NZTE investment general manager Benny Goodman said there have been 110 inquiries so far and more than 40% of them are from the United States.
Immigration lawyer Simon Laurent, chairman of the Association for Migration and Investment, said American politics seemed to be a significant factor behind the high numbers.
“There are a lot of people who have been approaching ourselves and other lawyers and advisers about being able to move over here.
“Some because of concerns about the current administration in the US. And that’s really spiked quite dramatically, especially since the presidential inauguration in January. It’s really very significant figures.”
There had been a surge in inquiries overall since last month’s announcement and although investors cannot apply until April 1, they were lining up already, he added.
“It certainly feels like people have been hanging out for something to change, because the previous policy was simply not palatable to most of those who are interested in migrating based on investment.
“And now they’re presented with a much simpler, more streamlined way to make an application with the lower investment amounts required and the also the time in New Zealand requirement being cut down.
“I’m expecting it to be quite a surge of initial applications going through, and there could well be more to come, especially with certain international events which are driving some of the interest.”
Immigration industry representatives were also lining up for more information, he said, including at an event he attended last week.
“Effectively the in-house numbers doubled and they had to expand their premises in order to accommodate those people, as well as a very large number of people who joined online.”
A Government infrastructure summit this week may also showcase opportunities for investors, he added.
About 100 investment leaders from 14 countries will be in Auckland today and tomorrow as the Government aims to attract a slice of the $6 trillion the companies manage.
“That could feed into this,” he said.
“A big focus in the growth category of the migrant investor space is on businesses that are raising capital for venture capital purposes, getting businesses started. Getting more funding to follow up their projects, whether that is going to crossover with the larger scale stuff, which I’m guessing is part of the topic of that summit, I’m not sure. It seems quite seems reasonably likely, that could actually drive a bit more interest.”
The one potential brake on investment was the lack of change in how Chinese investors could move their funds to New Zealand.
“The removal of the English language requirement was a good practical step, everyone’s applauded the minister for taking that step. On the other hand, there is an ongoing concern with the lack of any easing in the rules about the transfer of funds, particularly from mainland China, because there are of course currency transfer restrictions imposed by the Chinese Government.
Immigration lawyer Simon Laurent, chairman of the Association for Migration and Investment, said American politics seemed to be a significant factor behind the high numbers. Photo / RNZ
“There doesn’t appear to be any scheme that Immigration New Zealand recognises that will get around that. And there is a bit of disquiet that nothing’s been done about this. It doesn’t seem like the Government has any appetite to make any changes to that, because of course there’s concern about the financing of crime and terrorism. So that’s a bit a sticking point.”
Goodman said there had been a 232% rise in the number of active users of the AIP pages of the NZTE website, jumping from 4861 to 16,154 in the last month.
“There has been a significant increase in interest in the Active Investor Plus Visa Programme (AIP) from global investors, managed funds, and New Zealand businesses seeking growth capital since the Government announced changes to the settings.
“There has also been strong attendance at our AIP roadshow events taking place across the country over the past two weeks, with more than 125 people attending so far. With the Auckland event still to go, and 174 confirmed RSVPs, we are expecting the roadshow to be attended by 300 people in total. Attendees at the events have included immigration advisers, representatives of managed funds, wealth management advisers and more.”
