Immigration Minister Erica Stanford. Photo: Samuel Rillstone / RNZ
Investors will only have to remain in New Zealand for 21 days over three years to gain residency under changes to the so-called 'golden visa' to attract wealthy investors to New Zealand, Immigration Minister Erica Stanford says.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced the government was making changes to modernise the visa settings and attract foreign investment.
From 1 April, the Active Investor Plus visa will be replaced with two, simplified investment categories.
The first, the 'Growth' category, will focus on higher-risk investments, including direct investments in New Zealand businesses.
It will require a minimum investment of $5 million for a minimum period of three years.
The second, the 'Balanced' category, will focus on mixed investments, with the ability to choose ones that are lower risk.
There will be a minimum investment of $10 million over five years.
Other changes include expanding the scope of acceptable investments and removing potential barriers to investment, like the English language requirement.
Stanford told Morning Report "we have to be really competitive."
"Frankly, I do want people with their $5 million directly into businesses."
She said the "biggest barrier is saying to them, you've got to spend 10 weeks a year here, or whatever it is."
"Why would you force them to be somewhere they don't want to be for the first couple of years?"
She acknowledged this visa programme was one of the most expensive in the world, so you have to "have some other things that encourage people to come here."
Stanford said once they see it's only a week a year for the first three years, "they're more interested in coming. We get them in the door."
"I mean, these are incredible investors with tens of millions and they flit all around the world. And when they see something like, 'Oh, I've got to spend multiple weeks per year for the first couple of years in New Zealand', it's a turn off."
Once they are here, she said, "we keep them here because they fall in love with the place. So it's a really attractive visa."
She confirmed that an investor would only have to remain in the country for a total of 21 days over three years to satisfy the terms of their visa under the 'Growth' category. An investor under the 'Balanced' category would have to remain for 105 days.
If these investors wanted to buy a house or become a permanent resident or citizen, they would need to fulfill the criteria like everyone else..
Stanford told Morning Report foreign investors would have to put their money into equities, or bonds, or into property development, or commercial property, or philanthropy under a new residency scheme, not just leave it in a bank account.
"It's really important that we have more capital in New Zealand."
Meanwhile, Labour's Immigration spokesperson said there is a need for foreign investment, but what the Government's scheme is not a plan for growth.
Phil Twyford told Morning Report the government had loosened the rules to make it easier for people applying for the foreign investor visa to park their money in passive investments that would not necessary create any jobs or economic opportunities for New Zealanders.
'The previous category was just too hard'
Immigration lawyer Nick Mason told Morning Report there has always been a lot of interest in coming to New Zealand, but people were being turned away under the previous active investor category.
"The previous category was just too hard. There were too many hoops to jump through. This will make it much easier."
"There's no guarantee that people won't just be passive and that sort of stuff. But we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And so ultimately, I think it's a great thing for the economy."
While Mason agreed being in the country for only one week a year did not seem like a huge committment to New Zealand, he said, in his experience, people will spend far longer than that.
"I'm not quite sure why it was set at just three weeks, because it does seem very minimal. But I guess on the other side, you do have at least $5 million of active investment in New Zealand, whether it's a managed fund, which is of limited benefit. But if we are making direct investments into New Zealand companies, that's going to be really worthwhile."
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