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New Zealand golden visa: 189 foreign investors apply in just 3 months
According to Immigration New Zealand, 189 applications have come in under the new Active Investor Plus visa rules, which were updated to attract experienced investors and global capital.
The country's economic growth minister, Nicola Willis, said this was a sharp rise compared to the 116 applications received over more than two and a half years under the previous version of the scheme.
'Investor migrants are clearly attracted to New Zealand's growing reputation as a safe, pro-business, high-potential economy. In a world where countries compete for dollars and talent, it's great to see New Zealand's growth prospects being recognised,' said Willis.
Stuart Nash, a former Labour immigration minister who now heads Nash Kelly Global, said global politics — particularly in the United States — had pushed demand higher.
'It's the main driver,' said Nash. 'Many of the people applying are of a different political persuasion to President Trump.'
He said concerns around Donald Trump's foreign policy and security decisions were prompting wealthy Americans to look elsewhere. 'Putin is on the doorstep and no one is 100 per cent sure what Trump will do on Nato,' he said. 'That kind of uncertainty means people are looking to New Zealand.'
Nash added that interest was also increasing because other countries had pulled back their golden visa schemes. Portugal and Ireland have both moved to limit their investor programmes, while in April the European Court of Justice ruled that Malta's citizenship-by-investment scheme was in breach of EU law.
New investment categories and timelines
Under the new rules introduced on April 1, 2025, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment created two simplified investor pathways:
> Growth category: Minimum investment of NZD $5 million over 3 years
> Balanced category: NZD $10 million over 5 years
According to RNZ, 100 applications had been approved in principle as of June 23. Of those, seven investors had already transferred their funds and received visas.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said the early uptake had exceeded her expectations.
'As of this week we're almost at 190 after 10 weeks, and I think that shows you the level of interest from overseas, in lots of different markets we haven't seen before,' said Stanford.
She noted that most applications were from nationals of the United States, Hong Kong, China and Germany. Applicants have six months to transfer their funds into New Zealand and begin investing.
'Investment Boost delivers the confidence to put that capital to work, and to ensure that people are making investments that will pay off in the long run,' said Stanford.
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