General program requirements

The New Zealand Investor Visa provides two separate tracks, each with its own set of financial and physical presence requirements. 

Investor I Resident Visa

NZ$10 million invested in New Zealand for a minimum of 3 years. 

Applicants must be present for 44 days in each of the last 2 years of the 3 year investment period in New Zealand, or, 88 days at any time over the 3 year investment period if investing a minimum of NZ$2.5 million in growth investments.

Investor II Resident Visa

NZ$3 million invested in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 years, as well as a set of criteria only applicable to Investor 2:

Eligibility is determined by a points-based system;
Requires business experience;
Upper age limit of 65 years
Requires professional-level mastery of English

The main applicant needs to accumulate 146 days in each of years two, three, and four of the investment period, or 438 days over the entire four-year investment period if they invest at least NZD 750,000 in growth investments.

Eligible investment types

Government Bonds (National and local);
Corporate bonds;
Managed funds;
Property developments;
Philanthropic ventures

Program benefits

• Path to citizenship
• Permits dual/multiple citizenship;
• Safety and security;
• Enhanced education opportunities;
• Enhanced business access to large economies;
• Short processing time
• English as official language

Requirements to qualify for citizenship

After receiving the initial Investor I or II resident visa, the applicant may apply for permanent residency after either three or four years, respectively, which if granted enables to applicant to permanently reside in New Zealand. They also are able to leave the country and are not held to minimum presence requirements thereafter.

To be granted citizenship, however, the applicants mush have spent at least 1,350 days in New Zealand during the preceding 5 years. During each year, they must have been physically present in New Zealand for at least 240 days.

Dual citizenship is allowed in New Zealand. 

Applications for this program may be directed to:

New Zealand Immigration 

Legislation upon which this program is based:

Immigration Act 2009 Part 3 Item 45

See more statistics on this program, and dozens of others, in the IMI Data Center.