Checked 6 October 2026. New Zealand changed its Active Investor Plus Visa settings on 1 April 2025. Americans account for the largest group of applicants in the latest published figures, but an application is not an approval, and a Resident Visa is not the same as a Permanent Resident Visa.
How many applications have there been?
Immigration New Zealand's data records 949 applications from 1 April 2025 to 24 September 2026. Of these, 496 were approved. An application can cover a main applicant, partner and dependent children, so the number of applications is not the number of people.
US citizens submitted 305 applications covering 924 people — about 32% of all applications by count. China accounted for 180 applications and Hong Kong for 121. Under the previous settings, INZ received 115 applications between September 2022 and 31 March 2025. These periods are different lengths; the two totals alone do not establish a simple “five-fold” application-rate increase.
Investment and time in New Zealand
The Growth category requires at least NZ$5 million in acceptable investments for 3 years; Balanced requires at least NZ$10 million for 5 years. The 2025 changes removed the English-language requirement. Under the current visa conditions, Growth investors must spend at least 21 days in New Zealand as resident-visa holders over the 36-month investment period. Balanced investors must spend at least 105 days over 60 months, although qualifying additional investment can reduce that requirement.
Is permanent residence automatic?
No. Active Investor Plus is initially a Resident Visa with conditions. After maintaining the investment and meeting the other conditions, a Growth investor can apply for a Permanent Resident Visa after 36 months, or a Balanced investor after 60 months. Applying for the investor visa does not grant unconditional permanent residence. Check INZ's investment, residence and condition-removal rules before relying on this pathway.
The published application figures do not, by themselves, establish individual applicants' political motives or a causal effect on housing prices or employment. Those claims have been excluded here.
Sources: INZ investor-category statistics (through 24 September 2026) and INZ Active Investor Plus Visa conditions. The figures and rules may change; verify them with INZ before applying.
Prepared and checked with AI assistance using public official sources. This is general information, not individual immigration, investment or tax advice.