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Emigration and immigration

New Zealand's "Golden Visa" Attracts Record Number of Applications from Wealthy Americans

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

The New Zealand government's decision to relax rules on its Active Investor Plus visa has led to a surge in applications from wealthy foreigners, with nearly half of the applicants hailing from the United States. In the past two months, 189 applications have been made, representing 609 people, under the new rules. This is a significant increase from the 116 applications received over the past 2.5 years.

Key Takeaways:

  • 189 applications have been made under the new rules, representing 609 people.
  • Nearly half of the applicants, 85, are from the United States.
  • The new rules lowered investment thresholds, removed English-language requirements, and cut the amount of time applicants must spend in the country to establish residency from three years to three weeks.
  • 149 applicants have applied under the "growth" category, which requires a minimum $5m investment over three years, and 40 have applied under the "balanced" category, which requires a minimum $10m investment over five years.
  • Immigration has approved 100 applications in principle and seven have transferred their funds, netting New Zealand $45m.
  • The visa could represent "a potential $845m of new investment in New Zealand business" according to economic growth minister Nicola Willis.
  • The change in rules has been attributed to the instability under the Trump administration, with Stuart Nash stating "Nearly everyone who is applying is applying because of the changes they're seeing under the Trump administration."

Statistics:

  • 189 applications have been made under the new rules.
  • 609 people are represented in the 189 applications.
  • 85 applications are from the United States.
  • 149 applicants have applied under the "growth" category.
  • 40 applicants have applied under the "balanced" category.
  • Immigration has approved 100 applications in principle.
  • Five people have transferred their funds, netting New Zealand $45m.

Sources:

  • [1] "New Zealand's 'golden visas' attract record number of applications from wealthy Americans" by Eva Corlett, The Guardian, [exact date not specified in source]
  • [2] "New Zealand's Coalition Government Relaxes Rules for Active Investor Plus Visa" by Immigration New Zealand, [exact date not specified in source]
  • [3] "Statement by Economic Growth Minister Nicola Willis" by Nicola Willis, [exact date not specified in source]

Note: The exact dates for some sources were not specified in the original article.

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