Temporary Retirement Visitor Visa

Visa details

You can stay for up to 2 years on a Vistor Visa if you are over 66 years old and have NZD $750,000 to invest in New Zealand. You also need an additional NZD $500,000 to live on and an annual income of NZD $60,000 or more.

Length of stay
Up to

2 years

Age range

66 years or over

Cost
From
NZD $3790
Processing time
90% within
58 days
With this visa you can
  • Include your partner in your visa application.
  • Travel in and out of New Zealand during your stay.
Things to note
  • You can’t bring dependent children with you.
  • If we approve your application in principle, you may wish to apply for a 3-month multiple entry visitor visa to come to New Zealand to investigate investment opportunities.
  • If you’re an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you don’t need a visa to come to New Zealand, but you’ll still need to meet our requirements for entry permission.

Who can apply

The criteria and evidence below will provide you with the information you need to meet the requirements of this visa.

View All Evidence

Identity

You must provide proof of your identity

You must provide proof of your identity:

Acceptable photos

You may provide your original passport, or a certified copy when you submit your application. If you provide a certified copy we may request your original passport to complete your application.

Tips

  1. If you are a citizen of China and you submit a paper application form in China, you must also complete a supplementary form.

    Supplementary form for Chinese citizens (INZ 1027) PDF 338KB

  2. If you are submitting a paper application form, you must provide a supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students.

    Supplementary form for Hong Kong and Macao visitors, workers and students (INZ 1220) PDF 240KB

  3. Also provide your:

    • Hukou (household registration book)
    • Chinese identity card.

  4. Also provide a copy of your Identity card.

Health

You must be in good health

You may need to have a chest x-ray, a medical examination or both as proof of your good health.

Who needs an x-ray or medical examination

Update on medical certificate requests on Immigration Online

Tips

  1. You must provide a chest x-ray completed in the last 3 months, even if you've provided one to us previously, if:

    • you have spent 6 consecutive months in China since the last x-ray certificate was issued, and
    • you are now coming to NZ for more than 6 months.

Character

You must be of good character

You may need to provide police certificates as proof of your good character.

If you are aged 17 or older and plan to stay in New Zealand for more than 24 months (including any time you have already spent in New Zealand), you must provide police certificates from:

  • any country you are a citizen of
  • any country you have spent more than 5 years in since you turned 17.

You do not need to provide police certificates if:

  • you have provided them to us with an earlier visa application, and
  • they were issued in the previous 24 months.

Good character

How to get a police certificate

Age

You must be 66 years or over

Evidence can include original or certified copies of:

  • your full birth certificate
  • your passport or certificate of identity
  • an identity card that confirms your birth details.

Investment funds

You must have NZ $750,000 or more to invest in New Zealand for 2 years

You must nominate the type, location and value of the funds and/or assets you intend to invest. Evidence may include:

  • bank statements
  • title deeds
  • property valuations
  • share certificates
  • business ownership documents
  • asset valuations.

The value you can claim for your nominated funds, depends if they are owned by you, or jointly by you and another person.

If you own an investment jointly with:

  • 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, you can only claim for the part of the investment that you own.

Partnership

Tips

  1. We don’t normally accept investment funds that are borrowed, or have a loan or bond against them.

Source of investment funds

You must have earned or acquired your funds lawfully

You’ll need to explain how you came by your funds and provide evidence to support your explanation, which 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

  1. It’s OK if your funds were gifted to you, as long as the gift was unconditional and lawful, and was earned or acquired lawfully.

    If the funds were earned or acquired in a way that isn’t lawful in New Zealand, we won’t be able  to approve your visa application.

Transfer investment funds

You must transfer your investment funds to New Zealand

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 3 months from that date to transfer and invest your funds.
 
Transferring funds to New Zealand

Tips

  1. You can apply for a temporary visa to come to New Zealand and investigate investment opportunities.

    Specific Purpose Work Visa

  2. We cannot extend the timeframe for transferring and investing your nominated funds.

  3. Applicants must ensure their funds meet currency exchange and transfer requirements in place in China.

  4. The following organisations have previously demonstrated they have acceptable QDII products:

    • Bank of China
    • China Construction Bank
    • ICBC
    • Guosen Securities Company Ltd

Maintenance funds

You must have NZ $500,000 or more to live on

You must provide evidence you have the funds and/or assets to cover the required maintenance funds, which may include:

  • bank statements – you must be able to access  the funds from New Zealand
  • title deeds
  • property valuations
  • share certificates
  • business ownership documents
    asset valuations.

The value you can claim for your maintenance funds, depends if they are owned by you, or jointly by you and another person.  If you own your settlement funds jointly with:

  • 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, you can only claim for the part of the investment that you own.

Partnership

Tips

  1. Your maintenance funds must be on top of your annual income and your investment funds.

Annual income

You must have an annual income of NZ $60,000 or more

You must provide evidence of your income. This may include documents that show you have:

  • a pension
  • earnings from rental properties
  • dividends from share portfolios
  • interest from investments
  • profits from owning a  company
  • share market trading profits.
Tips

  1. Your income can be earned by you alone, or together with a partner you’ve included in your application.

Bring partner

Your partner must meet the requirements for this visa

To bring your partner:

  • you must provide evidence of your relationship with them, like marriage and birth certificates
  • you must provide proof of their identity
  • they must be of good character
  • they must be in good health.

Partnership

Tips

  1. You should provide copies of family members Hukou (household registration book) included in your application.

  2. You should provide copies of identity cards for family members included in your application.

Acceptable investments

You must invest NZ$ 750,000 in acceptable investments in New Zealand for a minimum of 2 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 typ
  • the names of any organisations you invested in
  • the number of shares or bonds you bought in any organisations.

Acceptable investments: parent and temporary retirement visas

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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How to submit

Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.

Notes

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Conditions

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 an arrival card, which you are given on the way to New Zealand.

Arriving in New Zealand

Notes

  • You can be refused entry permission if:

    • you don’t meet our character requirements
    • your circumstances have changed since you were granted 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.

Travel

After your first arrival, you can travel in and out of New Zealand for 2 years.

Invest in New Zealand

You must keep at least NZ $750,000 invested in acceptable investments in New Zealand for 2 years.

Acceptable investments

Notes

  • It’s OK to transfer funds between acceptable investments.

    If you already have funds invested in New Zealand when you apply for your visa, we can start your investment period from the time we approve your application in principle.

Insurance

You must maintain acceptable travel and/or health insurance while in New Zealand.

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.

Study

You can study for up to 3 months in any 12-month period.

Work

You cannot work in New Zealand on this visa.

Visa expiry

You must leave New Zealand before your visa expires.

Notes

  • If you want to stay longer, you can apply for another Temporary Retirement Visitor Visa if:

    • you still meet all the requirements for this visa
    • you can show us that you maintained your insurance and kept your funds invested during your 2-year stay.