Radio NZ - “NZ missing out, lawyers say as visas for wealthy investors plummet”

Nick Mason was interviewed by Radio NZ in regards to New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus Visas.

Here is a snippet of the article, written by journalist Amy Wilkiams. Full article published here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/513785/nz-missing-out-lawyers-say-as-visas-for-wealthy-investors-plummet

Audio here: https://www.rnz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=2018933472

NZ missing out, lawyers say as visas for wealthy investors plummet

Immigration lawyers are worried by a dramatic drop in the number of millionaires receiving so-called golden visas.

The visa category gives wealthy investors residence in New Zealand, but was overhauled in July 2022 to encourage direct investment in local companies.

Since then just 20 people have received the Active Investor Plus visas, down from a couple of hundred a year under the previous scheme.

The approved foreign millionaires had invested $17 million in New Zealand by the end of January - half directly in local companies, the rest in managed funds and the sharemarket.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise said another 31 applications were under consideration, most from North America and Europe.

That was a change from the previous scheme, which attracted mostly Chinese investors. The change in demographics was due in part to stricter English language requirements.

Immigration lawyer Nick Mason said it was a stark drop and New Zealand was missing out on investment.

"There's a massive amount of capital that's not coming into NZ, certainly hundreds of millions if not cracking into the billions."