What is it?
This category allows you to apply for investor visa New Zealand by investing minimum NZ$1.5 million in "acceptable investments" in New Zealand. You will need to apply under either ' Investor 1' (minimum NZ$10 million) or ' Investor 2' (minimum NZ$3 million), depending on the level of investment you are able to commit.
If approved, you will be issued with a conditional residence visa and you will be required to keep the investment in place for a number of years. When the investment period has been satisfied, you will then be able to have the conditions removed from the visa.
What are the requirements?
Investor 1
Under Investor 1 category, you will need to satisfy each of the following requirements:
- meet general requirements; and
- meet funds requirements; and
- meet investment requirements; and
- meet minimum time requirements.
Let's take a look at each in turn.
General
General requirements for investor visa NZ include paying correct application fee, using prescribed Immigration New Zealand form, meeting health/character requirements, and being a 'bona fide' (genuine) applicant. There is no age limit or English language requirement with Investor 1 category.
Funds
You must nominate funds and/or assets of at least NZ$10 million (about US$8 million) and show that you own the nominated funds and/or assets outright or jointly with your partner and/or dependent children if they are included in the application. You must also show that the nominated funds and/or assets have been earned or acquired legally, which usually could be done by way of official documents such as tax records. Lastly, the funds must originate from your own account using normal banking system. Please do not expect Immigration New Zealand to be more lenient in their assessment just because you are investing a large sum of money — make sure you have the appropriate paper trail.
Investment
You must put your funds in "acceptable investments" as defined by Immigration New Zealand. They include the following:
- bonds (government, New Zealand firms, registered banks, finance companies, etc); or
- equity in New Zealand firms; or
- residential property development; or
- eligible New Zealand venture capital funds (early-stage/start-up).
In addition, the investment must be capable of a commercial return, is not for your personal use, is invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency, is invested in lawful enterprises, and has the potential to contribute to New Zealand's economy.
Minimum time in New Zealand
You must maintain the nominated funds in acceptable investments for a period of three years, and spend 12% of each of the final two years of the three year investment period in New Zealand, which equates to 44 days per year.
Investor 2
Under Investor 2 category, you will need to satisfy each of the following requirements:
- meet general requirements; and
- meet age requirements; and
- meet English language requirements; and
- meet points requirements; and
- meet business experience requirements;
- meet funds requirements; and
- meet investment requirements; and
- meet minimum time requirements.
Let's take a look at each in turn.
General
General requirements include paying correct application fee, using prescribed Immigration New Zealand form, meeting health/character requirements, and being a 'bona fide' (genuine) applicant.
Age
You as the principal applicant must be aged 65 years or younger at the time of application.
English language
You, your partner and your dependent children aged 16 years or over will need to provide evidence to show that you have English proficiency equivalent to an IELTS exam score of at least 3.0. Partners and dependent children have the option of pre-purchasing ESOL training if they are unable to meet the English language requirement.
Points
This category operates a points system. From the following table, you will need to work out that you can claim at least 20 points.
Business experience
You must have a minimum of three years of business experience, where you will have held ownership or management level control over the business that had at least five full time employees or an annual turn over of NZ$1 million (about US$780,000) in each of the minimum three years.
Funds
You must nominate funds and/or assets of at least NZ$3 million (about US$2.1 million) for investment purposes ("the Investment Funds") and a further minimum of NZ$1 million (about US$780,000) for settlement purposes ("the Settlement Funds"). Investment Funds are the funds which will need to be transferred to New Zealand, where as for the Settlement Funds you only need to prove ownership and need not transfer to New Zealand.
You must show that you own the nominated funds and/or assets outright or jointly with your partner and/or dependent children if they are included in the application. You must also show that the nominated funds and/or assets have been earned or acquired legally, which usually could be done by way of official documents such as tax records. Lastly, the funds must originate from your own account using normal banking system. Please do not expect Immigration New Zealand to be more lenient in their assessment just because you are investing a large sum of money — make sure you have the appropriate paper trail.
Investment
You must put your Investment Funds in "acceptable investments" as defined by Immigration New Zealand. They include the following:
- bonds (government, New Zealand firms, registered banks, finance companies, etc); or
- equity in New Zealand firms; or
- residential property development; or
- eligible New Zealand venture capital funds (early-stage/start-up).
In addition, the investment must be capable of a commercial return, is not for your personal use, is invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency, is invested in lawful enterprises, and has the potential to contribute to New Zealand's economy.
Minimum time in New Zealand
You must maintain the Investment Funds in acceptable investments for a period of four years, and spend 40% of each of the final three years of the four year investment period in New Zealand, which equates to 146 days per year.
Just Imagine.
