The New Zealand government has clearly indicated in communications around immigration that investors will be actively and warmly welcomed into New Zealand. 

Not considered as an obvious or more traditional means of emigrating, investor visas are a realistic option for investors, including the parents of New Zealand residents or citizens.  

It is also an excellent option for skilled workers. The main residence options for skilled workers are currently on pause and many workers are keen to consider how they can achieve residence through other pathways.

The Investor Visa Options for New Zealand

There are FOUR key Investor Visas available, three of which lead to residency and one of which is simply a temporary visa.
These have different levels of investment required depending on the investor visa, and they range from $750,000 up to a minimum of $10 million.
Please refer to the chart below for a summary. Or Contact Us here at NZ Visa Connections to get started on your relevant Investor Visa application.
Rules around Investment Funds, Property Investment and investment Caps are also detailed below. 

Rules around Investment Funds

Immigration New Zealand follows these rules closely in regard to Investment Funds in approving your Investor Visa application: 

• You can nominate a mix of funds and/or assets to invest. They must be equivalent to at least NZ$3 million for Investor or NZ$10 million for Investor Plus, though you may nominate more. 
• You will need to provide evidence showing that your investment and/or assets are owned by you or jointly by you and your partner and/or dependent children if they are included in the application. 
• You will also need to provide evidence showing that your intended investment funds:  

• • are unencumbered, i.e. not subject to any mortgage, lien, charge and/or encumbrance (whether equitable or otherwise) or any other creditor claims 
  • have been earned or acquired legally 
  • are transferable through the banking system or through a foreign exchange company that uses the banking system (Immigration New Zealand will not be able to approve your application if you are unable to transfer funds to New Zealand through the banking system) 

Rules regarding Property Investments

NZ Visa Connections can refer you to our investment partner which provides a range of commercial, residential, and fund investment opportunities.

If the investment opportunity that you choose to pursue is in residential property, Immigration New Zealand sets additional rules relevant to these investments. These are: 

• The residential property must be in the form of new developments on either new or existing sites; and 
• the residential property cannot include renovation or extension to existing developments; and 
• the new developments must have been approved and gained any required consents by any relevant regulatory authorities (including local authorities); and 

• the purpose of the residential property investments must be to make a commercial return on the open market; and 
• neither the family, relatives, nor anyone associated with the principal investor, may reside in the development. 

If the investment opportunity is in commercial property, these conditions from Immigration New Zealand apply: 

• the property is not residential or for domestic use; and 
• the property is used for business purposes, in that it is: 
• capable of a commercial return; and 
• not used for land banking; and 
• the purpose of the commercial property investments must be to make a commercial return on the open market; and 
• neither the family, relatives, nor anyone associated with the main applicant may reside in the development; and 
• if a new development, the property must have been approved and gained any required consents by any relevant regulatory authorities (including local authorities). 

There are further criteria relevant to an investment in finance companies, managed funds, venture capital funds, and philanthropic investment. NZ Visa Connections can advise on these as required. Contact Us to discuss further. 

Reward for Growth Investments

If you invest at least 25% of your investment funds into assets other than Bonds and Philanthropic Investment, Investor visa holders will be able to meet their time in New Zealand requirement flexibly, with Investor 2 visa holders required to spend 438 days over the 4 year investment period and Investor Plus visa holders needing to spend 88 days over the 3 year investment period. 
 
Investor 2 visa holders who invest at least 50% of your investment funds into assets other than Bonds and Philanthropic Investment will qualify for a reduction of $0.5m of the investment amount.  For example, if you nominate $3m of investment funds and invest $1.5m outside of Bonds and Philanthropic Investment, you will only be required to invest a further $1m to meet the visa requirements.

Caps

There is no cap on the Investor Plus Category, although it should be noted that under the Investor 2 Category there is a cap of only 400 applications per annum. The Investor 2 Category operates on a points scoring system, so in instances where the Category is oversubscribed the minimum investment amount noted of NZ$3.0 million will need to be increased to score higher to increase the chance of being selected to allow formal application.