Announcement
Active Investor Plus improvements provide greater certainty for investors
Published
13 August 2026
New Active Investor Plus (AIP) Visa changes make it easier for investors to understand investment requirements and the evidence needed to support an application, providing greater clarity and certainty when investing in New Zealand.
The changes build on the strong performance of the refreshed visa, which attracted 637 applications and around $3.7 billion in potential investment during its first 12 months. The improvements are designed to make requirements clearer and support a transparent, high-quality investment programme.
What are the changes?
- Borrowed funds must come from the same country or jurisdiction as the assets being used to support the application.
- Investors will need to provide evidence that their nominated funds were earned or acquired lawfully and transferred through appropriate banking channels.
- Where investment funds have been gifted, investors will need to show that the gift was unconditional and complied with the laws of the country where it was made.
- Investors in managed funds will only need a legally binding agreement. The requirement for a non-revocable agreement has been removed.
- Other changes will create a more consistent approach across investment categories by aligning transfer of funds requirements for the Parent Retirement and Temporary Retirement visas.
A new approach will allow children born after an investor visa is approved to be granted a visa as secondary applicants in their parent’s Permanent Resident Visa, variation of travel conditions, and Second or Subsequent Resident Visa applications.
To be eligible, they must be a dependent child of an Active Investor Plus, Investor 1 or Investor 2 Resident Visa holder, hold a Dependent Child Resident Visa based on their relationship, and have entered New Zealand on their visa.
Acceptable investments for an Active Investor Plus Visa