Wealthy foreigners have been lining up in droves to take advantage of the new visa policy, with a 230% increase in inquiries, the majority of them being American.
Since the active investor plus visa was announced in February the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) has recorded a 400% rise on its visa webpages, from 8000 to 42,000 people.
Immigration lawyer Simon Laurent, chairman of the Association for Migration and Investment, said American politics seems to be the driving force behind the high numbers.
“There are a lot of people who have been approaching ourselves and other lawyers and advisers about being able to move over here.
“Some because of concerns about the current administration in the US. And that’s spiked quite dramatically, especially since the presidential inauguration in January. It’s very significant figures.”
A government infrastructure summit on Thursday may also showcase opportunities for investors, he added.
Roughly 100 investment leaders from around the world will be in Auckland today and tomorrow as the Government aims to get a slice of the $6 trillion the companies manage.
“A big focus in the growth category of the migrant investor space is on businesses that are raising capital for venture capital purposes, getting businesses started. Getting more funding to follow up their projects, whether that is going to crossover with the larger scale stuff, which I’m guessing is part of the topic of that summit, I’m not sure. It seems quite reasonably likely, that could drive a bit more interest.”
NZTE investment general manager Benny Goodman said there had been a 232% rise in the number of active users of the AIP pages of the NZTE website, jumping from 4861 to 16,154 in the last month.
Photo Credit: RNZ
