Transferring investment funds: Active Investor Plus

What you need to do to transfer investment funds

If we approve your application in principle for the Active Investor Plus Visa, you have 6 months from that date to transfer and invest your nominated funds in New Zealand.

The funds you transfer must be:

• the funds that are listed in your approval in principle letter, or
• funds you received from selling assets that are listed in your approval in principle letter.

You cannot transfer any nominated funds to a third party after you receive your approval in principle letter, as we may be unable to determine that they are the same funds.

If the funds or assets you named in your application are worth more than the minimum amount that you must invest in New Zealand (for example NZD $5 million for the Growth category), you do not need to sell all the funds and assets you nominated.

If you are not sure if your transfer of funds will meet our requirements, you can contact a licenced immigration advisor or lawyer.

Immigration advice for your visa application

Funds already invested in New Zealand

You can use funds you have already invested in New Zealand to support your visa application, as long as you can show that they are owned by you and that they were earned legally. You must nominate them when you apply for your visa.

Transfer methods

Funds must be transferred through the banking system, a foreign exchange company or a money transfer business. The funds can come from your personal bank account, or from one of the following:

• a joint bank account that you share with your partner or dependent child who is included in your application
• a solicitor trust account (where the solicitor is acting on your behalf)
• a pension scheme in your name or your, or
• an investment portfolio account in your name.

Nominating additional funds

You can nominate additional funds if:

• you have received an approval in principle letter
• the funds nominated in your application have been transferred to New Zealand
• you provide evidence that the funds have lost value in NZD due currency exchange rates or due to unforeseen circumstances, and
• you provide evidence of the additional funds or assets within the first 6 months after receiving your approval in principle letter.

Changing from the Growth to the Balanced category

If you have received your approval in principle letter to invest under the Growth category, you may be able to nominate additional funds to reach the the NZD $10 million threshold and invest under the Balanced category instead.

You can do this if you:

• decide that the direct investment and managed fund options available under the Growth category are unsuitable for you
• decide that the investment options available under the Balanced category are more suitable for you
• contact us within the initial 6-month transfer period and tell us that you want to change investment categories, and
• provide evidence of the additional funds or assets within the first 6 months after receiving your approval in principle letter.

InvestorFundsQueries@mbie.govt.nz

Acceptable investments: Active investor plus (Link to page)

Any additional funds or assets that you nominate must be owned by you and acquired legally.

Providing evidence of funds and assets for investor visas

Borrowed funds

You may be able to transfer and invest funds from the sale of nominated assets you have borrowed if:

• it is not economically viable or practical to liquidate (sell) the assets you named in your visa application, and
• you borrow funds from an acceptable bank or commercial lending institution and secure them against the assets you nominated in your visa application.

Taking more time to transfer funds

If you think it will take longer than 6 months to transfer and invest your funds, you can contact us and apply for a 6-month extension. You must do this within the first 6 months of receiving your approval in principle letter.

You must provide evidence that you have made reasonable attempts to transfer and invest your nominated funds in New Zealand.

For example, you could provide evidence showing that you are trying to sell a property by providing ad listings or communication records with a real estate agency.

InvestorFundsQueries@mbie.govt.nz

Foreign exchange companies

You can use a foreign exchange company to transfer your funds to New Zealand if the:

• foreign exchange company uses the banking system to transfer the funds
• investment funds nominated in your visa application were transferred to the foreign exchange company directly from one or more bank accounts in your name
• transfer is legal, both in New Zealand and the country the funds were transferred from
• transfer can be traced (it cannot come from cash deposits), and
• foreign exchange company operates lawfully (you cannot use a company that is suspected of, or proven to have committed fraudulent activity or financial impropriety to transfer your funds).

You must provide evidence showing all the steps you took to transfer your funds. We cannot accept your application if we cannot identify your funds’ physical transfer any at point.

Providing evidence that your funds have been transferred to New Zealand

Once you have transferred your investment funds to New Zealand you must send evidence of this to us. You must send your evidence within 6 months of receiving your approval in principle letter.

Email your evidence to: InvestorFundsQueries@mbie.govt.nz

Note: We may request more information from you that is not listed here, as part of our assessment.

Investing your funds

You will also need to provide evidence showing that your transferred funds have been invested into acceptable investments.

Acceptable investments: Active Investor Plus