The Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa will be receiving some updates on 1 April 2025 – the primary change being removing the weighting system for the “Balanced and Growth categories” and removing the English language requirement. There are many other changes but we’ll be going over the key ones to keep things simple. If you are interested in learning more however, please feel free to contact our expert staff with your questions.

The major changes can be summarised as:

• Minimum investment amounts have changed -NZD $5M for Growth and NZD $10M for Balanced categories respectively;
• More investments will be considered acceptable – including bonds and the following property types:

o   New residential development

o   New and existing commercial or industrial development.

• Time you have to be in New Zealand has been reduced:
• 105 days for the Balanced category (although you can shave 6 weeks off this with additional investments) and 21 days for the Growth category;
• Investment period is reduced to 6 months after approval in principle, although you can ask for a 6 month extension in special circumstances; and
• English language requirement has been removed.

What are the Balanced and Growth categories?

The Growth category is for higher risk/reward investments and the Balanced category is for safer investments. In recognition of the risks involved, the Growth category enjoys several benefits over the Balanced category.

Balanced category presence reduction

Balanced category investors can receive a 14 day reduction in the time they must spend in New Zealand for every additional million they spend, up to NZD$ 3 million. To clarify, that if you invest another $1 million you only need to remain in New Zealand for 91 days, $2 million means 77 days and $3 million means 63 days. These investments must also be Growth category type investments for them to be eligible for the presence reduction.

What if I’m already applying under the Active Investor Plus category?

Immigration New Zealand has expressed that applicants who have applied under the old rules are able to swap to the new rules, however details on this process will be explained at a later time.

There are plenty more rule changes than these, many of which are of a very technical nature. To avoid being caught out, we recommend contacting us for professional and specialist legal advice. Our team of award-winning immigration experts are more than happy to help you with all of your immigration needs.

QCL has traditionally lead the way with these sorts of categories and would have acted on more successful business migration applications than virtually anyone else in New Zealand. We know our craft and are widely recognised as leaders in this space. For clients, it is much more sensible to instruct experienced lawyers who also actively practice in commercial and property law, estate planning, tax and other associated disciplines. Given the money involved is not chump change it just makes a whole lot of sense to instruct those who know this space inside out and have a proven track record of success.

For those who have real interest in business and Investor Immigration please also check some of the following links for insightful commentary on the changes from the firm's senior staff plus keep an eye out on our YouTube channel for further updates and critiques :

Marcus Beveridge speaks on Mike Hosking Breakfast - "A fantastic idea": Potential for Singapore to invest in NZ infrastructure

Marcus Beveridge welcomed the recent changes to New Zealand's investor visa program in Business Desk - All that glitters is golden as tech heavyweights target NZ's new investor visas

New Zealand Changes 'Golden Visa' to Lure Wealthy Migrants

Marcus Beveridge's take on The Kaha - Why NZ's new looser 'golden visa' won't 'turbocharge' GDP

Marcus Beveridge on NBR - Minister Cherry Picks 'Golden Visa' Research to Justify changes

Marcus Beveridge speaks on NBR's Podcast - Podcast #43: Golden Visas - The Sequel

Marcus Beveridge talks foreign investment in the Business Times - New Zealand locks out foreign home buyers even as golden visa rules eased

Marcus Beveridge on New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in Newstalk ZB - "Fantastic": Govt's new foreign investment agency is 'overdue'

If you want to apply or discuss any aspects of these categories please call Marcus on 0274877332 or Bradley on 0211353364