The other categories are used by people who wish to sponsor close family members, such as their partner or dependent children.

The people able to be sponsored under the Family Quota do not qualify for sponsorship under these other categories because they are not as closely related to their sponsors as these people. Demand is currently so high from people wanting to sponsor their close family members that there are no places available for the Family Quota in 2004.

Q. Why is the number of applications received under other categories of the Family Sponsored Stream currently so high?
A. New Zealand is a nation of travellers and the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) is currently receiving many applications from New Zealanders who have met partners overseas and wish to bring them back to settle in New Zealand.

Q. What will today’s announcement mean to those people who have already lodged applications for family members under other categories of the Family Sponsored Stream?
A. No other categories in the Family Sponsored Stream will be affected by today’s announcement. If we had approved a Family Quota for this year, however, the NZIS may have had to queue applications containing closely related family members as a result.

Q. How is the Family Quota usually structured, in terms of numbers?
A. In each of the two years since the Family Quota opened, the Minister of Immigration has set the number of places available under the Family Quota at 250.

Q. When will registrations for the Family Quota open again?
A. The Minister of Immigration sets the registration period and the number of places available under the Family Quota early each year, so will make another announcement about the Family Quota in early 2005.

Jenkins · Posted: Mon Mar 29, 2004 11:55 am Post subject:

I hope this directive is good for those applying for skilled migration.

Grey · I Like It Here Joined: 05 Jan 2004 Posts: 74

It won't really make any difference. The other family categories are unaffected so it's just the 'lottery' that won't be happening. They only invite around 250 people through it anyway, so will hardly dent the figures.