Officially known as the Active Investor Plus Visa, the New Zealand Golden Visa is a residency-by-investment program that allows investors and their eligible family members to live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely. To qualify for it, investors must either choose one of the following categories:
- NZD $5 million to apply under the Growth category
- NZD $10 million to apply under the Balanced category
The New Zealand Golden Visa program also offers a path to permanent residency. If you prefer investing in the Growth category, you can apply for New Zealand permanent residency after 3 years, while this year’s requirement increases to 5 years for the balanced category.
What You Will Find in This Article
- Program Overview: What is the Active Investor Plus Visa?
- New Zealand Golden Visa Benefits
- Who is Eligible for the New Zealand Golden Visa?
- New Zealand Residency-by-Investment Fund Options
- New Zealand Golden Visa Requirements
- How Can You Apply for a New Zealand Golden Visa?
- Cost: How Much is a New Zealand Golden Visa
- Path for New Zealand Permanent Residency
- Is It Possible to Obtain New Zealand Citizenship via a Golden Visa?
- Comparison with Other Golden Visa Options
Program Overview: What is the Active Investor Plus Visa?
Located in Oceania, New Zealand introduced its Golden Visa program, also known as the Active Investor Plus Visa, in 2022 to attract foreign income to the country. Accordingly, the program scheme promises its applicants that they can obtain long-term residency by investment by making a significant contribution to the economy.
Investors can choose to follow the following two acceptable investments:
- Growth Category: NZD $5 million (Approximately $2,988,590.71)
- Balanced Category: NZD $10 million (Approximately $5,977,531.35)
Once investors submit their applications, they can receive approval in principle within 6 months.
New Zealand Golden Visa Benefits
- The Golden Visa program in New Zealand allows family reunification. The main applicant may include their children up to 24 years of age and their spouse, provided they meet the legal requirements.
- The program offers flexible investment options divided into two categories: Balanced and Growth.
- There is a minimum residency requirement, depending on the investment category.
- New Zealand often ranks among the world’s safest countries, making it favorable for lifestyle perks.
- There is a direct route to permanent residency if you follow the necessary requirements.
- There are no capital gains, wealth, gift, or estate taxes.
Who is Eligible for the New Zealand Golden Visa?
The Main Applicant
As an investor, you must:
- Have a clean criminal record.
- Choose one of the available investment options and make the minimum investment.
- Transfer your investment funds to New Zealand.
- Have earned or obtained your investment funds legally.
- Meet all other visa requirements.
Family Members
Foreign investors include their family members in their application process if they meet the authorities’ dependency requirements. These:
- Your spouse
- Your children up to 24 years old (if they are aged between 21 and 24, they must be single and financially dependent on you)
New Zealand Residency-by-Investment Fund Options
Investment opportunities in New Zealand’s residency-by-investment program can become a strategic asset for high-net-worth individuals.
Successful applicants can qualify for the New Zealand Active Investor Plus Visa by making a minimum investment of:
- NZD $5 million in the Growth category
- NZD $10 million in the Balanced category.
Growth Category
For the Growth category, an NZD $5 million investment is required, either in direct business investment or in managed funds determined by Invest New Zealand. However, the authorities do not grant any success or return.
What makes this category important is that you must stay at least 21 days in New Zealand during the 36-month investment period. At the end of 3 years, you can apply for New Zealand permanent residency.
Another factor you should consider is that this category includes higher risk investment. They are typically not liquid; you cannot convert them into cash at any time. Therefore, they were for those who are looking for long-term financial planning.
Balanced Category
Under the Balanced category, foreign investors are expected to make an NZD $10 million investment in the following options:
- Direct investments
- Managed funds
- Listed equities
- Philanthropy
- Bonds, or
- Property developments
Once you make your investment, you must spend at least 105 days in New Zealand for 5 years. Then you can be eligible to apply for permanent residency. Nevertheless, you can reduce your residency requirement by 14 days for each additional NZD $1 million investment in the Growth category, up to a maximum of 42 days.
All you have to do is nominate any extra funds before your application is approved, and keep your investment for the 5-year period.
New Zealand Golden Visa Requirements
1. Transfer of Funds
To complete your application, you must transfer your funds from your source of funds to New Zealand. You can do this in three ways:
- Direct transfer of funds to New Zealand through the banking system
- From a joint account that is shared with your family members, included in your application.
