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Pathway

New Zealand Active Investor Plus Visa

New Zealand Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

New Zealand offers residence through two investment categories: Growth requires NZD 5 million for three years; Balanced requires NZD 10 million for five years. Both have rules for acceptable investments, lawful funds and time spent in New Zealand. A partner and dependent children may be included.

Growth option
NZD 5 million invested for three years
Balanced option
NZD 10 million invested for five years
Time in New Zealand
21 days for Growth; normally 105 for Balanced, with possible reductions

Summary

New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus residence category offers Growth and Balanced investment options, each with its own accepted assets, holding period, and days required in the country. The authority must also accept the source and ownership of the funds.

Balanced investors may reduce the usual presence requirement through additional Growth investments under the published rules. Calculate that commitment before planning travel; the headline investment amount alone does not describe all the residence conditions.

Applying for residence through investment
  1. Choose Growth or Balanced Check eligible investments, required time in New Zealand, and the investment term.
  2. Apply with evidence of the funds Document ownership, lawful source, and the proposed investments.
  3. Follow the transfer and investment conditions After conditional approval, meet the deadlines and keep investment and travel records.

Approval does not guarantee investment returns or make permanent residence automatic.

Could this pathway work for you?

Eligibility

Investment and presence

Growth investments can include qualifying direct investments, managed funds, and philanthropy (limited to 20% of the required amount). Balanced investments can also include listed equities, bonds, and qualifying property development. Personal homes and assets held mainly for the applicant's private use do not count.

The main applicant must spend at least:

For Balanced applicants, each additional NZD 1 million placed in Growth-category investments other than philanthropy reduces the presence requirement by 14 days, up to a 42-day reduction. The minimum is therefore 63 days if at least NZD 13 million is invested in the required mix.

Funds and personal requirements

The applicant must own the funds or assets listed in the application, show that they were earned or acquired lawfully, transfer them through acceptable channels, and keep the required value invested. Gifts can qualify if unconditional and lawful, with the donor's source documented. You cannot use gifted funds that are or have previously been in New Zealand. The main applicant must also meet health and character requirements and the fit-and-proper-person test.

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) may first give conditional approval, called approval in principle. The applicant then normally has 6 months to transfer and invest the funds; a further 6 months may be available in some circumstances. Evidence is required during and at the end of the investment period.

What This Route Allows

The resident visa allows the holder to live, work, and study in New Zealand indefinitely while its conditions are met. A partner and dependent children aged 24 or younger can be included if they meet the relationship, identity, health, and character rules.

Growth visas normally let you leave and return as a resident for 4 years; Balanced visas allow this for 6 years. These are the visa’s travel conditions. Once the investment period, evidence, and presence conditions are complete, the main applicant can ask INZ to remove the investment conditions and apply for a Permanent Resident Visa. Permanent residence provides indefinite travel rights; it is not automatic merely because the original resident visa was granted.

What This Route Is Not

This is not a donation-for-passport program, a guaranteed-return investment, or a route based on buying a home. INZ does not recommend or guarantee any investment. Citizenship is a separate later process with its own residence, physical-presence, English, character, and intention requirements.

The Balanced presence rule is not always 105 days: the official reduction for extra Growth investments should be calculated before planning travel. Tax, securities, foreign-exchange, and investment advice are also separate from immigration approval.

Next Steps

  1. Compare the Growth and Balanced categories, including the permitted assets, term, presence, and reporting dates.
  2. Prepare records showing who owns the funds and how they were obtained: bank and brokerage records, tax records, company accounts, sale agreements, inheritance or gift documents, and transfer records as relevant.
  3. Obtain regulated New Zealand investment, tax, and immigration advice before committing funds.
  4. Apply to INZ and wait for the approval-in-principle instructions before relying on a transfer deadline.
  5. Keep independent records of every transfer, acquisition, disposal, reinvestment, valuation, and day spent in New Zealand.

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Sources