More than 700 wealthy foreign nationals have applied for New Zealand residency under the country’s investor “golden visa” programme over the past 14 months, compared with just 115 applications in the previous three years, the Financial Times reported. The Active Investor Plus category requires applicants to invest at least NZ$5 million in local funds, companies or charitable organisations within three years; a separate Passive category, requiring NZ$10 million in assets such as bonds over five years, has drawn a further 127 applicants. The surge followed a relaxation of rules governing property purchases, investment requirements and the amount of time applicants must spend in the country to qualify.
According to the FT, the rise in applications for the right to live, work and study indefinitely in New Zealand has coincided with a period of geopolitical uncertainty that has made the country’s security and remote location increasingly attractive. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said he hopes the visas will attract foreign investment and help reverse a “brain drain” that threatens the country’s economic growth: “While everyone else around the world is tightening restrictions, we’ve opened the doors and our start-ups have benefited enormously from the capital flowing in, as well as from the knowledge and technical expertise these investors have brought.”
Since the programme was overhauled in April 2025, applicants from North America, Europe and Asia have committed a combined NZ$4.8 billion — comparable to the NZ$14.8 billion in total foreign investment recorded in the first quarter of this year. Of the applications, 277 have come from Americans, with Californians showing particularly strong interest. Lachlan Nixon, co-founder of venture capital firm Motion Capital, said the programme had become “a badge of honour in Silicon Valley,” adding that 40% of a recent NZ$27 million fundraising round for high-growth New Zealand companies came from 30 golden-visa holders.
Under the programme’s rules, participants may purchase only residential properties worth more than NZ$5 million, a provision designed to prevent their presence from distorting the broader housing market. Queenstown has become a preferred destination; according to property data firm Cotality, the arrival of wealthy investors has made it New Zealand’s most expensive property market, with a median home price of NZ$1.8 million — double the national average.
Not everyone is convinced of the programme’s benefits. Sam Stubbs, chief executive of pension fund Simplicity, said people should make “genuine investments” in the country rather than seek preferential treatment for “a small amount of money” placed in a venture capital fund. Courtney Andelman, who runs a venture-capital fund in Santa Barbara with her husband and obtained a visa last year, said she loves New Zealand but wanted to settle in a smaller South Island city such as Nelson, where she found very few properties above the NZ$5 million threshold. She also noted that under New Zealand’s tax rules, spending more than 183 days a year in the country would make her family’s worldwide income subject to New Zealand taxation — a factor she said keeps every dollar “mobile.”
References
Harici, reporting the Financial Times — Wealthy Americans drive surge in New Zealand golden visa demand
