Table of Contents
Summarised by Centrist
Changes to New Zealand’s so-called “golden visa” have attracted $3.39 billion in investment applications in less than a year, a dramatic increase on the $70 million raised over two-and-a-half years under the previous regime.
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford revealed that 573 applications have been received since the Active Investor Plus visa was reset in April last year. By contrast, the former settings drew just 116 applications and $70m.
Of the $3.39b signalled so far, $1.05b has already been committed.
The overhaul lowered the minimum threshold from $15m and introduced two streams: a $5m “growth” category over three years, and a $10m “balanced” option over five years. It also reduced other barriers, including time spent in New Zealand and an English language requirement.
Stanford said the new settings were delivering tangible results.
“I am delighted that our new visa settings are helping to open up possibility and opportunity for investment,” she said. “These investors bring not just capital, but global experience, expertise, and networks.”
She made the announcement at AI startup Hectre, which recently secured three investors and now exports to 22 countries. “It’s investment like this that grows companies like these … that’s what is so exciting about today,” she said.
The government has also made minor refinements to the scheme, including adjustments around infrastructure investment that have led to three new funds being approved by Invest NZ.
Stanford argued New Zealand is “perfectly placed at the bottom of the world” as a stable destination for capital from the United States, Germany, Southeast Asia and China, particularly in a period of global uncertainty.
While critics often raise housing concerns around investor visas, Stanford said the ability to buy property had not produced “massive peaks” in uptake, and there were no plans to lower thresholds further.
The numbers mark a clear policy shift. The debate now is whether that surge translates into sustained economic gains beyond headline investment totals.
Image: Derek Lakin
