[ColeyNZ]

Hello Everybody (apologise for the mess earlier - those who read this will know what I mean)

29 July 2009, INZ changed their Active Investor Migrant policies (thankfully) to something a bit more realistic because the prior policies were an absolute failure (only 23 people recieved this visa status).

The question that I have is under the general status, the rules state that you must have $1.5M NZD available for 4 years. What is the definition for "investment"? Like take St Kitts & Nevis in the Caribbean. They have "approved projects" that people seeking to move there that don't want to go through the normal immigration process can invest in ($350,000 USD + $15,000 for a St. Kitts Passport).

Does NZ have a list of approved projects, where can I find it and how would I invest it?

Thanks,

Dan

[72andsunny]

Does NZ have a list of approved projects, where can I find it and how would I invest it?


How about contributing to Doc Mike's Pharmacy and Ice Cream Parlour?

[petri]

www.immigration.govt.nz says:

Acceptable investment (Active Investor Migrant Policy)

An acceptable investment means an investment that:
- is capable of a commercial return under normal circumstances; and is not for the personal use of the applicant(s) and
- is invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency; and
- is invested in lawful business enterprises or managed funds that comply with all relevant laws in force in New Zealand; and
- is a semi-active or an active investment; and
- is not (directly or indirectly) invested in residential property development ; and
- has the potential to contribute to New Zealand's economic transformation goals of innovative, productive, and globally competitive firms.

Notwithstanding the above, where an investment fails to meet one of the acceptable investment requirements, a business immigration specialist may consider, on a case by case basis, whether the failure was beyond the control of the principal applicant and if satisfied that this was the case, may consider the investment acceptable.

Personal use of investment funds

Personal use includes investment in assets such as a personal residence, car, boat or similar.

Active investment

A principal applicant qualifies for bonus points if they undertake active investment as part of their overall investment in New Zealand. The minimum amount of active investment required to qualify for bonus points is NZ$500,000. The amount claimed for active investment can be placed in a number of investments subject to meeting the active investment requirements as set out below.

Points for nominated active investment funds are as follows.

$4+ million: 16 points
$3.75 million: 15 points
$3.5 million: 14 points
$3.25 million: 13 points
$3 million: 12 points
$2.75 million: 11 points
$2.5 million: 10 points
$2.25 million: 9 points
$2 million: 8 points
$1.75 million: 7 points
$1.5 million: 6 points
$1.25 million: 5 points
$1 million: 4 points
$0.75 million: 3 points
$0.5 million: 2 points

Definition of 'active investment'

An active investment is:

- a direct investment of NZ$100,000 or more, in the establishment of a new lawful enterprise which undertakes significant economic activity in New Zealand, and results in the principal applicant acquiring 10 percent or more shareholding; or
- a direct investment of NZ$200,000 or more, in an existing lawful enterprise which undertakes significant economic activity in New Zealand, and results in the principal applicant acquiring 10 percent or more shareholding.

Definition of 'semi-active investment'

A semi-active investment is a direct or indirect investment (including managed funds) in the equity of an existing lawful enterprise(s) which undertakes significant economic activity in New Zealand and does not qualify as an active investment.

Managed funds

For the purposes of this policy managed funds are defined as either:

- a managed fund investment product offered by a financial institution; or
- funds invested in equities that are managed on an investor's behalf by a fund manager or broker.

In order to be acceptable as a form of semi-active investment a managed investment scheme must be a 100 percent New Zealand equity based fund (ie a fund that invests only in New Zealand companies).

Residential property development

For the purposes of this policy, residential property development includes:
- building, or arranging to build, a household unit for the purpose of selling it; or
- acquiring a household unit from a person who built it or arranged for it to be built for the purpose of selling it; or
- acquiring and subdividing land for the purposes of residential property development; or
acquiring and/or selling an existing household unit.

[petri]

.. I would read this that an investment is basicly anything that's invested in NZ, public or private, direct or through funds -- as long as it's not property development (;-).

They give you bonus points if you get 10+% of a company. If you just buy stocks or funds, you don't get the bonus points, but they do qualify as an (semi-active) investment. INZ does seem to use term "significant economic activity" as a potential excuse to deny anything.


