To be eligible for residence in New Zealand under our Entrepreneur Category, you need to have successfully established, and be self-employed or working in, a business that is benefiting New Zealand. 

You may have applied for, and gained, a long term business visa so you could establish the business, and now wish to apply for residence.  If so, you:

• must have established, purchased, or made a substantial investment of at least 25 per cent in a business operating in New Zealand, and
• must have been self-employed or, if you’re a part-owner, have worked in that business for two years before you apply for residence as an entrepreneur, and
• or any partner or children who are with you must not have sought social welfare assistance, and
• need to show that you've met the requirements for establishing your business in New Zealand.

Where you were granted a long term business visa, we will decline your application for residence if:

• your business is different from the one included in your long term business visa application, and 
• fails to meet our business plan requirements, and
• the business does not have at least the same level of investment as your original proposal, and
• you do not have relevant experience in the business.

You don’t need to have a long term business visa

If you have successfully established a business that’s been operating for two years, you can apply directly for a resident visa under our Entrepreneur Category.

If you’re eligible…

We’ll write to you to tell you that we’ve approved in principle your application.

Before we can grant you a resident visa, we’ll need to see that… 

• you’ve paid any migrant levies that are owing
• you, and your partner or any dependent children aged 16 or over who are with you, meet our English language requirements.