U.S. millionaires flee to New Zealand: The secret visa that opens the gates to paradise
High net worth individuals are being encouraged to the country with a ‘golden visa’ offer that was relaxed earlier this year.
New Zealand is reportedly facing a rush of applicants for its new foreign investor migrant visa scheme - the Active Investor Plus visa - which aims to bring more high net worth individuals to the country.
On Monday New Zealand’s Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said that there had been "a flood of formal interest in the new ‘golden’ visa," adding: “New applications under the scheme represent a potential NZ$845 million ($503 million) of new investment in New Zealand business.”
The visa requires that immigrants provide funds worth at least NZ$5 million ($3 million) for ‘high-risk investments’. That price tag may seem high but the regulations have actually been loosened this year, a move that has been credited with inspiring the influx of new applicants.
Previously, the figure had been set at NZ$15 million ($9 million) and the scheme included an English language requirement. With those rules relaxed since April, Stanford claimed that there had been 189 applications in less than three months. That trumps the 116 submissions reported in the previous two-and-a-half years.
The United States was the most popular source for applications, responsible for 85 of the recent batch. This movement of wealth Americans is hoped to boost the New Zealand economy. Behind the US, China (26) and Hong Kong (24) were the next most common nationalities applying.
The decision to encourage more high-earners to the country comes off the back of a bleak 2024 financial performance from the New Zealand economy, during which it recorded two consecutive quarters of GDP decline. This is considered a recession and, aside from the covid-19 pandemic, represented the worst economic downturn since 1991.
It looks like the new policy has had a positive effect as the national economy exceeded growth expectations for the first quarter of 2025.
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