We've been looking into this new option as well as we don't have job offers, OH's points are a bit on the low side and mine are off-the-scale because I don't have a degree but plenty of expertise.

Our primary interest would be to arrive, look around, settle in a bit and start looking for what to do -- establish a business vs. find a job, get contacts in our fields of expertise, get familiar with the investment options in NZ, etc.

If I were at INZ, I'd also include an option to include your own, non-mortaged property as part of the investment. After all, if you buy a 3mil house in NZ, isn't that as big commitment as 3mil in NZ stock?

Other issue is the amount of money invested and what's the selection criteria for EOI's. Does the minimum $1.5m get you in as you don't really want to put all your money in this lock-up deal. Perhaps they could give bonus points for the settlement funds, now it's minimum $1m but if you bring more, you get more points. I have a feeling that NZ doesn't really get that many immigrants in the investor category.

The nice thing is that after approval in principle, you have 12 to 24 months time to transfer and invest the money. That gives you plenty of time to find the right investments.

PS. As we're looking for 1.5-3 year timeframe, we are probably putting in a skilled migrant application with her details and see how it goes. If it doesn't, we'll just go with the investor or LTBV plan.

[ColeyNZ]

Thanks Petri.

I have an email from the Business Development office that handles much of these accounts but he is slow in response and a bit vague at times. I did not see this but this helps immensely.

I'm in a difficult situation plus I'm trying to help my sister and her husband (I'll explain). We came here on a work visa, lost my job and now INZ is writing some nasty grams about being here on a WTR. I telecommute to the USA (software developer) but it is per diem work and there is nothing to be found. Moved to Auckland to better my chances but after a couple of interviews I was simply told that I would be a fantastic talent but I'm simply over-qualified (I came from Microsoft and I think I scared them off a bit). So despite having a 250 score, I'm stuck.

Well, my wife and I thought that's ok because we also filled out and submitted all the paperwork for an Active (Migrant) Investor with nearly 200 points (don't recall the exact number). My wife owned a bakery and cafe for a number of years and I owned my IT consulting office for nearly 5 years plus we came over with $10+MNZD. Our thought was that if the work bit didn't work out, we could always just retire. Our assumption was that merely having the funds in a Kiwi bank would be good enough.

Now my sister and bil want to come here too. But there is a catch: Neither have a college degree & he has a felony from when he was 17 years old (he was sentenced as an adult because it was a felony - burglary of a home). He is now 33, the record has been purged but it is still on his FBI report (won't come off - he checked, he has to be actually pardoned). But they have money... not a lot but enough to cover the $1.5M NZD + the $1M NZD settlement. We have been told by INZ that his felony would not grant him access through normal settlement process but they would look the other way if he applied as either an Entrepreneur or the Active Investor categories (hypocrites).

I really wished INZ would make this easy and had a public works program but anyway we are thinking about either buying an orchard and hiring a steward or opening a dog kennel. The orchard would be simple and another board member from a couple of years ago did this same thing to good success. My wife was heavily involved with Helen Klause which runs a No-Kill-Animal shelter in the USA and she has expressed interest to me on selling our home in Fendalton, ChCh and buying up a something either in the Tauranga-Pyes Pa area or maybe going to Paraparamu-Upper Hutt area or even just staying here in Auckland.

Sorry to ramble. Very few understand the uniqueness of the situation and it was nice to just let it all out.

[petri]

Just curious, what's the status with your own active investor application? Was it under the old rules?

It sounds like your sister and bil should just send the EOI and see how it goes.


The FAQ at immigration.govt.nz is a bit more descriptive:

What is an acceptable investment?

An acceptable investment is defined as investment that:

1. is in either one or more of the following:
- bonds issued by the New Zealand government or local authorities, or
- bonds issued by New Zealand firms traded on the New Zealand Debt Securities Market (NZDX), or
- bonds issued by New Zealand firms with at least a BBB- or equivalent rating from internationally recognised credit rating agencies (for example, Standard and Poor’s), or
- equity in New Zealand firms (public or private), including managed funds and:
2. is capable of a commercial return under normal circumstances and has the potential to contribute to New Zealand's economy, and
3. is invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency, and
4. has the potential to contribute to New Zealand’s economy, and
5. is invested in lawful enterprises or managed funds that comply with all relevant laws in force in New Zealand, and
6. is not for the personal use of the applicant(s), and
7. is not (directly or indirectly) invested in residential property development or deposit taking financial institutions (e.g. banks or finance companies).

