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Active Investor Plus Visa
Apply for this visa to live, work and invest in New Zealand. You must have at least NZD $5 million to apply under the Growth category or at least NZD $10 million to apply under the Balanced category.
Length of stay
Indefinitely
Cost
From
NZD $27470
Processing time
Approval in principle 80% within
5 months
With this visa you can
- Live, work and study in New Zealand.
- Include your partner, and dependent children aged 24 and under, in your visa application
- Apply for permanent residence after 3 years of keeping your funds in New Zealand if you invest under the Growth category, or after 5 years if you invest under the Balanced category.
Things to note
- If we approve your application in principle, you will have 6 months to transfer and invest your funds in New Zealand.
- After your application has been approved in principle, you can apply for a work visa to come to New Zealand and arrange the transfer and investment of your funds. If your partner wants to come with you, they will need to apply for their own visitor visa. Your dependent children can apply for student visas.
- You must invest at least NZD $5 million if you invest under the Growth category or at least NZD $10 million if you invest under the Balanced category in acceptable investments in New Zealand.
Acceptable investments: Active Investor Plus Visa
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What you need to apply
Check if you are eligible to apply for this visa and what supporting documents and information you need to provide.
View All Evidence
You must have a chest x-ray and a medical examination as proof of your good health.
If you, or anyone else included in your application, are aged 17 or older you must provide a police certificate from:
- all the countries you are a citizen of, and
- any other country you have stayed in for 12 months or more over the last 10 years, even if it was not all in the same stay.
Tips
Police certificates must be less than 6 months old at the time you apply.
If you provide a police certificate that is not in English, you must provide an English translation.
This includes police certificates that record no convictions.
You must provide us with full certified English translations of all police certificates. This includes police certificates that record no convictions.
You must confirm in the application form that you meet fit and proper person requirements.
To be a fit and proper person, all businesses you have influence over must have complied with all immigration, employment and taxation laws. You must also:
- have never been investigated by the Serious Fraud Office or the New Zealand police for any offence resulting from business dealings
- have no convictions for an offence involving dishonesty
- have never been involved in business fraud or financial impropriety.
Tips
We’ll contact you if you need to provide further information.
Partner
You must provide evidence that shows your relationship with your partner is genuine and stable, and that you have been living together for at least 12 months.
Dependent children
You must provide evidence that shows any children you include in your application meet our definition of dependent children.
Evidence can include:
- birth certificates
- custody documents (if applicable), and
- if your children are aged between 21 and 24, evidence that they are still relying on you for financial support.
Supporting visas for additional dependent children
You can also support a resident visa for any additional dependent children not included in your original application after your application is approved in principal (for example newborn children).
Tips
If your partner or dependent children have, or applied for, a New Zealand temporary entry visa based on their relationship with you, you must include them in your residence application.
If you include your partner and/or children in your application they must fill out a Resident Visa Declaration Form (INZ 1242).
You must invest your nominated investment funds in acceptable investments in New Zealand for at least 36 months for the Growth category and for at least 60 months for the Balanced category.
Growth category
Acceptable investments for Growth category can include:
- direct investments, or
- managed funds.
Note
Any direct investments or managed fund investments (made under the Growth category) must be approved by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE).
Balanced category
Acceptable investments for Balanced category can include:
- direct investments
- managed funds
- listed equities
- philanthropy
- bonds, or
- property developments (new residential, commercial or industrial developments or existing commercial and industrial developments).
Check our "Acceptable investments: Active Investor Plus Visa" page for further information on what an acceptable investment is, and what evidence you must provide.
Tips
If you already have funds invested in an acceptable investment in New Zealand, we can start your investment period from the time we approve your residence application.
You can transfer your funds:
- directly from your bank account to New Zealand through the banking system
- from a joint bank account that you share with your partner or dependent children who are included in your application, or
- through a third party such as a solicitor acting on your behalf, a pension scheme in your name or an investment portfolio account in your name.
The funds that you transfer must be the original funds that you nominated in your application, or proceeds from the sale of assets that you nominated in your application.
If we approve your application in principle, you will have 6 months from that date to transfer your nominated funds.
Tips
You can apply for a Specific Purpose Work Visa to come to New Zealand and arrange the transfer and investment of your funds.
We may give you a further 6 months to transfer and invest your funds. You will need to contact us before the transfer period expires and show you have made reasonable steps to transfer and invest.
The evidence you provide will depend on how you came by your funds. It may include:
- tax returns or certificates
- pay slips
- business financial statements
- business shareholdings
- dividends
- receipts for property sales
- bank certificates
- share trading profits
- evidence of gifted money
- probate and other evidence of inherited money.
Tips
You may be able to include funds that were gifted to you, as long as the gift was unconditional and lawful, and the funds were originally earned or acquired lawfully. You cannot include gifted funds that are already in New Zealand, or were in New Zealand at any time as part of your nominated investment funds.
To make sure that your application is processed as quickly as possible, include a cover letter with your application. Your cover letter should summarise what evidence you have provided and how this evidence relates to each visa requirement.
Your cover letter should include:
- a clear table showing the source of your investment funds or assets
- an index that refers to what document will satisfy what requirement
- a summary of how the investment funds and assets were accumulated, and
- a clear explanation of how the funds were transferred, if your funds are already in New Zealand.
If any of your documents are translated, make sure that the translated file has a similar file name to the original version. You can also list them next to each other in your cover letter.
Process and costs
The information below will help you understand the process, timeframes and costs involved in applying for this visa, so you can plan ahead and have the best chance of submitting a complete application.
Notes
We cannot display any process or costs information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.
