New Zealand’s redesigned Active Investor Plus Visa has attracted billions of dollars in committed capital since its relaunch in April 2025. Ray de Bono, Editor-in-Chief of IMGlobalWealth.com, speaks with Lisa Chanesman, a licensed New Zealand immigration advisor and managing partner of Chanesman Global, about what is driving interest in the AIP visa, where the programme fits within wealth planning, and the questions investors and their advisors should be asking.
ⓠ Has the market genuinely responded to New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus visa?
Very clearly.
Between 1 April 2025 and 16 August 2026, Immigration New Zealand received 872 applications covering 2,847 people. Of those, 434 applications have been approved.
“For the right client, New Zealand offers an unusual combination of a productive investment, permanent residence potential, very limited compulsory physical presence, institutional stability, strong education and health outcomes, an exceptional natural environment and genuine geographic diversification”
By mid-August this year, NZ$2.54 billion had been committed and transferred to New Zealand, with another NZ$2.28 billion in the investment pipeline, approximately NZ$4.8 billion in total.
The Growth category has dominated, accounting for 734 of the 872 applications. The US is currently the largest cohort, followed by China and Hong Kong.
This indicates not only that the April 2025 changes did more than make the program administratively easier, but that investors also responded with substantial capital.
ⓠ What has changed?
Two investment routes were established.
The Growth category requires a minimum NZ$5 million investment for three years, predominantly directed towards approved managed funds and direct investments. Since June 2026, up to 20% of the total funds can be allocated to qualifying philanthropy. This provides the investor with a 4-year permanent visa.
The Balanced category, on the other hand, requires a NZ$10 million investment over five years and includes listed equities, bonds and approved property development, as well as approved managed funds, direct investments and philanthropy. This pathway provides the investor with a 6-year permanent visa.
There is no maximum age limit, no English language requirement and no requirement to demonstrate prior investment or business experience.
One of the most significant changes was the physical presence requirement. A Growth investor needs to spend only 21 days in total in New Zealand across the 3-year investment period. Balanced investors require 105 days over their five-year investment period, with the ability to reduce days where additional capital is invested.
This changes the conversation considerably.
ⓠ In what way?
Because I don’t necessarily view the AIP visa as a relocation product.
For some applicants, it will become exactly that. They may eventually relocate, educate their children there, establish a home and make residency in New Zealand an important part of their life.
For others, the value of the AIP visa is optionality.
The option to establish residency in a highly stable jurisdiction without being required to immediately dismantle an existing life in Dubai, Singapore, London or New York.
That is particularly relevant to globally mobile investors. The question becomes less of ‘where am I moving to’ and more ‘which jurisdiction/s would I want to have the right to access if circumstances or the world around us change?’
ⓠ But why New Zealand? There are plenty of residence programs available?
There are, and New Zealand will not be the right choice for every investor.
What is compelling is this combination:
- The 2026 Global Peace Index ranks New Zealand second in the world for peacefulness, missing out on first place to Iceland.
- The World Justice Project ranked New Zealand fifth (behind four Nordic countries) out of 143 countries for rule of law.
- Henley’s 2026 Global Residence Program Index ranks New Zealand eighth globally, giving it perfect scores for both reputation and quality of life.
- QS World University Rankings 2026 ranked New Zealand first among English-speaking countries and fifth globally for overall quality of its higher education system.
These are not peripheral lifestyle statistics. They show institutional quality, personal security and predictability. The attraction is not simply obtaining another residency visa. It is what the underlying jurisdiction represents.
ⓠ New Zealand’s disadvantage is distance. Does that concern clients?
It comes up and it is a legitimate question.
I don’t think anyone should pretend New Zealand is geographically close to the US, Europe or the UK. Geographical distance and isolation are two different things.
Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, has non-stop Air New Zealand services to five major hubs within the USA. Europe is a one-stop hop through major global hubs such as Singapore, Dubai and Doha.
If geographic and geopolitical diversification are part of an investor’s objective, this is New Zealand’s value, providing genuine geographic distance whilst still remaining connected.
ⓠ And that brings me to my next question: What does living in New Zealand actually look like?
This is where my connection to New Zealand becomes personal as well as professional. My husband was born in New Zealand, so it isn’t simply a jurisdiction I practise in, it has a family connection as well.
What people underestimate is the country’s extraordinary diversity. I provide these examples to make New Zealand’s uniqueness understandable.
If I am explaining to an American client, I might say: imagine being able to find elements of coastal California, Napa, Lake Tahoe, Aspen, the Pacific Northwest and Alaska in one country.