Note: that for the purpose of the Migrant Investment Policy, convertible notes are considered an equity investment.

What is meant by personal use of investment funds?

Personal use includes a personal residence, car, boat or similar assets.

[ColeyNZ]

Petri,

You're brilliant. As for our old Active Investor submission... because our EOI was selected on the merits of my Skilled Migrant point scale, the Active Investor was never reviewed, only filed.

I say your brilliant because the short and simple answer is staring us in the face at #1. Buy bonds! That is all we need to do.

Here is the link for the New Zealand Debt Management Office:

http://www.nzdmo.govt.nz/faqs/buykiwibond

Here I am, over-complicating this (the beast of an application in the A.I. didn't help - both new and old) when this is all we needed to do. Heck, 1/3 of my American retirement is still held in Treasury bonds (I made out like a fat rat when the market fell).

:bluebanana

[ColeyNZ]

The new policy is working :)

All 8 Active Investor applications were selected! Apparently one had only 20 points which equates to "we have a lot of money and want to move to New Zealand".

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/news/eoimigrantinvestmentpolicy.htm

[petri]

The new policy is working :)

All 8 Active Investor applications were selected! Apparently one had only 20 points which equates to "we have a lot of money and want to move to New Zealand".

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/general/generalinformation/news/eoimigrantinvestmentpolicy.htm

Just noticed the same thing.. EOI only applies to the new Investor 2 category, not the plus category where you just need money. So 20 points is basicly someone 60+ in good health, without any business experience, no english skills and 3 million NZD of money (2m to invest, 1m to settle).

I just mailed our EOI with 70 points (the minimum we can get).

[ColeyNZ]

Petri,

How is your submission process going? We are getting ready to come home... wrapping up buying a wonderful place in Parameromo (in between Coatesville & Albany).

We ended up going AI 2 with rather no fuss. Now we are working on her parents and getting them here.

Dan

[petri]

How is your submission process going? We are getting ready to come home... wrapping up buying a wonderful place in Parameromo (in between Coatesville & Albany).

We ended up going AI 2 with rather no fuss. Now we are working on her parents and getting them here.

Investor 2 as well. Everything is ready and I hope to collect the medical certificates tomorrow to get the ITA out on monday to Wellington with DHL. ~3 kg of paper, mostly to prove the business experience. If I had known, I would have left out the most recent company as I had to have all the documents translated (~1500 nzd). Probably doing everything too diligently like we finns tend to do.

We are planning to enjoy the summer in Europe so I hope to get the house sold by August 2010 so that we could leave right after. The housing market is alive again so there's hope but this place really needs a right buyer.

Parameromo is something new.. I've been wondering what's the deal with Coatesville as there are quite a few properties for sale there. We don't need too much m2 but a lot of m3 would be nice (our current living room is about 7m high with one wall all window to the sea) and properly insulated and heated (we're expecting -20C next week and I don't expect the inside temperature to change from +22C). Not on the beach but sea view and heated pool would be nice.

Ideally we could rent something nice for a year while we figure out what we want and where. The nature in NZ is so beautiful that we could consider a city place + summer house (with all the comforts) combo as well.

[ColeyNZ]

Investor 2 as well. Everything is ready and I hope to collect the medical certificates tomorrow to get the ITA out on monday to Wellington with DHL. ~3 kg of paper, mostly to prove the business experience. If I had known, I would have left out the most recent company as I had to have all the documents translated (~1500 nzd). Probably doing everything too diligently like we finns tend to do.

We are planning to enjoy the summer in Europe so I hope to get the house sold by August 2010 so that we could leave right after. The housing market is alive again so there's hope but this place really needs a right buyer.

Parameromo is something new.. I've been wondering what's the deal with Coatesville as there are quite a few properties for sale there. We don't need too much m2 but a lot of m3 would be nice (our current living room is about 7m high with one wall all window to the sea) and properly insulated and heated (we're expecting -20C next week and I don't expect the inside temperature to change from +22C). Not on the beach but sea view and heated pool would be nice.

