Rich Americans flock to apply for New Zealand’s ‘golden visas’ after rules relaxed | New Zealand
The rich Americans lead the charge in the requests of the “gold visas” of New Zealand after the rules on the application were relaxed.
The Government of New Zealand coalition in February has softened the requirements for its active investor plus a visa – commonly known as the Golden Visa – offering a residence to rich foreigners in order to stimulate the economy by signaling.
The new rules, which entered into force in April, lowered the investment thresholds, removed the requirements in English and reduces the time that candidates must spend in the country to establish the residence of three to three weeks.
Immigration New Zealand claims that the program attracted 189 requests, representing 609 people, under the new rules. Before changes, the visa attracted 116 requests over 2.5 years.
Almost half of the investors who applied the hail of the United States, representing 85 requests, followed by China, 26, and Hong Kong, 24. Residents of countries in Asia and Europe make up the rest of the candidates.
“Almost all those who apply apply due to the changes they see under the Trump administration,” said Stuart Nash, a former Labor Party Minister, who is now heading Nash Kelly Global, an immigration and moving advice.
Under the new rules, 149 applied in the “growth” category of the visa, which requires a minimum investment of $ 5 million over three years, and 40 applied in the “balanced” category, which requires a minimum investment of $ 10 million over five years.
Immigration approved 100 requests in principle and seven transferred their funds – compensating for New Zealand $ 45 million.
There has been a significant increase in interest in the visa since changes, investors attracted by New Zealand stability and innovation in businesses and sustainable technology, said Benny Goodman, Director General of New Zealand and Enterprise investment.
“This is a rare combination, which resonates deeply with investors thinking of heritage, not just yields,” he said.
Global instability makes New Zealand – with its stable democracy, its independent judicial system and its safe banking system – an attractive destination, especially for the Americans, said Nash.
“We see more people looking for a sure refuge than a tax haven – and that’s what we had here in New Zealand,” said Nash.
This is not the first time that New Zealand has attracted the interest of the private Americans of Trump and other wealthy foreigners seeking to make New Zealand their “Bolth hole” at some point in societal division.
After the Trump elections in 2016, visits to the country’s immigration site increased by almost 2,500%. After the decision of the Supreme Court by eliminating the rights to abortion, visits to the immigration site of New Zealand quadrupled at 77,000. After the victory of the Trump elections in 2024, the real estate market of New Zealand saw an interest in the United States.
Meanwhile, billionaires acquire a residence or citizenship in New Zealand have been the subject of political controversy in the past. In 2017, the news announced that Peter Thiel, the billionaire co-founder of Paypal, obtained citizenship despite spending only 12 days in the country, which prompted the former Labor Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to tighten the rules on investment visas and foreign property in 2018.
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The release of the Visa rules is one of the many policies in the Ardern era that the right coalition has recommended in its submission to increase the economy. Earlier this year, he softened other more restrictive visa parameters to attract the “digital nomads” of the so-called in New Zealand.
New Zealand’s economy has suffered from the COVVI-19 pandemic and the country has experienced the greatest contraction in GDP in any developed country in 2024, due to high interest rates and unemployment.
In a statement on Monday, the Minister of Economic Growth Nicola Willis said so far that the visa could represent “845 million potential dollars of new investments in New Zealand activities”.
“New investors are not content to bring their dollars to our coasts, they also provide skills, knowledge and experience that will stimulate future economic development,” said Willis. “He’s a winner.”