For a European client, the reference points range from Portugal and Bordeaux to Scotland and the Norwegian fjords.
Auckland offers a large cosmopolitan harbour city lifestyle with beaches, islands, sailing and vineyards nearby.
Hawke’s Bay is something closer to a Napa or Bordeaux wine country lifestyle.
Queenstown offers alpine lakes, ski resorts and fine dining.
Hawke’s Bay is a region on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. It’s known for its beaches and wineries. Examples of the region’s art deco architecture include the Daily Telegraph Building and Municipal Theatre in Napier, and the Hawke’s Bay Opera House in Hastings.
Credit: Matt Crawford
ⓠ That sounds enticing! Does an AIP investor have the ability to establish a genuine home in New Zealand whilst holding the visa?
This was an important development in 2026.
Qualifying AIP visa holders can now apply for consent to buy one New Zealand residential property valued at more than NZ$5 million, subject to the Overseas Investment Act requirements.
You cannot use the property as a substitute for the AIP investment, but it addresses what was previously an impractical issue for investors who wanted New Zealand residency to also include a home.
ⓠ That sounds as though New Zealand differs from other jurisdictions? Is the NZ$5 million effectively the price of obtaining residency?
No, and this is the difference in what the New Zealand Active Investor Plus visa offers, and that distinction is fundamental.
The invested capital isn’t a government donation or simply the purchase of real estate.
Under the Growth pathway, the investment must remain invested in an acceptable New Zealand investment for a minimum of three years. For the Balanced pathway, a minimum of five years.
The investment must satisfy the legislation but should also make sense within the client’s risk profile, liquidity requirements and wider portfolio. This is why immigration advice and investment advice should complement each other and be coordinated but not blurred.
ⓠ What are the main eligibility issues you identify before presenting the AIP visa option to a client?
The question isn’t simply whether the client has the available funds. Source of funds planning should also be assessed early on, either with the client or their wealth manager.
An AIP investor needs to be able to demonstrate the lawful source of those funds and the pathway by which they can be transferred and invested into New Zealand. Recent changes in August also mean the provenance and transfer trail are now considerably more explicit.
Document due diligence, character, health and family composition also need to be assessed. It is more beneficial for everyone involved for any issues to be identified before a client reorganises assets or commits to an investment than to discover an issue once the application process is underway.
ⓠ What about tax? Does New Zealand residence expose an investor to New Zealand taxation on worldwide assets?
That assumption needs to be handled professionally and carefully.
Immigration residence and New Zealand tax residence are separate legal concepts. Tax residence depends on the individual’s circumstances. Unintended consequences can be significant and therefore the question of tax should not be generalised. Immigration New Zealand itself recommends investors obtain professional tax advice that encompasses their exposure over all relevant jurisdictions.
For sophisticated clients, the correct approach is coordinated advice between specialists: immigration, tax, investment and, where relevant, trust and succession.
ⓠ Following that vein of thought, how important is it to check who is providing the immigration and investment advice?
Vitally important, and this unfortunately is an area in which investors need to be careful.
Anyone providing New Zealand immigration advice, whether located in New Zealand or offshore, must be licensed by the New Zealand Immigration Advisors Authority unless they fall within a statutory exemption, such as some New Zealand lawyers.
I am a licensed New Zealand immigration advisor, and I suggest investors should always verify the credentials of the person advising them rather than assuming that someone marketing a residence by investment opportunity is legally authorised to provide New Zealand immigration advice.
Licensing leads to a second question which, in an investment residence program, I consider just as important…
ⓠ And that question is?
Ask whether your immigration advisor is independent of the investment product being recommended.
It is acceptable for advisors and firms involved in the process to have referral arrangements or commercial relationships. The important issue is that those arrangements are transparent and appropriately disclosed and do not compromise the independence of the immigration advice being provided.
We work alongside a carefully selected group of highly respected established professional firms, supporting their clients and ensuring they receive coordinated specialist advice.
Any immigration strategy should not be shaped around a predetermined investment product. The investment should be selected because it is both approved for immigration purposes and appropriate for the client’s use.
ⓠ Finally, what should wealth managers and family offices take away from the New Zealand Active Investor Plus visa?
I wouldn’t suggest New Zealand belongs in every client’s strategy.
I would suggest it does belong in the conversation.
For the right client, New Zealand offers an unusual combination of a productive investment, permanent residence potential, very limited compulsory physical presence, institutional stability, strong education and health outcomes, an exceptional natural environment and genuine geographic diversification.
The conversation is no longer:
Does my client want to move to New Zealand?
The conversation is now:
Would my client benefit and see value in having the option and right to?
About Lisa
