New Zealand has revised its investor visa. The Kiwi nation has introduced a new visa with all new features to attract more investment in the country. The new visa as called the Active Investor Visa will replace the two existing visa categories namely Investor 1 and Investor 2 visa, respectively. These were active for the last twelve years and facilitated passive investment in the country. This visa lets you live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely. It also facilitates you to include your partner in this visa alongside your children. However, the children must be aged 24 or under. Remember applying under this visa does not allow you to enter New Zealand, you need to apply for a work visa once your application has been approved under the active investor plus category. Similarly, your accompanying partner will need to apply for a visitor visa. Furthermore, if you have children that are dependent on you, they can apply for a student visa.
Benefits of an Investor Visa
This visa has many more incentives than the other visa it will replace. This new visa benefits the investor through a weighting system. The weighting system means that different types of investment carry different weightings towards the minimum investment value of NZD $15 million to be eligible for this visa. To elaborate more, direct investment into the business will receive the highest weighting which is 3x. In simple words, it means an Investor can reach the minimum threshold of investment by investing 5 million into direct funds as it will carry a value of 15 million via a 3x weighting system.
The weighting of the investment departments on the type of investment. Direct investment into new zealand companies will receive the highest value while another investment has a lower weighting value. For example, investments into managed funds such as private equity or venture capital funds will have a weighting value of 2x per investment. Meaning the investors need to invest 7.5 million to reach the minimum threshold.
The system aims to attract more investment in New Zealand firms and encourage greater New Zealand companies.
The new visa aims to encourage direct investment by offering higher and lower weightings for indirect investments. The new system allows investors to invest over three years and keep their investments for four years. Additionally, investors must spend at least 117 days in New Zealand over the four-year investment period and have an IELTS score of at least 5.0.
You will have 6 months to transfer the funds to New Zealand after the visa approval. You can also apply for permanent residence after four years of keeping your investment in New Zealand.
