Advertisement
US, mainland China, Hong Kong lead rush for New Zealand’s ‘golden’ visas
In less than three months, New Zealand has received ‘a flood of formal interest’ for its revamped investor migrant visa
1-MIN READ1-MIN
4
New Zealand said on Monday there had been a rush in applications for its new foreign investor migrant visa as the centre-right government looks to lure more high-net-worth individuals to the country to stimulate economic growth.
The government in April relaxed rules for the visa, including lowering the minimum required funds for the category that focuses on higher-risk investments to NZ$5 million (US$3 million) from NZ$15 million and removing the English language requirement.
“[There has been] a flood of formal interest in the new ‘golden’ visa,” Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said.
Advertisement
“New applications under the scheme represent a potential NZ$845 million (US$503 million) of new investment in New Zealand business.”
In a statement, Stanford said the government had received 189 applications in less than three months for the Active Investor Plus visa, compared with 116 submissions over more than two-and-a-half years under the previous settings.
Eighty-five of those applications, or just under half of the total, were submitted by US citizens, followed by mainland China with 26 and Hong Kong with 24.
Advertisement
Select Voice
Select Speed
1.00x