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Migrant Investment

MIGRANT INVESTMENT

There are two potential immigration categories for people who wish to become residents of New Zealand through investment. At the end of the investment period (three of four years) you will be eligible for a permanent resident visa for yourself and your family members included in your application.

l Investor Plus Category - you do not need to have any business experience, but you do need a rather large sum of money.

l Investor Category - you need less money than you need for the first category, but you also must have at least three years business experience. Under this Investor category a maximum of 300 applications are approved each year.

Selection is based on a points test with the highest totals being selected fortnightly. If you are not successful, your expression of interest stays in the pool and may be selected at a later date.

Basic requirements for these categories:

*Key requirements*	*Investor Plus*	*Investor*
*Maximum age*	No requirement	65 or younger
*Business experience*	No requirement	Minimum of three years
*Investment funds*	NZ$10 million invested in New Zealand for three years	NZ$1.5 million invested in New Zealand for four years
*Settlement funds*	No requirement	NZ$1 million (transfer not required)
*Principal applicant's English language*	No requirement	- an English Speaking background, OR - an International English Language Testing system (IELTS) test report with an overall band score of three or more, OR - a competent user of English
*Family member's English language*	No requirement	Same as principal applicant or pre-purchase ESOL tuition
*Minimum time in New Zealand*	44 days in New Zealand in each of the last two years of the three-year investment period.	146 days in New Zealand in each of the last three years of the four-year investment period.
*Health and character*	Applicants under both categories must meet health and character requirements.

Investor Plus (Investor 1 Category) requirements:

l Under this category, you can submit a residence application directly. You will need to invest a minimum of NZ$10 million in acceptable investments in New Zealand.

l You cannot nominate investment funds or assets you intend to bring to New Zealand for your personal use – for example a personal residence, car, or boat.

l During the application process you will need to provide verifiable evidence that you meet the Investor Plus criteria summarized below.

Investment funds and/or assets

The funds and/or assets you nominate in your residence application must be equivalent to at least NZ$10 million. You will have to provide evidence to show that these funds and/or assets;

l are owned by you or jointly by you, your partner and/or dependent children are unencumbered, i.e. not subject to any mortgage, lien, charge and/or encumbrance (whether equitable or otherwise) or any other creditor claims

l have been earned or acquired legally

l are transferable through the banking system, or a foreign exchange company that uses the banking system.

After residence is approved

If your residence application is approved in principle, you (the principal applicant) will have 12 months to transfer your nominated investment funds and invest them in an acceptable investment in New Zealand, though you can apply to have this time frame extended.

Investor (Investor 2 Category) requirements:

You (the principal applicant) must be aged 65 or younger, and have at least three years’ business experience, as well as meeting the Investor criteria summarized below.

Investment and settlement funds and/or assets

The investment funds and/or assets you nominate must be equivalent to at least NZ$1.5 million, though you may nominate more, depending on the points claimed in your EOI.

In addition, you need to own settlement funds and/or assets of at least NZ$1 million.
In your residence application, you will need to provide evidence showing that your investment and settlement funds and/or assets are owned by you or jointly by you and your partner and/or dependent children.
You will also need to be able to provide evidence showing that your intended investment funds:

n are unencumbered, i.e. not subject to any mortgage, lien, charge and/or encumbrance (whether equitable or otherwise) or any other creditor claims

n have been earned or acquired legally

n are transferable through the banking system, or a foreign exchange company that uses the banking system.

After approval in principle, you will need to provide verifiable documents to show that the funds you transfer to New Zealand came from the funds and/or assets that you nominate. You will need to place your investment funds in an acceptable investment(s) in New Zealand.

After residence is approved