- 2 acceptable photos of your head and shoulders
- your original or a certified copy of your passport or certificate of identity
- your original or a certified copy of your full birth certificate.
Meeting the criteria
The criteria and evidence below will provide you with the information you need to meet the requirements.
You must have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of your good health.
If you are 17 or over, you must provide a police certificate from:
- your country of citizenship
- any other country where you have spent 12 months or more over the last 10 years, even if you did not spend that 12 months all in one visit.
Police Certificates must be less than 6 months old when you apply.
If you provide a police certificate that is not in English, you must provide an English translation.
This includes police certificates that record no convictions.
You must confirm in the application form that you meet fit and proper person requirements.
To be a fit and proper person, all businesses you have influence over must have complied with all immigration, employment and taxation laws. You must also:
- have never been investigated by the Serious Fraud Office or the New Zealand police for any offence resulting from business dealings
- have no convictions for an offence involving dishonesty
- have never been involved in business fraud or financial impropriety.
We’ll contact you if you need to provide further information.
Bring family
Your partner and dependent children must meet the requirements for this visa
You must provide evidence:
- of your relationship with your partner and dependent children, like a marriage certificate and birth certificates
- that your partner and dependent children meet the health, character and identity requirements for this visa, if necessary.
If any of your immediate family members hold New Zealand temporary entry visas based on their relationship with you, they must be included in your residence application.
The value you can claim for your investment funds, depends if they are owned by you, or jointly by you and another person.
If you own an investment jointly with:
- your dependent children, you can claim the full value of the investment
- your partner, you can claim the full value of the investment, as long as you and your partner are in a recognised partnership
- someone who isn’t your partner or dependent child, you can only claim for the part of the investment that you own.
Evidence of your funds may include:
- bank statements
- title deeds
- property valuations
- share certificates
- business ownership documents
- asset valuations.
The funds and/or assets you nominate for your investment can’t be borrowed, or have a loan or bond against them.
You must transfer your investment funds to New Zealand.
You must transfer your investment funds directly from your bank account to New Zealand through the banking system.
If we approve your application in principle, you’ll have 12 months from that date to transfer and invest your funds.
Transferring investment funds
You can apply for a temporary visa to come to New Zealand and investigate investment opportunities.
We may give you a further 12 months to transfer and invest your funds.
You’ll need to contact us before the transfer period expires and show you have made reasonable steps to transfer and invest.
Source of investment funds
You must have earned or acquired your investment funds lawfully
The evidence you provide will depend on how you came by your funds. It may include:
- tax returns or certificates
- pay slips
- business financial statements
- business shareholdings
- dividends
- receipts for property sales
- bank certificates
- share trading profits
- evidence of gifted money
- probate and other evidence of inherited money.
It’s OK if your investment includes funds that were gifted to you, as long as the gift was unconditional and lawful, and the funds were originally earned or acquired lawfully.
Acceptable investments
You must invest NZ $10 million in acceptable investments in New Zealand for a minimum of 3 years
You must provide documents from a trusted professional like a chartered accountant or solicitor that confirm:
- your full name
- the amount invested in NZD
- the date you started your investment
- the investment type
- the names of any organisations you invested in
- the number of shares or bonds you bought in any organisations.
If you already have funds invested in an acceptable investment in New Zealand, we can start your investment period from the time we approve your residence application in principle.
Once your funds are invested in New Zealand, it’s OK to transfer funds between acceptable investments.
Not the right visa for you?
Explore your other business visa options, see all business visas or explore another visa type.