Country Profile - neW Zealand
GETTING A NEW ZEALAND BUSINESS OR INVESTOR VISA New Zealand is an attractive place to do business. Apart from its famous ‘clean green’ living environment, it is one of the world’s least-regulated jurisdictions (see for example Doing Business Report 2011). The government is keen to attract talented entrepreneurs, and the country needs a lot of investment capital. There are four main routes to explore, depending on your means and life goals: The Long-Term Business Visa (LTBV) is a three-year work visa to start a new venture or buy an existing business. After two years, you can apply for residence if the business is doing well. You must provide a detailed business plan including profit and cashflow forecasts. The business must “benefit New Zealand” by (say) introducing a new service to the market or by reviving a failing business. An application is unlikely to succeed unless it creates employment for at least one New Zealander. Entrepreneur Plus is an add-on to the LTBV
scheme. If you can invest at least NZ$500,000 or create at least three new jobs you can apply for residence immediately, rather than wait for two years first. This time saving is significant if you want to get citizenship later. Investor 1 is a direct path to residence if you invest at least NZ$10m for at least three years. The government recently expanded the range of “acceptable investments” to include residential developments in order to boost NZ’s housing stock. Investor 2 is another investment residence policy for those who put in between NZ$1.510m, and bring another NZ$1m in settlement funds (to buy a house, etc). Applicants must show at least three years experience owning or managing a business turning over at least NZ$1m pa or employing at least five people. There is also a minimum English requirement and a maximum age of 65, unlike Investor 1. Both Investor policies require you to live in New Zealand for a certain time each year for the first few years. Most Chinese business
LaurentLaw Barristers & Solicitors Simon Laurent Principal Tel: +64-9-630-0411 slaurent@laurentlaw.co.nz www.laurentlaw.co.nz
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people have trouble transferring funds because of PRC foreign exchange controls, so that very few are approved from China. LaurentLaw has specialised in immigration law for 15 years. We assist clients to navigate the often complex rules surrounding all types of visa applications. Our passion is solving the ‘hard cases’ that are often referred to us by other lawyers and advisers. For LTBVs we outsource the preparation of comprehensive business plans to an expert who used to be a business migration visa officer. Simon Laurent, the principal of LaurentLaw, is current chairman of the NZ Association for Migration and Investment and is involved in cutting edge dialogue with Immigration New Zealand about its policy and practice