BJ5.40 Investment funds (to 28/07/2022)

1. The principal applicant must nominate a minimum of NZ$3.0 million to invest in New Zealand.
2. Points can be claimed for the amount of funds the principal applicant intends to invest in New Zealand.
3. The principal applicant must:
   1. nominate funds and/or assets equivalent to the amount that they wish to invest in New Zealand; and
   2. demonstrate ownership of the nominated funds and/or assets (see BJ5.40.1); and
   3. demonstrate that the nominated funds and/or assets have been earned or acquired legally (see BJ5.40.5 below).
4. All invested funds must meet the conditions of an acceptable investment set out in BJ5.50.
5. Investment funds qualify for points as follows:

   Investment Amount (NZ$M)	Points	Investment Amount (NZ$M)	Points
   $3	10	$6.5	80
   $3.25	15	$6.75	85
   $3.5	20	$7	90
   $3.75	25	$7.25	95
   $4	30	$7.5	100
   $4.25	35	$7.75	105
   $4.5	40	$8	110
   $4.75	45	$8.25	115
   $5	50	$8.5	120
   $5.25	55	$8.75	125
   $5.5	60	$9	130
   $5.75	65	$9.25	135
   $6	70	$9.5	140
   $6.25	75	$9.75	145

BJ5.40.1 Ownership of nominated funds and/or assets

1. Nominated funds and/or assets may be owned either:
   1. solely by the principal applicant; or
   2. jointly by the principal applicant and partner who are included in the resident visa application, provided a business immigration specialist is satisfied the principal applicant and partner have been living together for 12 months or more in a partnership that is genuine and stable (see R2.1.15 and R2.1.15.1 (b) and R2.1.15.5 (a)(i)); or
   3. jointly by the principal applicant and dependent children who are included in the resident visa application.

   If so, the principal applicant may claim the full value of such jointly owned funds or assets for assessment purposes.

2. If nominated funds and/or assets are held jointly by the principal applicant and a person other than their partner or dependent child, the principal applicant may only claim the value of that portion of funds and/or assets for which they provide evidence of ownership.
3. The principal applicant may only nominate funds and/or assets that they earned or acquired legally, including funds and/or assets which have been gifted to them unconditionally and in accordance with local law. Where nominated funds and/or assets have been gifted to the principal applicant a business immigration specialist must be satisfied that the funds and/or assets being gifted were earned lawfully by the person/s gifting the funds and/or assets.
4. The nominated funds and/or assets must be unencumbered.
5. The nominated funds and/or assets must not be borrowed.

BJ5.40.5 Definition of 'funds earned or acquired legally'

1. Funds and/or assets earned or acquired legally are funds and/or assets earned or acquired in accordance with the laws of the country in which they were earned or acquired.
2. Business immigration specialists have discretion to decline an application if they are satisfied that, had the funds and/or assets been earned or acquired in the same manner in New Zealand, they would have been earned or acquired contrary to the criminal law of New Zealand.

BJ5.40.10 Definition of 'unencumbered funds'

Unencumbered funds are funds that are not subject to any mortgage, lien, charge and/or encumbrance (whether equitable or otherwise) or any other creditor claims.

BJ5.40.15 Funds already held in New Zealand

1. Funds held in New Zealand at the time the application is made may be included in investment funds, however, periods of investment in New Zealand before approval in principle cannot be taken into account when calculating the four-year investment period.
2. Funds held in New Zealand must originally have been transferred to New Zealand through the banking system, or a foreign exchange company that uses the banking system from the country or countries in which they were earned or acquired legally, or have been earned or acquired legally in New Zealand.

BJ5.40.20 Evidence of the principal applicant's nominated funds and assets

1. Principal applicants must provide evidence of net funds and/or assets to the value of the required investment funds.
2. Principal applicants must provide evidence to the satisfaction of a business immigration specialist that the nominated funds and/or assets were earned or acquired legally.
3. All documents provided as valuations of assets must be:
4. no more than three months old at the date the resident visa application is made; and
   1. produced by a reliable independent agency.
   2. A business immigration specialist may seek further evidence if they:
   3. are not satisfied that the nominated funds and/or assets were earned or acquired legally; or
   4. consider that the nominated funds and/or assets may have been gifted or borrowed; or
   5. are not satisfied with the valuation provided; or
   6. consider that the nominated funds and/or assets fail in some other way to meet the rules for investment funds.

 Effective 19/06/2017