New Zealand

Yes, but it is a different visa from the one that existed a few years ago. The Active Investor Plus visa was rebuilt from 1 April 2025 into two categories, Growth (NZD 5m over 36 months) and Balanced (NZD 10m over 60 months). The English-language requirement was removed outright, and the presence requirement was cut. It has loosened twice more since then. From February 2026, offshore holders may buy or build one NZ home valued at NZD 5m or more. From 1 June 2026, Growth applicants may direct up to 20% of the investment to qualifying philanthropy. Policy has now moved three times in four years, so treat the current settings as live, not fixed.

Very few, and that is the point of the programme. Growth applicants need 21 days in New Zealand across the entire 36-month investment period. Balanced applicants need 105 days across 60 months, reduced by 14 days for every additional NZD 1m placed in Growth-category assets, down to a floor of 63 days. That is among the lightest presence obligations of any first-world residency. The catch is that these figures buy residency, not the passport.

Not on the visa's presence terms. Citizenship by grant is a separate product. It demands 1,350 days physically present in New Zealand, including at least 240 days in each of five years. Growth residency, by contrast, asks for just 21 days total. Anyone marketing AIP as a passport route is glossing over a difference of two orders of magnitude. From mid-2027, most adult citizenship applicants will also sit a formal citizenship test, on top of the existing requirement to understand and speak English.

New Zealand taxes residents on worldwide income. It is not a territorial system, and the top personal rate is 39% over NZD 180,000. There is no general capital gains tax, but that headline is misleading. The 2-year bright-line test taxes residential property. More importantly, the Foreign Investment Fund regime taxes offshore share portfolios on a deemed basis once the transitional exemption ends. Under the Fair Dividend Rate method, 5% of a foreign portfolio's market value counts as taxable income every year, taxed at up to 39%. That works out to roughly a 1.95% annual wealth tax on offshore equities, payable even in a year the portfolio lost value. There is no wealth tax and no inheritance tax. Estate duty was abolished in 1992 and gift duty in 2011.

New arrivals who have not been NZ tax resident in the previous 10 years automatically qualify for the transitional resident exemption. It ignores most foreign-source income for roughly four years, and it can be used once per lifetime. The trap is what happens next. The moment the exemption ends, the FIF regime starts taxing offshore portfolios on that deemed basis. It cannot be paused, so arriving just to test the water still burns the exemption for good. Including exempt income in a tax return, or claiming Working for Families tax credits, ends it early. Foreign employment and personal-services income is never covered by the exemption, even during the window, so founders drawing an offshore salary are taxed from day one.

The advertised speed is misleading. Immigration New Zealand reports an average of 36 working days to approve once investment evidence is filed. But that clock only starts after approval in principle. From there, applicants have six months, extendable once by six, to deploy the capital. As at 24 May 2026, of 734 applications lodged, 299 were approved in principle and only 294 actually approved. That is roughly 40%. Six months to place NZD 5m into illiquid private assets is tight, and the extension is not automatic.

Yes. The principal applicant can include a partner in a genuine and stable relationship, along with dependent children aged 24 and under. The INZ application fees, from about NZD 27,470, cover the principal and immediate family. There is no age limit on the principal applicant. Since April 2025, there is also no English-language requirement for the visa. Keep in mind that each family member's tax position under the transitional exemption is assessed individually, based on their own 10-year history.

Yes, New Zealand permits dual citizenship, so you would not have to renounce your current nationality to naturalise. That said, reaching citizenship at all requires 1,350 days of physical presence over five years, including 240 days each year. That is a far heavier commitment than the residency visa itself. For most investor families, the practical outcome is durable residency rather than a second passport.