New Zealand woos wealthy foreign investors with overhauled 'golden visa' program

The Active Investor Plus visa, which began accepting applications from Tuesday, has been modified to eliminate English-language requirement, shorten the required residency period for investors, and decrease the minimum investment amounts.

"I’m expecting that in the first month we’ll get a lot of applications," Immigration Minister Erica Stanford told Bloomberg in a telephone interview.

She added that the country is witnessing investment interest from the U.S., Germany and other parts of Europe.

After enduring a recession in 2024, New Zealand is seeking foreign investment to stimulate economic recovery and support new infrastructure projects.

Its isolated position in the South Pacific enhances its appeal as a sanctuary for the wealthy looking to escape global geopolitical tension.

"We need to say a lot more yes and a lot less no in New Zealand," Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said at a press conference last month, adding that the changes were about "rolling out the welcome mat" to investment, as reported by Financial Times.

The latest visa move was a "sensible initiative that signals we’re open again", said investment banker Justin Murray.

"The second that a high-quality, wealthy migrant gets the sense they’re not welcome, it switches them off."

New Zealand’s modified investment visa program, which is not offered by similar nations such as Australia and Britain, is expected to be a major incentive for foreign investors.

The removal of the English-language requirement has been a major shift, as it has led to increasing inquiry from investors in China, Japan and Indonesia, said Marcus Beveridge, managing director at Queen City Law in Auckland.

But Americans are particularly attracted by the relaxed visa policy.

Approximately 40% of inquiries about New Zealand's "golden visa" program have come from the U.S., said Benny Goodman, the investment general manager for New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, as cited by Business Insider.

The government is looking to attract high-net-worth immigrants, and Americans are increasingly considering New Zealand because of its laid-back lifestyle, political stability, and lack of crime, said Dominic Jones, the managing director of Greener Pastures New Zealand.

"If you go back 10 or 20 years, the drivers around safety in particular may not have been that important, but now it's increasingly on people's minds," he said.

Previously, the Active Investor Plus visa generated roughly NZD1 billion (US$572 million) yearly, but that dropped significantly after the prior government imposed stricter regulations in 2022, with only NZD70 million invested under the tougher rules, according to official figures.

But updated rules offer investors two options.

One of them, known as "growth", demands a NZD5 million investment in higher-risk ventures like businesses or managed funds.

Investors are required to stay in the country for only 21 days over the three-year investment period.

The other option, "balanced", calls for a NZD10 million investment over five years in a combination of bonds, equities, or select property investments, with a 105-day residency requirement that can be lowered by increasing the investment.

One restriction, however, remains. Since 2018, only citizens, tax residents, and nationals from Australia and Singapore – due to trade deals – can buy property without restrictions.

Stanford recognized this as a critical concern for potential investors and said that discussions are ongoing in the government.