New Zealand sees surge in golden visa applications following policy reforms, wealthy Americans lead the way
New Zealand
has experienced a significant increase in applications for its "
golden visa
" program, officially known as the
Active Investor Plus Visa
, after implementing policy changes aimed at attracting foreign investment. In the six weeks since the revised rules took effect in April 2025, 65 new applications have been submitted, with the majority originating from the United States, as per a report by Financial Times.
The updated visa program reduced the minimum investment requirement to NZ$5 million (approximately US$3 million) and eliminated the English language proficiency requirement. Additionally, the residency obligation was decreased from three years to just 21 days. The application processing time has also been shortened, averaging 11 days.
According to the report by Financial Times, of the new applications, 55 are from US citizens, followed by 15 from
Hong Kong
and 12 from
China
. This influx represents a minimum capital inflow of NZ$620 million.
Stuart Nash, a former
immigration
minister and co-founder of relocation consultancy Nash Kelly Global, attributed the surge to political factors in the United States. He stated to the Financial Times, "It's the main driver. Many of the people applying are of a different political persuasion to President Trump."
(Join our
ETNRI WhatsApp channel
for all the latest updates)
The policy changes are part of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's strategy to stimulate New Zealand's economy by attracting foreign investment. The government is also considering further easing restrictions on foreign property purchases, although such measures face opposition within the coalition.
Live Events
RECOMMENDED
STORIES FOR YOU
New Zealand Finance Minister Nicola Willis' budget 2025 full speech: Trump's tariffs, slow growth, economic challenges
Indian couple in New Zealand admit $2 million fraud on Ministry for Children
New Zealand braces for severe weather, heavy winds, and thunderstorms expected
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford commented on the increased interest, stating that the numbers indicate New Zealand is "open for business."
The revamped visa program contrasts with the previous government's stricter approach, which had tightened investment visa rules in 2018 following controversies over the granting of citizenship to wealthy foreigners.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- Indian Express
US, China to hold trade talks on June 9 in London, Trump says
US President Trump on Friday said three of his cabinet officials will meet with representatives of China in London on June 9 to discuss a trade deal. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Treasury Scott Bessent, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will attend from the US side. 'The meeting should go very well,' Trump wrote. The scheduling of the meeting comes a day after Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping in a rare leader-to-leader call amid weeks of brewing trade tensions and a battle over critical minerals. The countries struck a 90-day deal on May 12 to roll back some of the triple-digit, tit-for-tat tariffs they had placed on each other since Trump's January inauguration. Though stocks rallied, the temporary deal did not address broader concerns that strain the bilateral relationship, from the illicit fentanyl trade to the status of democratically governed Taiwan and U.S. complaints about China's state-dominated, export-driven economic model.
News18
23 minutes ago
- News18
India's Extreme Poverty Fell Sharply To 5.3% In 2022-23 From 27.1% In 2011-12: World Bank
Last Updated: Only 75.24 million people were living in extreme poverty in India during 2022-23, a drastic reduction from 344.47 million in 2011-12, according to the data India has made significant strides in reducing its extreme poverty rate, which fell to 5.3% in 2022–23 from 27.1% in 2011–12, according to updated World Bank data. This remarkable decline signals a transformative shift in the country's economic landscape over the past decade. The figures are noteworthy: only 75.24 million people were living in extreme poverty in India during 2022–23, a drastic reduction from 344.47 million in 2011–12. This indicates that 269 million individuals were lifted out of extreme poverty over approximately 11 years. Such progress highlights the effectiveness of government initiatives, economic reforms, and improved access to essential services, say analysts. The World Bank's assessment, based on the $3.00 per day international poverty line (using 2021 prices), shows a broad-based reduction across both rural and urban areas. While the overall extreme poverty rate fell to 5.3%, if measured by the earlier $2.15 poverty rate (based on 2017 prices), only 2.3% of the Indian population lived in extreme poverty in 2022–23, down from 16.2% in 2011–12. This effectively lifted 171 million people above that specific poverty line. This sharp decline was uniformly observed, with rural extreme poverty falling from 18.4% to 2.8% and urban extreme poverty reducing from 10.7% to 1.1% between 2011–12 and 2022–23. The narrowing gap between rural and urban poverty indicates that the benefits of economic growth have reached various segments of the population. (With agency inputs) First Published: June 07, 2025, 00:04 IST
New Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Road to justice for the Bengaluru XI
To blame any of the victims would be perverse beyond belief, dealing the unkindest of cuts to the families of those who lost their lives. Yet, it is with deepest sadness that it must be recorded that what happened was not the city's 'defect' or a sporting negligence—it was an Indian tragedy. Repeatedly, when crowds gather, for one cause or another, tragedy unfolds; yet, as a collective, we learn nothing. There is no doubt that the events of Wednesday afternoon have shaken Indian society's consciousness, but not so much that it will act as a deterrent. Not so much that there will be any changes of consequence when it comes to developing infrastructure that can safely handle large crowds, spontaneous surges of people or exuberant gatherings. Not thoroughly enough to force people in power to pause and get to the bottom of why something that should never have happened occurred. A probe has been ordered, arrests may be made, officials suspended and monetary compensation promised. This is a templated response. You can transpose the name of the team or sport, the venue, or the occasion with a religious gathering, a clamour to board a train—and the story would remain depressingly the same. They dare not say it aloud, but there will be a few who will look at the episode and think that only 11 people died. In India, it's not a number of fatalities that triggers righteous outrage. In 2005, at least 258 died in Satara, Maharashtra during a pilgrimage. In 2013, more than 115 were killed in a bridge collapse in over the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. In 2024, the official count in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh was 121; the trigger was a tent collapse. In sports, globally, the numbers are equally terrifying: 300 in Peru at a football game in 1964, 93 in Nepal in 1988, and 126 in Ghana in 2001. In terms of numbers, the Hillsborough tragedy of 1989 where 97 people lost their lives at the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in Sheffield is probably the most high-profile, not least because the victims' families banded together to mount a protracted campaign for justice. It took 27 years for the UK courts to charge those responsible In India, with the judicial system so overburdened that even the simplest of disputes can take decades to resolve, who knows when, if ever, those responsible for the events of Bengaluru 2025 will be brought to book.
