NZ Active Investor Plus Visa: Complete Guide for Wealthy Migrants (2025-26)

New Zealand's Active Investor Plus (AIP) visa is the country's residency-by-investment pathway. It replaced the old Investor 1 and Investor 2 categories in October 2022, then was significantly simplified in April 2025 to attract more capital. If you have at least NZD $5 million to invest in New Zealand, this is the route.

This guide covers the current AIP visa settings (post-April 2025), how the two investment categories work, what counts as an acceptable investment, what the process looks like, and what happens after you arrive.

How the AIP visa works

The AIP visa grants you New Zealand resident status — the right to live and work here indefinitely. After completing your investment period, you can apply for permanent resident status, which removes all travel conditions.

There are two investment categories. You pick one when you apply:

	Growth	Balanced
Minimum investment	NZD $5 million	NZD $10 million
Investment period	3 years (36 months)	5 years (60 months)
Time in NZ	21 days over 3 years	105 days over 5 years
Investment types	Direct investments, managed funds	Direct investments, managed funds, listed equities, bonds, property development, philanthropy
Risk profile	Higher — growth-oriented assets	Mixed — can include lower-risk assets

The Growth category is deliberately higher-risk because New Zealand wants capital flowing into productive businesses, not parked in bonds. The trade-off: you invest less money for less time.

No English, age, or business experience requirements

Before April 2025, the AIP visa required English language proficiency. That requirement has been removed entirely. There are now no age limits, no English tests, and no business experience requirements. The only personal requirements are health and character checks (Immigration New Zealand).

This was a deliberate policy change to compete with other countries' investor visa programmes.

Growth category: what qualifies

Growth investments must be in assets that contribute directly to New Zealand's economy. This includes:

Direct investments in NZ businesses — buying into or starting a business that operates in New Zealand. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) maintains a pipeline of opportunities and can help match investors with businesses seeking capital.

Managed funds — NZ-domiciled managed funds that invest primarily in New Zealand assets. The fund manager must be licensed by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).

You cannot use Growth category funds for residential property, bank deposits, or bonds. The entire $5 million must be in qualifying growth assets.

Balanced category: what qualifies

The Balanced category accepts a wider range of investments, allowing a more diversified, lower-risk portfolio:

• Direct NZ business investments (same as Growth)
• NZ managed funds (same as Growth)
• Listed NZ equities — shares listed on the NZX (New Zealand Exchange)
• NZ government and corporate bonds
• Property development — new residential, commercial, or industrial developments (not existing residential property)
• Philanthropy — donations to approved NZ charitable organisations (up to 15% of total investment)

Existing residential property does not qualify under either category. Bank deposits beyond certain thresholds also don't count. The policy is designed to direct capital toward productive use, not passive holdings (Immigration New Zealand).

Reducing your time-in-NZ requirement

For Balanced category applicants, every additional NZD $1 million you invest in Growth-qualifying assets reduces your time-in-NZ requirement by 14 days, up to a maximum 42-day reduction. So if you invest $10 million in Balanced assets plus an extra $3 million in Growth assets, your 105-day requirement drops to 63 days.

Growth category applicants already have a minimal 21-day requirement, so there's no further reduction available.

Application process

The process has four stages:

1. Expression of Interest (EOI) — Submit an EOI through Immigration New Zealand's online system. There's no points system or selection pool — it's first-come, first-served.

2. Invitation to Apply (ITA) — Once your EOI is accepted, you're invited to submit a full application. You'll need to demonstrate:

• Source of funds (lawful acquisition of the investment capital)
• Good character (police certificates from every country you've lived in for 5+ years)
• Health (medical examination and chest X-ray)
• A nominated investment plan

3. Approval in Principle (AIP) — Immigration New Zealand aims to process 80% of applications within 4 months. Once approved in principle, you have 6 months to transfer your funds to New Zealand (extendable to 12 months if you contact INZ in advance).

4. Resident visa grant — Once funds are verified as invested in qualifying assets, your resident visa is granted. Your investment clock starts from this point.

What it costs

The application fee is NZD $27,470 per application (not per person — your partner and dependent children are included). You'll also need to budget for:

• Immigration adviser fees (optional but common): NZD $15,000 to $50,000 depending on complexity
• Medical examinations: NZD $500 to $1,000 per person
• Police certificates: varies by country (usually under $100 each)
• Document translation and certification: varies

After arrival: tax residency

Once you're living in New Zealand, you'll become a New Zealand tax resident — meaning you're taxed on your worldwide income. However, new residents qualify for the transitional resident exemption, which provides a 4-year exemption on most foreign-sourced income. This is a significant benefit for high-net-worth migrants.

See our guide: Transitional Resident Tax Exemption for full details.

Path to permanent residence

After completing your investment period (3 years for Growth, 5 years for Balanced) and meeting the minimum time-in-NZ requirement, you can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa. This gives you the right to travel in and out of New Zealand indefinitely without needing to reapply. New Zealand permanent residence does not expire.

Application volumes

As of March 2026, INZ has received 609 applications under the post-April 2025 settings, covering 1,948 people. Of these, 503 were in the Growth category and 106 in Balanced. 487 applications have been approved in principle (Immigration New Zealand).

Key contacts and resources

• Immigration New Zealand — immigration.govt.nz/visas/active-investor-plus-visa
• New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) — for direct investment opportunities: nzte.govt.nz
• Licensed Immigration Advisers — check the Immigration Advisers Authority register: iaa.govt.nz

You must use a licensed immigration adviser or lawyer for your visa application. It's a legal requirement in New Zealand for anyone providing immigration advice for profit.

Related guides

• Transitional Resident Tax Exemption — the 4-year foreign income exemption for new NZ tax residents
• Acceptable Investments for the AIP Visa — detailed breakdown of what counts
• NZ Tax Residency Rules — how the 183-day rule and permanent place of abode test work
• Moving to NZ: Financial Guide — practical setup (bank accounts, IRD numbers, KiwiSaver)