The government made changes in April to make it easier for wealthy foreigners to gain New Zealand residency through investment.
Since then, Immigration New Zealand has received 189 applications for the visa.
Economic growth minister Nicola Willis said that was significantly more than the 116 appliciations received over more than two and a half years under the previous settings.
“Investor migrants are clearly attracted to New Zealand’s growing reputation as a safe, pro-business, high-potential economy. In a world where countries compete for dollars and talent, it’s great to see New Zealand’s growth prospects being recognised,” she said.
The changes introduced a two-pronged approach to the visa, and liberalised what could be invested in.
The Growth category requires a minimum investment of $5m over three years, into higher-risk investments including managed funds and direct investments in New Zealand businesses.
The Balanced category requires a minimum investment of $10m over five years, with investors being allowed to choose lower-risk investments.
Under the previous settings, $15m was required for a visa, with bonds and property investments not allowed.
As at June 23rd, 100 applications have been approved in principal. Of those, seven have transferred and invested their funds in New Zealand and had been granted a visa.
Five of those were invested in the Growth category, and two in the Balanced. The government said that was a total minimum investment of $45m.
The new applications represented a potential $845m of new investment.
Immigration minister Erica Stanford said she would have been happy with 200 applications in the first year.
“As of this week we’re almost at 190 after 10 weeks, and I think that shows you the level of interest from overseas, in lots of different markets we haven’t seen before,” she said.
The strongest interest in the visa had come from the United States, China, Hong Kong, and Germany.
Investors have six months to transfer their funds and start investing in New Zealand.
Willis said the visa complemented the Investment Boost policy announced at the Budget, which allows businesses to deduct 20 percent of the cost of a new asset, on top of depreciation.
“The Active Investor Plus delivers the capital. Investment Boost delivers the confidence to put that capital to work, and to ensure that people are making investments that will pay off in the long run.”
