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The Beehive and Parliament - Source: ONE News
The government is ramping up its sales pitch for migrant investors and creating a wealthy retirement category after changes to the rules last brought in $18 million, with another $51 million possibly on the way.
The government relaxed the rules last year.
Now investors with $10 million can get residency in three years without any English skills or business experience and no age limit.
They have to remain in the country for a fifth of every year.
These criteria changed from the previously required $20 million investment, for residency in four years, with four years' business experience.
Migrants willing to invest $1.5 million now also get residency though they have to meet language, age, and business experience requirements. These criteria are also set at a lower threshold than previously.
Since the changes six investors under the $1.5 million category had invested $18 million and 19 more applicants had been approved with $51 million of investment.
Of those 19, 18 were in the $1.5 million and one was in the $10 million plus category.
Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman says since the changes there had been 99 expressions of interest by prospective migrant investors.
Before the changes in 2009 there had been 23 migrant investments since 2007 with three applicants under the old $20m investment category, though one of them had invested $120m.
Since 2005 there had been a significant drop off in business migration investment due to high investment expectations and stronger English language requirements.
Dr Coleman said the 99 applications was a sign the policy changes were working.
"This indicates a healthy interest in New Zealand as a business destination, and is substantially greater than anything generated by previous policies," Dr Coleman says.
A new website (www.investmentnow.govt.nz) was also being set up to connect foreign investors to New Zealand business networks more quickly.
He also announced that two new retirement residency visas would be created for high wealth individuals.
The new package, which takes effect on March 29, consists of two categories: temporary retirement and parent retirement.
The parent retirement category allows Immigration New Zealand to prioritise high net worth individuals who are already seeking to migrate to New Zealand under the Family Category.
The temporary retirement category creates a two year permit for people who want to spend some of their retirement in New Zealand, provided they invest here and indemnify the government against possible health and welfare costs.
Parent retirement visa holders will be required to invest a minimum of $1 million in New Zealand over four years, whereas temporary retirees will need to invest $750,000 over the two year term of their permit.
Temporary retirees will be able to renew their permits as long as they continue to meet criteria including investment funds, income and health insurance.
Labour's immigration spokesman Pete Hodgson said more than 10 years ago the idea of a retirement visa was dismissed as an expensive mistake.
He said an August 1999 report warned the then associate immigration minister Lockwood Smith that a proposed retirement visa for cash scheme was unworkable, so he rejected it.
"But now Jonathan Coleman has decided to proceed anyway, even though the risks of the scheme will be the same today as they were 10 years ago. These include 'significant risks' that visa holders would have to receive at least some of their healthcare in the public system. The possibility of lobby groups forming in response, and the possibility of no health insurance being available were all identified as risks," Mr Hodgson said.
"The report estimated that the likely costs to the public health system would be $580,000 per annum (in 1999 dollars or $757,396 in today's money) for every 100 retirement visa holders. It said that the experience in Australia had been unsatisfactory even though they required the visa holder to transfer $A500,000 to Australia."