Enter country detailsHow to submit
Payment methods and receiving centre details if applicable.
Notes
We cannot display any receiving centre or payment method information until you have provided your country details. Enter your country details in the panel above to view information relevant to your situation.
Enter country detailsConditions
These are the conditions that you must meet once you have your visa.
Entry permission
You must apply for entry permission when you arrive in New Zealand. You can do this by completing a New Zealand traveller declaration (NZTD).
New Zealand Customs and Biosecurity also check that you meet their entry requirements.
Notes
You can be refused entry permission if:
- you do not meet our character requirements
- your circumstances have changed since you were issued a visa
- you refuse to let us to take your photo, or provide us with your fingerprints or an iris scan, if we ask you for them.
Invest in New Zealand
If you apply for the Growth category you must keep at least NZD $5 million in acceptable investments in New Zealand for 36 months. You must provide evidence that your nominated funds have remained invested in New Zealand at 24 months and at 36 months.
If you apply for the Balanced category you must keep at least NZD $10 million in acceptable investments in New Zealand for 60 months. You must provide evidence that your nominated funds have remained invested in New Zealand at 24 months and at 60 months.
You must provide this evidence within 3 months (from the 24, 36 or 60 month date).
For example if you make your investments in New Zealand under the Growth category on 18 March 2026, you must provide evidence that your funds have remained invested in New Zealand on 18 March 2028. You will have until 18 June 2028 at the latest to provide this evidence to us.
Check our 'Managing your investments: Active Investor Plus' page for guidance on what evidence to provide, and how to send it to us.
Spend time in New Zealand
If you apply for the Growth category you must spend at least 21 days in New Zealand as a holder of a resident visa during the 36 month investment period.
If you apply for the Balanced category you must spend at least 105 days in New Zealand as a holder of a resident visa during the 60 month investment period. However for each additional NZD $1 million you invest in acceptable Growth category investments, you can reduce the time required in New Zealand by 14 days. You can do this up to a maximum reduction of 42 days.
| Minimum nominated funds | Time you must spend in New Zealand |
|---|---|
| NZD $10 million | 105 days |
| NZD $11 million (the extra NZD $1 million must be invested in acceptable Growth category investments) | 91 days |
| NZD $12 million (the extra NZD $2 million must be invested in acceptable Growth category investments) | 77 days |
| NZD $13 million (the extra NZD $3 million must be invested in acceptable Growth category investments) |
63 days
|
Acceptable investments: Active Investor Plus Visa
To be eligible for the reduction in time required in New Zealand, any additional funds must be nominated before your application is approved in principle. We will also check to make sure the additional funds remain invested in New Zealand throughout the 60 month investment period.
Bring your family to New Zealand
If your family are included in your resident visa, they’ll need to come to New Zealand within 12 months of their visa being granted.
Notes
If your family are unable to come to New Zealand within 12 months, they’ll have to reapply for residence.
Contact details
You must provide us with your address and other contact details and let us know if these change while you have your resident visa.
Notes
We will need to keep in touch with you to check you are meeting the conditions of your visa.
If we are unable to confirm that you are meeting the conditions, you may not be able to stay in New Zealand.
Keep your visa in a valid passport
If you want to travel, your visa must be in a valid passport.
If your passport expires, you must apply to transfer your visa to a new passport before you can travel.
Notes
To transfer your visa, you must:
- send us your old and new passports
- complete an ‘Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa’
- pay a transfer fee.
Application for transfer or confirmation of a visa
Application for Transfer or Confirmation of a Visa (INZ 1023) PDF 375KB
Travel as a resident
You can travel in and out of New Zealand as a resident, for 4 years from your first day in New Zealand if you are investing under the Growth category.
You can travel in and out of New Zealand as a resident, for 6 years from your first day in New Zealand if you are investing under the Balanced category.
Post investment questionnaire
You must complete a post investment questionnaire twice over the course of your investment period.
This questionnaire will ask:
- for basic information about you (your application number, where you are from, and your age)
- whether you have made further investments (such as investments made in New Zealand outside of the immigration process)
- if you have made further investments, what category these investments fall under (for example bonds or direct investments) and an approximation of how much you have invested
- what sectors you have invested in, depending on the type of further investments you have made
- whether you have provided non-financial support to the business if you have made direct investments (and if not, the reasons why)
- an explanation for why you have not made further investments in New Zealand (if applicable)
- about your confidence as an investor in New Zealand.
You must complete a questionnaire 24 months into the investment period, and at the end of the investment period (36 months for the Growth category and 60 months for the Balanced category). You will have 3 months to complete each questionnaire.
For example, if you make your investments in New Zealand under the Growth category on 18 March 2026, you can complete the questionnaire on 18 March 2028 and will have until 18 June 2028 to complete the questionnaire in full. You can then complete it again on 18 March 2029 and have until 18 June 2029 to complete the questionnaire in full.
Information about how to access the questionnaire will be provided in your approval in principle letter.
Notes
You should complete each questionnaire around the same time that you submit evidence to us that your funds have remained invested in New Zealand. Check the 'Invest in New Zealand' condition on this page for further information.
Apply for permanent residence
If you have met all the conditions at the end of your investment period, you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa for you and any family included in your original residence visa application.
You can also include any children that were born after your original residence visa application if you supported a Dependent Child Resident Visa for them. They must have had their resident visa for at least 2 years.
If granted, you will be able to travel in and out of New Zealand indefinitely, as long as you keep your visa in a valid passport.
Notes
If you have not met all of the conditions of your visa at the end of your investment period, you may have to leave New Zealand.