New Zealand’s Golden Visa Program, officially known as the Active Investor Plus Visa, is due to evolve. The new government wants to adapt the scheme in order to turn around the decline in applications.
The Active Investor Plus Visa debuted in September 2022, when it replaced previous investor visas in the country. It was designed to attract valuable investors to benefit the local economy, with applicants being allowed to live, work and study in the country indefinitely if meeting the requirements. Those requirements included investing between NZD 5 million (€2.7 million) and NZD 15 million (€ 8.1 million) over the course of four years, being in good health and of good character, spending 117 days in New Zealand across the four-year residence period and demonstrating English language ability.
While during its prime time, investor visas brought in NZD 1 billion (around €545 million) per year, that amount has significantly declined since the 2022 reform. Since then, only 25 applicants have been approved by the country, totalling NZD 352 million (€191.8 million) in investments. One of the reasons for that drop is no doubt the minimum investment amount being upscaled from NZD 3 million to NZD 5 million. Moreover, some previously popular investment options are no longer eligible, such as bonds and property.
“We are conscious that the last government changed those settings, and we saw a marked decline in the number of investors. You can expect to see announcements from us on that in the coming weeks”, said Finance Minister Nicola Willis about the upcoming changes to the program.
What those changes will entail precisely, hasn’t been shared just yet. Some of the reforms will however include an acceleration of the investment applications for foreign nationals and changes to the legislation to emphasise that the nation requires foreign capital in order to achieve its economic objectives.
According to Willis, the visa isn’t just about bringing more wealthy internationals to New Zealand, “It’s also the networks, the expertise, the experience, the ideas that they bring with them. There are many examples throughout the country where investor migrants, while they may make initial investments, then go on to make other investments and become more engaged in the economy in a range of ways which are helpful.”
Willis finally stated that Immigration Minister Erica Stanford would provide a report about whether or not the currently obligatory English-language test could be abolished in the future.
