I'm afraid things are slowing down in this category. There have been more applications than expected and this is a capped category - that is there are a maximum number of places each year. Once the EOI has been selected it can take a while (4 weeks plus) for the ITA to come through as this is all still paper-based. Once the ITA has arrived and the application submitted, the waiting time varies depending on the INZ Office. Most offices have already exceeded their quota for this financial year (ending 30 June). My guess is that the processing time once the application is in will be between 3 and 6 months. (Hagabel - I think your MIL must have been an exception of some sort as the cut off date for selections in Feb 2015 was 16 October 2014. Maybe there were some that failed between EOI selection and ITA issue stage and she slipped in through the gap - good for her! Hope she gets her visa soon!)