- 2 acceptable photos of your head and shoulders
Active Investor Plus Visa
Apply for this visa to live, work and invest in New Zealand. You must have at least NZD $15 million or the weighted equivalent in available assets or funds.
Length of stay
Indefinitely
Cost
From
NZD $27470
Processing time
Approval in principle 80% within
7 months
With this visa you can
- Live, work and study in New Zealand.
- Include your partner, and dependent children aged 24 and under, in your visa application
- Apply for permanent residence after 4 years of keeping your funds in New Zealand.
Things to note
- If we approve your application in principle, you will have 6 months to transfer and invest your funds in New Zealand.
- After your application has been approved in principle, you can apply for a work visa to come to New Zealand and arrange the transfer and investment of your funds. If your partner wants to come with you, they will need to apply for their own visitor visa. Your dependent children can apply for student visas.
- You must invest NZD $15 million or the weighted equivalent in acceptable investments in New Zealand.
Acceptable investments: Active Investor Plus Visa
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What you need to apply
Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.
View All Evidence
You must have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of your good health.
If you, or anyone else included in your application, are aged 17 or older you must provide a police certificate from:
- all the countries you are a citizen of, and
- any other country you have stayed in for 12 months or more over the last 10 years, even if it was not all in the same stay.
Tips
Police certificates must be less than 6 months old at the time 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.
Tips
We’ll contact you if you need to provide further information.
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.
Tips
If your partner or dependent children have, or applied for, a New Zealand temporary entry visa based on their relationship with you, you must include them in your residence application.
If you include your partner and/or children in your application they must fill out a Resident Visa Declaration Form (INZ 1242).
You can show us you speak English by either providing:
- an acceptable English language test result
- evidence you have an English-speaking background
- evidence you are a competent user of English for other reasons.
English language test results for an Active Investor Plus visa
Tips
English language test results must be no more than 2 years old.
Acceptable investments: Active Investor Plus Visa
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.
You can transfer your investment funds directly from your bank account to New Zealand through the banking system.
You can also transfer funds through a third party such as a solicitor acting on your behalf, a pension scheme in your name or an investment portfolio account in your name.
If we approve your application in principle, you will have 6 months from that date to transfer your funds.
Transferring investment funds
Tips
You can apply for a temporary visa to come to New Zealand and arrange the transfer and investment of your funds.
We may give you a further 6 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.
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.
Tips
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.
After your application is approved in principle you will have 6 months to make a minimum initial investment and invest the remainder of the funds into holding investments and/or other acceptable investments. The total value of your investments must be at least NZD $15 million or the weighted equivalent.
| Investment type | Minimum initial investment |
|---|---|
| Direct Investments | NZD $100,000 |
| Managed funds | NZD $500,000 |
| Listed equities/Philanthropy | NZD $1 million |
You must provide evidence that includes the following information:
- The full name of the principal applicant
- The amount invested in New Zealand dollars
- The date the investment was made
- The type of investment, including the name the company or bond issuer if applicable as well as the amount of shares or bonds
- Documentary evidence of the investment
- A letter from an external and reputable professional such as a solicitor, chartered accountant or investment broker confirming that the funds have been invested
- A letter of confirmation from NZTE if the investment is a direct investment
Tips
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.
You may be eligible for the Active Investor Plus Visa with only NZD $5 million if your investments are direct investments.
Process and costs
The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.
Notes
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Enter country detailsHow to submit
Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.
Notes
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Enter country detailsConditions
These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.
Entry permission
You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing a New Zealand traveller declaration (NZTD).
New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.
Notes
You can be refused entry permission if:
- you do not meet our character requirements
- your circumstances have changed since you were issued a visa
- you refuse to let us to take your photo, or provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if we ask you for them.
Invest in New Zealand
You must keep NZD $15 million or the weighted equivalent in acceptable investments in New Zealand for 48 months.
Notes
You must:
- have NZD $7.5 million or the weighted equivalent invested within the first 18 months of the investment period
- have a further NZD $7.5 million or the weighted equivalent invested within the first 36 months of the investment period
- have the full NZD $15 million or weighted equivalent invested until the end of the 48-month period, and
- retain any investments you have made throughout the 48-month investment period.
You must provide evidence of the funds invested at the end of the first 18 months and the third and fourth years you are in New Zealand.
You will have 3 months to provide this.
Spend time in New Zealand
You must spend at least 117 days in New Zealand as a holder of a resident visa during the 4 year investment period.
Bring your family to New Zealand
If your family are included in your resident visa, they’ll need to come to New Zealand within 12 months of their visa being granted.
Notes
If your family are unable to come to New Zealand within 12 months, they’ll have to reapply for residence.
Contact details
You must provide us with your address and other contact details and let us know if these change while you’re in New Zealand.
Notes
We’ll need to keep in touch with you to check you’re meeting the conditions of your visa.
If we’re unable to confirm that you’re meeting the conditions, you may not be able to stay in New Zealand.
Keep your visa in a valid passport
If you want to travel, your visa must be in a valid passport.
If your passport expires, you must apply to transfer your visa to a new passport before you can travel.
Notes
To transfer your visa, you must:
- send us your old and new passports
- complete an ‘Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa’
- pay a transfer fee.
Application for transfer or confirmation of a visa
Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa (INZ 1023) PDF 375KB
Travel as a resident
You can travel in and out of New Zealand for 5 years from your first day in New Zealand.
Travel as a permanent resident
If you have met all the conditions at the end of your 48-month investment period, you can apply for a permanent resident visa for you and any family included in your residence application.
If granted, you will be able to travel in and out of New Zealand indefinitely, as long as you keep your visa in a valid passport.
Notes
If you haven’t met all of the conditions of your visa at the end of the 48-month investment period, you may have to leave New Zealand.