Active Investor Plus Visa $5m+ Growth Category

New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus Visa provides a residence pathway for overseas investors who are prepared to commit significant capital to the New Zealand economy.

The Growth Category is particularly aimed at investors willing to place their capital into higher-growth New Zealand investments. It offers a lower investment threshold and shorter investment period than the Balanced Category.

How much must be invested?

An applicant under the Growth Category must invest at least NZ$5 million in acceptable New Zealand investments.

The investment must generally be maintained for a minimum period of three years.

By comparison, the Balanced Category requires at least NZ$10 million to be invested for five years.

What investments qualify?

The Growth Category is deliberately focused on investments intended to provide capital to New Zealand businesses and contribute to economic growth.

Acceptable investments can include:

• Direct investments in New Zealand businesses
• Approved managed funds
• Qualifying philanthropic investments, subject to applicable limits

Direct investments and managed funds must satisfy the relevant requirements for acceptable investments.

The Growth Category is therefore different from a conventional passive investment migration programme. Its settings are directed towards investments that may carry greater commercial risk and may be less liquid than investments such as listed shares or bonds.

Investors should establish that a proposed investment qualifies before committing funds. The fact that an investment is made in New Zealand does not automatically make it acceptable for immigration purposes.

Residence from the outset

The Active Investor Plus Visa is a resident visa rather than a temporary visa providing a later pathway to residence.

Once granted, it allows the holder to live, work and study in New Zealand indefinitely, subject to the conditions attached to the visa.

An applicant may also include their partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger, provided they meet the applicable immigration requirements.

Three-year investment period

Growth Category investors must maintain at least NZ$5 million in acceptable investments in New Zealand for 36 months.

Evidence that the required funds have remained invested must be provided to Immigration New Zealand at specified stages during the investment period.

Investors must ensure that their portfolio continues to meet the Growth Category requirements throughout the relevant investment period.

How much time must an investor spend in New Zealand?

The Growth Category has a relatively modest physical-presence requirement.

The principal applicant must spend at least 21 days in New Zealand during the three-year investment period.

This provides considerable flexibility for international investors who may continue to have substantial business, investment or family commitments overseas.

No English-language requirement

There is no English-language requirement for the Active Investor Plus Visa. Applicants are therefore not required to demonstrate a particular level of English ability through an English-language test or other qualification.

Source of investment funds

Applicants must demonstrate that their nominated investment funds have been lawfully earned or acquired.

Immigration New Zealand may require substantial documentary evidence establishing both ownership of the funds and their origin.

The source of funds may include:

• Business income
• Sale of a business
• Accumulated earnings
• Investment returns
• Property sales
• Inheritance
• Gifts

For high-net-worth applicants whose wealth has accumulated over many years, establishing the source and movement of funds can be a significant part of the application process.

Applicants should therefore consider their source-of-funds evidence at an early stage rather than treating it as a formality after deciding to apply.

Transferring and investing the funds

Following approval in principle, the applicant must transfer and invest the required funds in accordance with Immigration New Zealand’s requirements.

The investment funds must generally be transferred through acceptable banking or financial channels and must correspond with the funds or assets nominated as part of the application.

Careful planning can be important where assets need to be sold, converted into cash or transferred between jurisdictions before they can be placed into qualifying New Zealand investments.

Permanent residence

After completing the three-year investment period and satisfying the conditions attached to the Active Investor Plus Visa, the investor can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa.

Permanent residence provides indefinite travel conditions, allowing the holder to leave and return to New Zealand without the travel conditions that ordinarily apply to a resident visa.

Growth or Balanced?

The Growth and Balanced Categories provide different options depending on an investor’s capital and preferred investment strategy.

The Growth Category requires a minimum investment of NZ$5 million for three years and focuses principally on direct investments and managed funds.

The Balanced Category requires a minimum investment of NZ$10 million for five years but allows a broader range of investments, including listed equities, bonds and qualifying property developments.

The Growth Category may therefore appeal to investors who are comfortable placing capital into growth-focused New Zealand investments in exchange for a lower investment threshold, shorter investment period and relatively limited physical-presence requirement.

A direct investment pathway to New Zealand residence

The Active Investor Plus Growth Category provides a comparatively direct residence pathway for high-net-worth investors prepared to commit at least NZ$5 million to qualifying New Zealand growth investments.

Its three-year investment period, 21-day minimum presence requirement and absence of an English-language requirement provide considerable flexibility for investors who continue to maintain international business and family interests.

For applicants who can satisfy the investment, source-of-funds, health, character and other immigration requirements, the Growth Category offers a pathway to New Zealand residence while directing investment capital into New Zealand businesses and growth-focused investments.