New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus Visa: Investment Categories and Residence Requirements
How Growth and Balanced investments connect with fund transfers, family eligibility, presence requirements and a later Permanent Resident Visa.
Minimums are NZ$5m for Growth and NZ$10m for Balanced. Eligibility does not guarantee commercial success.
New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus Visa allows eligible applicants to invest and to live, work and study in the country. The Growth category requires at least NZ$5 million invested for 36 months; Balanced requires at least NZ$10 million for 60 months. The choice should connect the investment’s real risk and liquidity with the family’s plans for New Zealand.[1][2]
The minimum investment period is an immigration requirement. When a fund or business can actually return capital is a commercial question. A useful plan needs to accommodate both dates.
Compare investment scope and time in New Zealand
| Requirement | Growth | Balanced |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum investment | NZ$5 million | NZ$10 million |
| Minimum investment period | 36 months | 60 months |
| Base presence requirement | At least 21 days during the investment period | At least 105 days during the investment period |
| Eligible types | Qualifying direct investments, managed funds and limited philanthropy | Qualifying direct investments, managed funds, listed equities, philanthropy, bonds and property developments |
Current Growth rules allow philanthropy up to 20% of the total investment. Under Balanced, each additional NZ$1 million invested above the minimum in acceptable Growth-category investments can reduce the presence requirement by 14 days, up to a maximum reduction of 42 days. Philanthropy does not qualify for that reduction.[1][2]
Capital allocation and the household’s ability to spend time in New Zealand therefore need to work together. Investments must meet the relevant acceptance criteria, and assets for personal use cannot simply be counted towards the requirement.[2]
Establish eligible funds before committing them
Applicants must show that the funds were lawfully earned or acquired, establish ownership and explain their history. The amount of jointly held funds that can be counted depends on who the other owner is and whether that person is included in the application. Proving the source of funds and documenting their transfer to New Zealand are connected but separate requirements.[1][2][3]
Following approval in principle, applicants normally have 6 months to transfer and invest their nominated funds and provide the evidence. The transfer route, financial institutions and ability to trace the money should be established before making irreversible commitments. Approval in principle still leaves practical work to be completed.[1][3]
For managed funds that call capital over time, the rules permit qualifying on-call arrangements in the relevant circumstances. The structure must meet the current requirements; an ordinary account balance should not be assumed to satisfy the whole investment obligation.[4]
Keep commercial risk separate from immigration acceptance
Immigration New Zealand expressly states that accepting an investment for visa purposes does not endorse or guarantee its success. Growth investments are often illiquid and may require commitments beyond 36 months. Meeting the immigration period may therefore leave the family waiting for a contractual exit or distribution.[2]
Changing acceptable investments during the period is possible, but reinvestment deadlines apply when capital is returned. The current guidance generally allows 90 days for direct investments or approved managed funds, and 30 days for listed equities, philanthropy, property developments or bonds, starting on the first working day after the funds are returned. Further provisions address particular returned amounts and investments close to the end of the required period.[4]
An investment plan should explain what happens if capital comes back early as well as how it is initially deployed. Keeping living and emergency funds outside the qualifying portfolio can help a family meet changing needs without disrupting compliance.
Plan family eligibility before relocation
An application can include a partner and eligible dependent children aged 24 or younger. The partnership must be genuine and stable, with at least 12 months of living together. Children aged 21 to 24 need evidence of continued financial dependence. Health, character and other applicable requirements also need to be met.[1]
A child’s eligibility should be established before education and housing arrangements become fixed. Paying school fees or signing a lease does not resolve a visa question.
The Growth and Balanced presence requirements count time spent in New Zealand as a resident-visa holder during the investment period. Time spent arranging investments on another temporary visa after approval in principle does not automatically satisfy that requirement.[1]
Connect monitoring with permanent residence
Growth investors provide evidence that their funds have remained invested at 24 and 36 months; Balanced investors do so at 24 and 60 months. The evidence is generally due within 3 months of the relevant milestone. Investor questionnaires are also required at 24 months and at the end of the investment period. The approval and visa documentation sets out the conditions that apply.[1][4]
After completing the investment period and meeting the conditions, applicants can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa. An Active Investor Plus resident visa already allows indefinite stay, but investment and travel conditions still matter. The later Permanent Resident Visa has its own application process. Neither residence stage should be treated as an automatic grant of New Zealand citizenship.[1][5]
Build the timetable around the household
A family intending to relocate soon may prioritise how the portfolio fits with life in New Zealand. A household with businesses in several countries may be more concerned with fulfilling the presence requirement. Both need living and contingency funds outside the investment and a separate assessment of tax and other personal obligations.
A coherent plan explains where the capital comes from, what it will be invested in, when the investor needs to be present, how ongoing conditions will be met and when commercial access to the money may become possible. Connecting those elements makes the long-term implications of the visa much clearer.
Official sources
General policy information; individual circumstances and the competent authority’s requirements govern each application.