- Through a third party, acting on your behalf
The aforementioned transfer of funds must be included in your application. Once you get your approval, you will have 6 months to transfer the funds.
2. Minimum Stay Requirements
Under the New Zealand Golden Visa, you have to comply with the minimum residency requirement depending on your investment path.
- Growth Category: If you prefer investing NZD $5 million, you must stay in New Zealand for 21 days over a 36-month period.
- Balanced Category: If you prefer investing NZD $10 million, you must stay in New Zealand for 105 days over a 60-month period. This timeline can be reduced by 15 days with each additional NZD $1 million investment to the acceptable Growth category, up to 42 days. To benefit from this reduced timeline, you must mention any additional funds before your approval-in-principle.
| Investment Amount for the Growth Category | Minimum Residency |
|---|---|
| NZD $10 million | 105 days |
| NZD $11 million | 91 days |
| NZD $12 million | 77 days |
| NZD $13 million | 63 days |
3. Required Documents for New Zealand Active Investor Plus Visa
- A passport-sized photo of yourself and dependent family members included in your application.
- Proof of nominated funds and assets
- Proof of your relationship with dependents included in your application.
- Copy of your valid passport
- Provide proof of good health (a chest X-ray and a medical examination are required)
- Clean criminal record: You are required to submit a police certificate that is no more than 6 months old for yourself and any dependent who is 17 years or older. This document must be in English or translated into English.
- In your application, you must confirm that you can comply with the main requirements.
- You must provide a source of funds. These can be payslips, tax returns, certificates, dividends, bank statements, etc.
- Completed Resident Visa Declaration form (INZ 1242): Only required if you have dependents.
- You must write a cover letter summarizing how each visa document you provide aligns with your application. It can include a table showing your source of funds, or an index documenting that the documents you provide comply with each requirement.
4. Post Investment Questionnaire
After you complete your investment, you are required to attend a questionnaire twice during your investment period.
- The first one will be 24 months into your investment period.
- The second will be at the end of your investment period, which can be 36 months for the Growth category or 60 months for the Balanced category.
Each time, you will have 3 months to complete the questionnaire. In this questionnaire, you will be answering:
- Basic information about yourself
- Your other investments in New Zealand, apart from your residency by investment requirement, and the sectors you invested in, if applicable.
- You are expected to tell whether you actively help the business in other ways.
- If you have not made any further investment, you must tell the reason why.
- You must explain how comfortable you are with New Zealand’s investment environment.
How Can You Apply for a New Zealand Golden Visa?
Step 1: Apply for residency
You can start your application online. At this step, you must upload the required documents to the official website. If you mention that you have additional documents to submit with your application that you could not upload to the system, the authorities can contact you after you submit it.
You also need to pay the Immigration New Zealand application fee of NZD $27,470 (approximately $16,396) online. This amount is non-refundable even if your application is not approved.
Within 6 months, you will receive your approval in principle if you follow the necessary steps.
Step 2: Transfer your funds
Once you receive approval, you will have 6 months to transfer your funds to the investment category you selected, as listed in your application.
Step 3: Get your resident visa
After transferring your funds, you must send an email to the official website, including your documentation proving you have made the investment. The government authorities will contact you if they need additional information or if they grant your residency visa.
If you include family members in your application, they must visit New Zealand within 12 months of their visa being granted. Before you enter New Zealand, you and your family must declare the New Zealand Traveller Declaration (NZTD) 24 hours-before.
This process will take approximately 10.5 weeks. Once you receive your Golden Visa, you must retain your investment for 36 months for Growth options and provide evidence at 24 and 36 months. Then, you can be eligible for permanent residency after 3 years.
If you prefer the Balanced category, you must keep your investment for 60 months and provide evidence in 24 and 60 months. At the end of 5 years, as a Golden Visa holder, you can apply for permanent residency.
Cost: How Much is a New Zealand Golden Visa
| Category | Minimum Investment | Application Fee (Non-Refundable) |
|---|---|---|
| Growth Category | NZD $5 million | NZD $27,470 |
| Balanced Category | NZD $10 million | NZD $27,470 |
*additional fees may apply, such as legal fees, translation fees, advisory fees, etc.
