The government’s new “golden visa” for investors has
received 44 applications since it came into effect on 1
April – with about half of the applications coming from
existing applicants transitioning to the new
category.
The new visa category has removed the
previous English language requirements and now has two
simplified categories.
The minimum investment under
the Active Investor Plus Visa Programme is $5 million over
three years under its growth category, or $10m over five
years under its balanced category.
Immigration New
Zealand (INZ) said 36 of the applications received to date
were in the growth category, and eight were in the balanced
category.
Twenty-three of the applications came from
existing applicants who were transitioning to the new
settings.
INZ director of visas Jock Gilray said it
was estimated that the applications would amount to a
minimum total investment of $260m.
He said so far,
seven applications have been approved in principle, with a
total minimum investment of $35m.
Gilray said more
than 2500 people visited the Active Investor Plus Visa
application page between 26 March and 9 April – a 700
percent increase compared to the same period last
year.
Malcolm Immigration chief executive David Cooper
told Nine to Noon the timing of the revamped
opportunity was ideal, and they had seen huge amounts of
interest during recent overseas trips.
Events in
Germany, Hong Kong and Singapore had been well attended, he
said, while New Zealand Trade and Enterprise organised
events in New York and San Francisco had also attracted
interest.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said in
February the change meant investors would only have to remain
in New Zealand for 21 days over three years to gain
residency.
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