New Zealand Visa Bureau » New Zealand Immigration » Business Visa » Migrant Investor Visa

New Zealand Migrant Investor Visa

The Migrant Investment Visa policy replaces the previous Active Investor Migrant Visa policy and is designed to attract financial captial into the country by providing residence to people who wish to make a significant financial contribution to the New Zealand economy.

The Migrant Investment Policy has two categories: Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category) and Investor (Investor 2 Category).

Migrant Investor Visa Categories Breakdown

The key requirements for each policy are:

Key Requirements
	Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category)	Investor (Investor 2 Category)
Maximum age:	No requirement	65 or younger
Business experience:	No requirement	Minimum of three years
Investment funds:	NZ$10 million invested in NZ for three years	NZ$1.5 million invested in NZ for four years
Settlement funds:	No requirement	NZ$1 million (transfer not required)
Principal applicant's English language:	No requirement	an English speaking background, or an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) test report with an overall band score of three or more, or a competent user of English
Family member's English language:	No requirement	Same as principal applicant or pre-purchase ESOL tuition
Minimum time in New Zealand:	73 days in NZ in each of the last two years of the three-year investment period	146 days in NZ in each of the last three years of the four-year investment period
Health and character:	Applicants must meet health and character requirements.	Applicants must meet health and character requirements.

All applicants - including partners and any dependent children of the principal applicants - must meet health and character requirements.

In addition to these key requirements there are a number of investment funds and asset requirements, as well as requirements that you will have to continue to meet as part of the Migrant Investor Visa.

See the relevant pages for the Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category) and Investor (Investor 2 Category) for further details on the requirements of each policy and the application process.

To request a call from a qualifed migration consultant to discuss the investor visa further, please click here

Approval in principle

If you have submitted an application for residence under the Migrant Investment Policy and it has been approved in principle, residence visas or residence permits can be issued to your and your family members when you have:

Proven the investment funds have been transferred to New Zealand and placed in acceptable investments
Provided a New Zealand address where you can be contacted by mail after you arrive
Paid any applicable migrant levy
Paid any applicable ESOL training tuition fees if any of your family aged 16 and over included on your application have not satisfied the English language requirements. Please note: this does not apply to the Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category).

After approval in principle you may apply for a multiple entry New Zealand work visa or work permit, which will be valid for 12 months, to allow you to arrange the transfer and investment of your funds in New Zealand.

Any accompaning partner or dependent children may apply for a visitor or student visas or work permits valid for the same period.

Transfer of funds

When your application has been approved in principle you will have 12 months to transfer and invest your total investment funds in New Zealand. If you are unable to transfer your total investment funds you may, within the 12 months period, request up to a further 12 months.

Once you have transferred your investment fund to New Zealand you will need to provide evidence that the funds are those that you initially nominated in your application or Expression of Interest or the arose from the sale of your nominated assets.

Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category) must also provide evidence that the funds are secured against the nominated assets in your residence application.

Both categories must include telegraphic transfer documentation and bank statements to prove that the funds have been transferred through the banking system directly from your bank accounts to New Zealand.

To request a call from a qualifed migration consultant to discuss the investor visa further, please click here