CHANGES TO INVESTOR VISA SETTINGS
In July 2022, the New Zealand government has announced major changes to New Zealand’s investor visa settings. The new Active Investor Plus visa category replaces two existing categories – Investor 1 and Investor 2, which have been running for more than 12 years.
Applications under the Investor 1 and Investor 2 visas will no longer be accepted after 27 July 2022. All applications in the current pipeline will continue to be processed.
THE NEW POLICY
New Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa applications can be made from 19 September 2022. The main requirements are,
- The Active Investor Plus visa category will incentivise direct investment in New Zealand firms through a weighting system. Direct investments will receive a 3x weighting per dollar invested. This system has a minimum investment threshold of $15 million NZD or weighted equivalent.
- Applicants who want to make acceptable direct investments will be eligible with $5 million NZD.
- This system sets lower weightings for indirect investments, such as private equity or venture capital funds (2x) and listed equities and philanthropy (1x). It also limits the scope for indirect investment by capping investment in listed equities to 50% of total investments.
- Investments in bonds, commercial property and residential property development are no longer acceptable.
- Investor migrants will need to spend at least 117 days in New Zealand over the four-year investment period.
- English language requirement of IELTS score of at least 5.0
The eligibility criteria for each investment class will be confirmed by INZ at a later stage.