New Zealand tightened the conditions of the investor visa aimed at the rich. There have been less than 20 applicants in six months.
The rich foreign investors seem to have lost interest in New Zealand. The reason is the tightening of the visa program aimed at investors.
The new visa program aimed at foreign investors started operating about half a year ago. However, only less than 20 applications have been received.
The number of applications has collapsed compared to the previous investor visa: in 2021, for example, almost 500 people applied for it.
The matter has been reported by, among others, a US news agency Bloomberg and a British magazine The Guardian.
Previously investors were able to invest in low-risk investments such as government bonds.
In the new system, the rich can get a visa, for example, by investing five million New Zealand dollars directly in New Zealand companies. The amount is approximately 2.9 million euros.
The new system has been criticized as too strict.
The investor visa has attracted criticism about whether citizenship and the opportunity to live in the country can be bought.
Buying a stay came to the fore with an embarrassing incident in 2017. At that time, it turned out that the founder of Paypal Peter Thiel had received citizenship, even though he had only been in the country for 12 days in the five years preceding the application.
Although Thiel did not get citizenship with an investor visa, it was justified by other means.
#Visas #interest #wealthy #investors #Zealand #collapsed
