Migrants aged under 20 and over 50 contributing an increasing share of residence visa approvals

Big increase in the number of people aged 65 and older gaining NZ residence visas

Public Policy / analysis

Big increase in the number of people aged 65 and older gaining NZ residence visas

26th May 25, 2:20pm by Greg Ninness

Young people under 20 years of age and older people aged 50 or older are making up an increasing share of migrants receiving residence visas.

According to the latest Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE) figures, 53,784 residence visas were approved in the 12 months to the end of April.

Of those, 14,688 (27.3%) recipients were aged under 20 years, and 5451 (10.1%) were aged 50 or older.

The 10.1% share of residence visas approved to people aged 50 and over was the highest percentage for that age group since 2016.

The 27.3% share of residence visas approved to those aged under 20 was the second highest percentage for that age group in the last 10 years, down just slightly from 30.6% in the year to April 2024.

There has been a particularly big increase in the number of residence visas approved to people aged 65 and older over the last two years.

There were 2220 residence visas approved to people aged 65 or older in the 12 months to April this year, barely changed from 2244 approved in the year to April 2024.

But those numbers were well up from the 600 residence visas approved to the 65-plus cohort in the 12 months to April 2023, and the 606 issued in the pre-Covid 12 months to April 2019.

Together, the number of young people aged under 20 combined with the older people aged 50 years or more made up 37.4% of residence visa approvals in the 12 months to April this year, down slightly from the record 39.3% in the 12 months to April last year.

On top of the 53,784 residence visas approved to all age groups for the 12 months to April this year, a further 179,721 work visas and 81,228 student visas were also approved over the same period.

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6 Comments

by Hans Brink | 26th May 25, 6:16pm 1748240210

I hope all those old people have brought a heap of money with them to pay for their own wellbeing.

by Ebisu | 27th May 25, 12:07am 1748261270

"...2220 residence visas approved to people aged 65 or older in the 12 months to April this year, barely changed from 2244 approved in the year to April 2024."

Which category of residence visa are these 65+ group numbers attributable to? More depth for this article would be appreciated.

The Investor Plus category is a very small percentage of this number.

The "Retirement Visitor Visa" is only for two years and is not a residence visa.

The vast majority are probably "NZ Parent Resident Visa" and they will soon become a burden on the so called "health care system" without having made any contribution. The resident sponsor (child) for this visa only needs to be earning $139,000 annually (for two years only) to sponsor two parents. New Zealand remains an extremely gullible nation. Wake up!!

by foremarke | 27th May 25, 12:19pm 1748305196

Oh indeed, we certainly do pay for all our own wellbeing. We arrived in NZ on the Parental Visa, both of us over 65. I'm really disappointed at the uninformed attitude of some folk that we are a bunch of freeloaders at the expense of honest hard working Kiwis. Part of our residence visa stipulation was that we had to prove a lifetime income (our professional pensions) so that we would not be a burden on the state which is fully understandable. Additionally, we receive a U.K. state pension that gets paid directly to the NZ state and in turn we receive the NZ Super and depending on the exchange rate some months we win and some we lose but it's convenient to do it that way. In fairness, due to the UK state pension being frozen on departure we are marginally winning these days.

We bought our house to be close to our younger family living here and are now able to help out with childcare 'duties' when asked so that they are both able to do their jobs without worries, indirectly contributing to the NZ economy, which by all accounts needs all the help it can get. We have been keeping builders, electricians and decorators of all types busy over recent years with ongoing renovation works on our property, all from our own tax paid pensions and savings.

Like everyone else, we pay for our medical and dentistry and apart from free prescriptions, I don't see what we are supposed to be getting 'free' at everyone else's expense and a burden on the state. When we eventually succumb to real old age, it will be our own funds that will support us.

I accept that we may not be a typical case but from my reading of the Parental Visa application (from the UK at least) we wouldn't have been successful without adequate lifetime funds to support ourselves so I'm unsure as to why I keep seeing these 'freeloader' type of comments!

by mfd | 27th May 25, 1:52pm 1748310731

Thanks for the perspective. What do you mean by 'we pay for our medical' care? I assume you get the same heavily subsidised GP care the rest of us get, and free treatment at hospitals, ACC cover etc?

I think this is the main concern - healthcare costs in the last few decades of life are a big expense and I suspect in many cases those who haven't spent a good couple of decades working and paying tax here probably don't make much of a dent in that upcoming cost. Happy to be convinced otherwise if I've missed something.

by foremarke | 27th May 25, 4:41pm 1748320894

Yes, presume we do share in the subsidised GP care, point taken. In the UK we didn’t have to pay anything so that's ‘extra’ to what we have been used to. Hopefully won’t need to call on hospital and ACC but appreciate that it’s there for all and also aware it’s under stress. We have been paying income tax at the higher rate to treasury apart from the initial ‘tax free’ period as new migrants when we arrived so we have been contributing for past ten years so hopefully earning our way!

Just like to say that coming to NZ was the best move we have ever done and love it here, close to one half of our family (other half in London) and we have lived in several countries through our various careers. Only drawback is it’s very expensive living!

by Ebisu | 1st Jun 25, 10:09pm 1748772551

Thank you for admitting that you are indeed yet another freeloader that will likely add future pressure to the public health care system (GP & hospital) with minimal tax input.