Our Investor business migration visas are for investors who want to gain residence in New Zealand.

If you are looking to invest in your New Zealand lifestyle, our investor visas may be a good option for you and your family. There are two investor categories:

• Investor 1 (minimum investment NZ$10 million for at least three years) and

• Investor 2 (minimum investment NZ$3 million for at least four years).

Criteria for approval:

Rewards for growth investments

If you invest at least 25% of your investment funds into assets other than Bonds and Philanthropic Investment, Investor visa holders will be able to meet their time in New Zealand requirement flexibly, with Investor 2 visa holders required to spend 438 days over the 4 year investment period and Investor Plus visa holders needing to spend 88 days over the 3 year investment period.

Investor 2 visa holders who invest at least 50% of your investment funds into assets other than Bonds and Philanthropic Investment will qualify for a reduction of $0.5m of the investment amount.  For example, if you nominate $3m of investment funds and invest $1.5m outside of Bonds and Philanthropic Investment, you will only be required to invest a further $1m to meet the visa requirements.

Acceptable investments

If you are interested in applying under one of our investor policies, the opportunities you take up must fit our 'acceptable investment' criteria. Broadly speaking, acceptable investments can be:

• Equity in NZ firms, public or private. An equity investment can be active or passive, and be made direct or via managed funds (only the proportion of the Fund that is invested in NZ is counted as acceptable).

• Bonds, issued by the NZ Government, NZ local authorities or approved NZ banks, finance companies or firms.

• New residential property development that is not for the investor’s personal use and designed to make a commercial return on the open market.

• Up to 15% of the investment total can be philanthropic investment.

Generally, to be considered acceptable, an investment must:

• Be capable of a commercial return under normal circumstances.

• Be invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency.

• Have the potential to contribute to New Zealand’s economy.

• Not be for the personal use of the investor.

This is just an overview, and there are other conditions that apply.

Acceptable investments | Immigration New Zealand

Investment funds

You can nominate a mix of funds and/or assets to invest. They must be equivalent to at least NZ$3 million for Investor or NZ$10 million for Investor Plus, though you may nominate more, depending on the points claimed in your Expression of Interest (EOI). 

You will need to provide evidence showing that your investment and/or assets are owned by you or jointly by you and your partner and/or dependent children if they are included in the application.

You will also need to provide evidence showing that your intended investment funds:

• are unencumbered, i.e. not subject to any mortgage, lien, charge and/or encumbrance (whether equitable or otherwise) or any other creditor claims

• have been earned or acquired legally

• are transferable through the banking system or through a foreign exchange company that uses the banking system (Immigration New Zealand will not be able to approve your application if you are unable to transfer funds to New Zealand through the banking system).

If your residence is approved in principle

With either category, you will have 12 months to transfer your investment funds in an acceptable investment in New Zealand. You will need to provide verifiable documents to show that the funds you transfer to New Zealand came from the funds and/or assets that you nominate.

You can apply to have this timeframe extended and you can also apply for a work visa so you can travel to New Zealand to look into investment opportunities.

You can nominate a mix of funds and/or assets to invest.

After residence is approved

For the Investor Plus category, you will need to keep your investment funds in an acceptable investment for three years. You will also have to spend at least 44 days in New Zealand each year in years two and three of your three-year investment period or 88 days over the three year investment period*.

For the Investor category, you will need to keep your investment funds in an acceptable investment for four years. You will also have to spend at least 146 days each year in New Zealand in years two, three and four of your four-year investment period or 438 days over the four year investment period*.

*Depending on the make-up of your investment