New Zealand changes ‘Golden Visa’ to lure wealthy migrants

New Zealand is simplifying its so-called “golden visa” program, including removing an English language requirement, to attract wealthy immigrants and help spark an economic recovery.

From April 1, the Active Investor Plus visa will be narrowed to just two categories, while the scope of acceptable investments will be expanded, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said Sunday in Auckland. As well as dropping the language test, other potential barriers to investment such as the amount of time investors must stay in the country will also be adjusted, she said.

After a sharp recession in 2024, the New Zealand government wants to capitalize on falling interest rates to lift economic performance but has acknowledged it needs lacks the necessary capital. It is reworking foreign investment regulations, created a single agency to act as a one-stop shop for overseas fund managers, and has eased rules to allow visitors to work remotely, hoping that might encourage highly skilled people to relocate permanently.

“Capital is highly mobile and in an increasing complex world, people are looking for a safe and stable country to do business,” Stanford said. “We are now making our investor visa simpler and more flexible to incentivize investors to choose New Zealand as a destination.”

The Active Investor Plus visa was successful at luring rich individuals to New Zealand and raked in an average NZ$1 billion ($570 million) a year, but has languished after rule changes in late 2022.

Just 43 applications have been fully approved since those adjustments were made, equating to NZ$545 million of nominated investment funds, according to data from Immigration New Zealand. The actual amount of money coming across the border was significantly less, the government said today.

The new program will have two categories:

• Growth, or higher risk, requiring a minimum investment of NZ$5 million over three years either directly into businesses or into managed funds; visa holders must spend just 21 days in the country
• Balanced, or mixed risk, requiring a minimum of NZ$10 million invested over five years into bonds, stocks, new property development including residential, or existing commercial and industrial property; holders must spend at least 105 days in the country but can reduce the period by investing above the minimum

By offering an option for low-risk investors the program will be attractive to a wider group of people, rather than just focusing on those with a high risk appetite, Stanford said, adding there is already of a large amount of interest from applicants that had been generated during consultations with the industry.

New Zealand’s easing of its investor visa rules comes at a time when many other nation are ending theirs. Spain will end its golden visa program on April 3, while the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Greece and Malta have either ended or tightened the rules around their golden visa or equivalent policies.

The Australian government has effectively scrapped its Significant Investor visa class — which was available for arrivals who invested more than A$5 million ($3 million) — over concerns that it had been abused by wealthy individuals who had used it to buy property or financial assets without contributing significantly to productive parts of the economy.

Marcus Beveridge, a business migration specialist and managing director at Queen City Law in Auckland, welcomed the changes as being well over due, and predicted they will give New Zealand’s sluggish residential property market a shot in the arm.

“Over the last couple of decades every time we do something like this the property market picks up,” he said. “It’s not so much about huge numbers coming across the border but what happens is that the cash investment primes the pumps and our local market takes off.”