Path for New Zealand Permanent Residency
Compared to many Golden Visa programs, New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus Visa allows you and your included family members a path to permanent residency. This goes as stated below:
- If you invest in the Growth category, you can apply for permanent residency after 3 years.
- If you invest in the Balanced category, you can apply for permanent residency after 5 years.
Is It Possible to Obtain New Zealand Citizenship via a Golden Visa?
The New Zealand Golden Visa program is not a citizenship-by-investment program. It is a residency-by-investment program. Accordingly, you can only acquire a residency through investment. If you follow the minimum residency requirements and keep your investment, you can only apply for permanent residency for the Growth category after 3 years or the balanced category after 5 years.
However, you can become a naturalized citizen and get your New Zealand passport by obtaining permanent residency after five years of living as a resident.
Active Investor Plus Visa vs the New Zealand Business Investor Work Visa
| Topic | Active Investor Plus Visa | Business Investor Work Visa |
|---|---|---|
| Who this visa is for | Experienced investors who want to invest money to help New Zealand businesses grow | Business people who want to buy and actively manage a business in New Zealand |
| Type and amount of investment |
Growth option: at least NZD 5 million Balanced option: at least NZD 10 million |
At least NZD 1 million (3-year pathway) At least NZD 2 million (12-month pathway) |
| Job creation | No job creation required | Maintain 5 jobs and create at least 1 new job |
| Minimum residency requirement |
Growth: 21 days over 3 years Balanced: 105 days over 5 years |
184 days per year in New Zealand |
| Age limit | No age limit | 55 years or younger |
| Business experience | Not required | Minimum 3 years required |
| Settlement funds | Not required | NZD 500,000 required |
| English requirement | No English test | IELTS 5.0 or equivalent |
| Validity | Resident visa (no end date) | Up to 4 years |
| Application cost | NZD 27,470 | NZD 12,380 |
| Pathway to residence |
Permanent residence after: 3 years (Growth) or 5 years (Balanced) |
Residence after: 12 months (NZD 2M) or 3 years (NZD 1M) |
Comparison with Other Golden Visa Options
The New Zealand Golden Visa attracts many high-net-worth investors for its lifestyle perks and long-term residency, but there is no guarantee that the investment will stay safe. You can only include your spouse and children. Therefore, it is always advisable to check the alternatives to find the best investment route for you and your family.
In Europe, the Portugal Golden Visa, one of the most preferred routes, offers flexibility and long-term financial planning within its well-established scheme, requiring a minimum investment of €500,000 with a potential path to permanent residence after 5 years and citizenship, depending on the laws in effect at the time of application. All you have to do is spend 7 days per year.
Another strategic option from Europe is the Greek Golden Visa, best for those looking for a tangible asset rather than a fund investment. By investing in Greek properties from €250,000, you can obtain 5-year residency without any residency requirements.
Get Golden Visa: Your Guide to Global Mobility
Since 2014, at Get Golden Visa, we have helped investors from all over the world find the best investment route according to their goals. Then, we have guided them throughout their investment migration journey.
We serve as a Golden Visa consultancy firm from our offices in London, Lisbon, Athens, and Istanbul, and provide assistance through both online and in-office consultations.
To start your investment journey, fill out the form below. Our experienced team will be reaching out to you soon.
Contact Form
While we provide advisory services based on the legislation and administrative practice in effect at the time of your consultation, we cannot guarantee that future legal or policy changes will not affect eligibility, timing, or requirements for New Zealand residency.
We act as an independent advisory firm, not a government body, and all applications remain subject to New Zealand law and the discretion of the relevant authorities.
FAQs on New Zealand Golden Visa
Does New Zealand offer a Digital Nomad Visa?
No, it does not have a digital nomad visa; it only has a “visitor visa” you can apply for as a remote worker, valid for 6 or 9 months.
How much do I need to invest in New Zealand to get PR?
Under the Active Investor Plus Visa, you must invest either NZD $5 million to apply under the Growth category or NZD $10 million to apply under the Balanced category.
- For the Growth category, you can get PR after 3 years
- For the Balanced category, you can get PR after 5 years
Can I move to New Zealand permanently as a US citizen?
Yes, you can move to New Zealand permanently. However, to move, you need to get a residency visa, such as a New Zealand Golden Visa, aSkilled Migrant Category, or Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV).
Can I buy a house in New Zealand as a US citizen?
Yes, you can, but this will not guarantee you residency rights.
