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25-06-2025
WELLINGTON/ SYDNEY: New Zealand said on Monday there has been a rush in applications for its new foreign investor migrant visa as the centre-right government looks to lure higher net-worth individuals to the country to stimulate economic growth.
The government in April relaxed rules for the visa, including lowering the minimum required funds for the category that focuses on higher-risk investments to NZ$5 million ($3 million) from NZ$15 million, and removing the English language requirement.
“(There has been) a flood of formal interest in the new ‘Golden’ visa,” Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said.
“New applications under the scheme represent a potential NZ$845 million ($503 million) of new investment in New Zealand business.”
In a statement, Stanford said the government had received 189 applications in less than three months for the Active Investor Plus visa, compared with 116 submissions over more than two-and-a-half years under the previous settings.
Eighty-five of those applications, or just under half of the total, were submitted by US citizens, followed by China with 26 and Hong Kong with 24.
New Zealand’s economy grew faster-than-expected in the first quarter, official data showed last week, providing some relief for policymakers keen to put the economy back on a solid footing after it sank into technical recession last year.
The two-quarter GDP decline was the worst since the sharp downturn of 1991, excluding the pandemic.
Wealthy Americans are leading the charge in applications for New Zealand’s “golden visas” after rules on applying were relaxed.
New Zealand’s coalition government in February loosened the requirements for its Active Investor Plus visa, commonly known as the golden visa, offering residency to wealthy foreigners in a bid to boost the flagging economy.
The new rules, which came into effect in April, lowered investment thresholds, removed English-language requirements and cut the amount of time applicants must spend in the country to establish residency from three years to three weeks.
Immigration New Zealand says the scheme has attracted 189 applications, representing 609 people, under the new rules. Prior to the changes, the visa attracted 116 applications over 2.5 years.
Nearly half the investors who have applied hail from the US, representing 85 applications, followed by China, 26, and Hong Kong, 24. Residents from countries across Asia and Europe make up the rest of the applicants.
“Nearly everyone who is applying is applying because of the changes they’re seeing under the Trump administration,” said Stuart Nash, a former Labour party minister, who now runs Nash Kelly Global, an immigration and relocation consultancy.
Under the new rules, 149 applied under the visa’s “growth” category, which requires a minimum $5m investment over three years, and 40 applied under the “balanced” category, which requires a minimum $10m investment over five years.
Immigration has approved 100 applications in principle and seven have transferred their funds, netting New Zealand $45m.
There has been a significant increase in interest in the visa since the changes, with investors drawn to New Zealand’s stability and innovation in sustainable business and technology, said Benny Goodman, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s general manager for investment.
“This is a rare combination, and one that deeply resonates with investors thinking about legacy, not just returns,” he said. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
