New Zealand’s “Golden Visa” Program has experienced a significant increase in interest in recent weeks, following the introduction of the new facilitated rules.
While nationals from a number of countries have been applying for New Zealand’s golden visa, data has shown that the majority of applications come from the United States, VisaGuide.World reports.
New Zealand applied new changes to its Active Investor Plus Program on April 1, 2025.
Previously, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment announced that from April, two simplified categories would be applied to the Active Investor Plus Visa. The two categories are Growth and Balanced.
Back then, the Minister of New Zealand, Erica Stanford, said her country is experiencing a significant increase in interest in its Golden Visa scheme, following the new changes.
I’m expecting that in the first month we’ll get a lot of applications. We’re seeing a huge amount of interest from the US. And we’re also seeing a lot of interest out of Germany and the rest of Europe.
New Simplified Rules Introduced to Encourage Foreign Investment
The decision to facilitate the rules for this scheme comes as part of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s efforts to attract more foreign investments and boost the country’s economy.
Among the changes applied to this program are the abolishment of the English-language requirement, the reduction of the time that investors are required to spend in New Zealand, as well as the reduction of the minimum amount required for investments as well and the simplification of investment categories.
The abolishment of the English-language requirement, in particular, led to an increase in interest from wealthy foreign nationals.
Previously, the Managing Director at Queen City Law in Auckland, Mr Marcus Beveridge, told Bloomberg that he is noting massive interest that comes mostly from nationals of China, Japan, Indonesia, and the United States.
65 Applications in 6 Weeks Since Introduction of New Changes
A total of 65 new applications have been registered in the six weeks since the new changes to the Golden Visa Program were introduced.
According to the statistics from New Zealand’s immigration department, of the new applications, a total of 55 came from the United States, the most significant single source country, followed by Hong Kong at 15 percent and China at 12 percent.
A former immigration minister who co-founded relocation consultancy Nash Kelly Global, Stuart Nash, told the Financial Times that the reelection of US President Donald Trump has led many Americans to seek residency in other countries.