Investor 2 Resident Visa

This visa is now closed to new applications.

Experienced business people who have a minimum of NZ $3 million in available funds or assets can apply for New Zealand residence. Before you can apply, we’ll first need you to send us an Expression of Interest telling us about your business experience and investment. If your Expression of Interest is successful we’ll invite you and your partner and dependent children to apply for New Zealand residence.

DURATION	Indefinitely
AGE RANGE	Up to 65
QUOTA	400 per year

Live, work and study in New Zealand.
Include your partner, and dependent children aged 24 and under, in your visa application

We use a points-based system to assess eligibility for Investor 2 Resident Visas.
If your expression of interest is selected and we invite you to apply for residence, you’ll have 4 months to send us your application.

SUBMIT AN EXPRESSION OF INTEREST TO NZ IMMIGRATION
RECEIVE INVITATION FROM NZ IMMIGRATION TO APPLY FOR RESIDENCE
TRANSFER YOUR FUNDS TO NEW ZEALAND AND MAKE YOUR INVESTMENT
NZ IMMIGRATION GRANT YOUR RESIDENT VISA

You must be a fit and proper person

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.

You must be able to speak English

If you’re invited to apply for residence, you must qualify for a minimum of 1 point for English language ability.

If you claim 10 points for your English language ability instead of an English test result, you can provide evidence you have an English-speaking background or are a competent user of English for other reasons.

English language test results must be no more than 2 years old.

If your application is approved and you were awarded 1 point for English language, you must complete 20 hours of English tuition at a New Zealand registered school or tertiary education provider.

You must be 65 or under

We’ll use the documents you provide as proof of your identity to confirm your age.

You don’t need to provide any evidence until you’re invited to apply for residence.

You must have at least 3 years’ recognised business experience

To show us you have recognised business experience, you must provide evidence to show us the roles and responsibilities you have. This can include original or certified copies of:

certificates of business incorporation
financial accounts for the business
tax returns and tax records for the business
shareholder certificates or other proof that you own the business
job descriptions
performance reviews
personal tax returns
letters of appointment
certificates of service
strategic planning documents
references from your employer – these should be on company letterhead and include your occupation, dates of employment and employer’s contact details

If you worked less than 30 hours a week, we’ll also need a schedule of your weekly working hours.

Your business experience must be in a business that has at least five full-time employees or annual revenue of NZ $1 million.

You don’t need to provide any evidence until you’re invited to apply for residence.

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 12 months from that date to transfer and invest your funds.

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

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.

You must have at least NZ $3 million to invest in New Zealand for 4 years

You must nominate the type, location and value of the funds and/or assets you intend to invest in your expression of interest.

If you’re invited to apply for residence, you must provide evidence you own the funds you nominate, which 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 or dependent children, you can claim the full value of the investment as long as they are included in your application
someone who isn’t your partner or dependent child, you can only claim the part of the investment that you own.

The funds and/or assets you nominate for your investment can’t be borrowed, or have a loan or bond against them.

The funds you nominate for your investment must be in addition to the funds you’re required to have to settle in New Zealand

You must have earned or acquired your funds lawfully.

You’ll need to explain how you earned your funds when you submit your expression of interest.

If you’re invited to apply for residence, you’ll need to 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.

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.

You must invest your nominated investment funds in acceptable investments in New Zealand for a minimum of 4 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.

Your nominated investment funds are those funds for which you were awarded points in your invitation to apply.

Stage 1- Paper submission

Immigration costs

NZD $ 620

Timeframes

EOI selection is every 2 weeks

We select EOIs from the pool every 2 weeks.

Stage 2- Paper submission

Immigration costs

NZD $ 4,960

This is the fee for Immigration New Zealand to process your application.An immigration levy is payable and is included in the total amount above.

Processing times

within 43 months

90% of applications are currently completed within this time. This includes a 12 month investment period for you to complete your investment in New Zealand.