Business Investor

The new Migrant Investment Policy came into effect on 27 July 2009, replacing the existing Active Investor Migrant Policy.  The policy separates investor migrants into two categories.

The Investor 1 Category requires an investment of $10 million for a minimum of 3 years, has no age limit, no English language requirements, no business experience requirements, and the granteee must spend 44 days in New Zealand in each year of the 3-year investment period.

The Investor 2 Category is a points-based category under which applicants must first submit and Expression of Interest and claim points in the areas of age, English language, business experience, and investment funds.  The Expression of Interest will be entered into a Pool if the minimum entry requirements are met and a minimum score of 20 points is achieved.

The Investor 2 Category is age restricted at 65 or younger and requires an IELTS score of 3 or more.  The English language requirement also applies to family members included in the application or ESOL tuition may be pre-purchased for them.  Investment of $1.5 million is required for a minimum of 4 years and a further $1 million in assets that can remain elsewhere.  A minimum of 3 years business experience is required.  The grantee must spend 40% of their time (146 days per year) in New Zealand in each year of the 4-year investment period.  You may be required to complete 20 hours of English language tuition before your residence is finalised.

As with all New Zealand Residence Programme categories, applicants must be healthy and of good character.

Business Experience

Past business experience is examined very carefully under the Investor 2 Category. Applicants are recommended to instruct reputable legal professionals to deal with their cases. Business experience must be acquired through the ownership of at least 25 percent of, or management level experience in, an enterprise, and must involve at least 5 employees in an enterprise or where there was an annual turnover of NZ $1 million or more.