Ideally we could rent something nice for a year while we figure out what we want and where. The nature in NZ is so beautiful that we could consider a city place + summer house (with all the comforts) combo as well.


Right on with the paperwork. It goes through fairly quickly regardless of the point total and you'll be assigned a CO pretty much right away. The process for Nikki and I was done in under 8 weeks.

As for Coatesville, it really is a very nice area. The schools are quite good and the scenery, the houses, and the community events are really what New Zealand tries to sell itself on. Katy Hosking with Premium is my realtor and she is from the area so she know's all the goings on in the area.

I understand what you mean about m3... I personally cannot stand flat ceilings... as for sea & ocean views, that is one thing you will not get here as you are in the center of the country as you can be. Orewa & the Hisbiscus coast really aren't that far away though.

We are currently trying to have a baby and once we have been here for awhile, we will eventually like to get a small bach down in Nelson on the beach. That way we can see the mountains and have the ocean. But not right now... one of the challenges with New Zealand as a European American is that there is a lot of nothing and there was a bit of culture shock for us. We originally moved to ChCh and it was nice but when we would drive south towards Invercargill there is really nothing and the south island is like that... pockets of humanity with great expanses of just earth. So needless to say when we came back, we immediately went towards the Auckland area.

Personally, if you want sea views, if I were to do it again, I would go to Waiheke island... we didn't go because we found our dream home in Paremoremo and stopped looking after that.

[petri]

DHL tracking shows that our ITA package has left London Heathrow early this morning.. might get to Wellington by thursday. But we're not in rush with the processing.

I think when we arrive we'll be busy driving around Auckland, visiting the islands and everything looking for areas that we like and don't like. I guess we'll also be looking at the houses just to get an idea about the build quality in general.

I understand the lot of nothing thing. Helsinki is about the same size as Auckland (more european city structure, though, no CDB) and we haven't lived in anything smaller. So we aren't really looking anything but Auckland and perhaps Wellington - at least not yet.. Luckily Finland is a bit like New Zealand, drive out from the city and you see more nothing (read: forest) than one can imagine. About the same size as Germany but just 5.3 million people against Germany's 82 million. But the scenery and what you can do out there, NZ wins without doubt.

If you don't mind, what kind of dream house did you find?

[ColeyNZ]

Hey Petri,

I just wanted to let you know that I got your PM and I will get back to you on it shortly. We had a some familial issues and it's been a bit difficult. I'm going to be back in country after the holidays.

Premium.co.nz - ABN21191

[petri]

Beautiful! Looks like something we'd have checked out as well!

No rush, we just returned from a holiday trip as well (Cuba). Quite a shock to return from the tropics to home with temperatures below -20C and a lot of snow.

[ColeyNZ]

Good Morning Petri (in the States at the moment)...

I got your PM's and that house is still available. We purchased something very similar in Paremoremo that was never listed and to answer your PM question concerning house prices, we paid a bit less than that but have slightly more usuable land. We are a quick walk from Hardens Lane though. I have seen 48 Hardens Lane (listed property) and it is stunning. The builder was Euro & built it to very modern specifications... it is also the reason why it is nearly $3M... it has all the bells: 2 zone central (both houses - there is a flat above the garage that the council doesn't know about), fully wired... simply stunning. The only thing I'm not fond of was the pond literally right outside the property.

I'm going to get to your PM's here shortly.

[GrumpyGoat]

I am trying to figure out the active investor categories for my best friend to move over here.

Is AI 1 $10 million? And AI 2 $2.5 million? I am not having a lot of luck figuring out the NZIS website--what's new?

Thought I would ask on the forum and it seems you two are the only ones doing this now.

Advice?

[petri]

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/invest/migrantinvestment/

The above INZ web page has a pretty good summary and links to further details.

Investor 2 has smaller minimum investment fund but there are other requirements such as a minimum of three years business experience.

[GrumpyGoat]

Thank you!! this was EXACTLY the info I was hoping to find.

Either one would work but the Investor 2 is easy enough to meet as they are american and 40ish and it is a smaller amount to tie up.

Does it take the same amount of time as the SMC category?

I assume that they will not be required to take an actual job (oh, the horrors :laugh)?

And any investment is OK as long as it isn't land development?