From April 1, 2025, wealthy foreign nationals interested in acquiring residency in New Zealand through its Golden Visa Program will be subject to facilitated rules.
In an attempt to attract more wealthy foreigners, authorities in New Zealand have decided to remove the English language requirement and adjust the length of stay investors must stay in the country, VisaGuide.World reports.
Announcing the new changes, the Immigration Minister of New Zealand, Erica Stanford, said that the Active Investor Puls visa would be reduced to just two categories, while the range of acceptable investments would also be expanded.
Speaking in Auckland on Sunday, February 9, Stanford said that New Zealand’s government wants to capitalize on declining interest rates to improve economic performance, however has admitted that it lacks the necessary capital.
In order to attract a larger number of wealthy foreigners to the country, authorities in New Zealand have continuously applied new changes, facilitating the relocation process for those interested in moving into this country permanently.
Capital is highly mobile and in an increasingly complex world, people are looking for a safe and stable country to do business in. We are now making our investor visa simpler and more flexible to encourage investors to choose New Zealand as a destination.
These New Changes Will Apply From April 1, 2025
New Zealand’s Immigration Minister said that from April 1, 2025, new changes to the country’s Active Investor Plus Visa include:
- Two main investment categories- Growth and Balanced
- A minimum investment requirement of NZD$5 million for Growth category investors and a total of NZD$10 million for Balanced category investors
- Enhancing the scope of acceptable investments for the Balanced category in order to include bond and property investments
- Loosened immigration requirements for migrants who chose more active investments, including the time required to be spent in New Zealand.
- Reducing the time that both category visa holders have to make their investments in New Zealand, both categories are required to make all investments within six months of their approval in principle however they are required to apply for a six-month extension and
- Removing the English language requirement
The new changes have also been welcomed by a business migration expert and managing director of Queen City Law in Auckland, Marcus Beveridge.
Over the last two decades, every time we’ve done something like this, the housing market has bounced back. It’s not so much about big numbers coming across the border, but what happens is that the investment money paves the way and our local market takes off.
He told Invest News that he expects the new changes would further boost New Zealand’s residential property market.