New Business Investor Category
Immigration Minister Erica Stanford announced on the 27 August, the Government intended to modernise visa settings to encourage experienced businesspeople to bring their business experience to promote future growth in the New Zealand business community.
A new business visa category is being introduced in November 2025 which is intended to complement the new Active Investor Plus Visa (AIP) introduced in April this year but with a lower capital investment required as follows:
NZD $1 million into an existing business for 3 years with work to residence pathway.
NZD $2 million investment into an existing business for 12 months with fast track to residence pathway.
Minister Stanford states:
“We are introducing a more targeted pathway for experienced businesspeople with capital to invest and the hands-on experience and skills needed to run a successful business. It has clearer settings that are easier for applicants to understand and for Immigration New Zealand to process, and it’s designed to deliver real economic benefits”.
Applicants can have the option of purchasing a business outright on either visa pathway or acquire at least 25% share of a business, provided they meet the minimum $1 million or $2 million investment thresholds.
It is expected with the new Business visa settings, the normal rules for supporting dependants would still apply to the principal applicants’ families.
A further detailed update to this article will follow as soon as the new policy settings have been released by Immigration New Zealand later this year but for any interest in this specific new residence visa pathway, please contact our immigration team.
