New Zealand reminds me very much of my home, Seattle, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The North Island offers a temperate climate with lush foliage. The South Island, a bit colder, offers spectacular mountain scenery. It’s paradise for fishers and golfers. The New Zealand brown trout, originally bred at the University of Washington in Seattle, grows to giant size in New Zealand’s lakes and rivers. Golf courses are plentiful, of high quality and are very cheap by European and even North American standards. The local wines are of very high quality, particularly the Pinot Noir varieties. The cuisine, generally European style, is also excellent. The locals are friendly and generally welcoming to immigrants.

The government is a parliamentary democracy similar to the system in the UK. Social services and education are of high quality and the bulk of the population would be considered middle class. There are few rich people in world terms and few poor people, or at least one doesn’t see them. The government actively seeks to recruit immigrants mostly to fill skills needs. The investor program is designed to attract skilled business people as well as capital.

History

The Maoris, who inhabited New Zealand before the arrival of the Europeans, sailed south from what is now Hawaii around 800 AD. A further migration occurred around 1350. The Maoris, a warrior race, quickly subdued the local inhabitants and occupied what is now New Zealand, many small surrounding islands and the Chatham Islands. They practised cannibalism in that they made ritual feasts of their victims. The population of the Chatham Islands was decimated in this way.

The arrival of Europeans

The first European to note the existence of New Zealand was the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman in 1642. The Dutch evidently knew of the existence of the New Zealand islands from Portuguese and Venetian maps. Tasman abandoned his attempts to settle the islands when many of his landing party were eaten. Since that time whalers stopped in New Zealand, many never to be heard from again. In 1769, Captain James Cook circumnavigated the North and South Islands on his way to Australia. Cook recommended New Zealand for European habitation and believed the Maoris could be turned into industrious European-type settlers. Cook suggested the area to the north called the Bay of Islands would be suitable for settlement. The north of New Zealand is temperate and wet, while as one goes south the weather turns colder and drier.

Early settlement

The British viewed New Zealand as an offshoot of the Australian colony best used for whaling and sealing. Between 1820 and 1840 settlers began to pour into the country with or without crown permission. Most of the early settlement was promoted by real estate companies that sold land they often didn’t own, together with passage and assistance to settlers. Edward Wakefield, while serving a prison sentence for abducting a schoolgirl heiress, devised the ‘systematic colonization theory’. He formed the New Zealand Association, later called the New Zealand Company, to carefully select ‘proper immigrants’ dedicated to the formation of a classless egalitarian society. The profits from land sales were to fund free passage to New Zealand and to complete necessary public works before the settlers’ arrival.

Although the idea wasn’t bad, there were issues with execution. Thousands of settlers found themselves with no land, much less public works, which distressed the Maoris and the British government too. The British, after several bloody battles with the Maoris, settled land claims with the Maoris by the treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The settlers continued to ignore the treaty, resulting in Maori wars that lasted another 30 years, with continuing land claims and tensions to this day.

Relations with Maoris

The Maori population tended to increase faster than the European population, resulting in increasing demands for Maori participation in the mainstream economy and ‘fairer’ land settlements. The government has made concerted efforts towards cultural integration with some success. One indicator of success is that many New Zealanders think the government has gone too far to favor Maori concerns. Land claims issues between the invader and the invaded can only be settled in two ways. Either the victors go home – not likely – or the invaded accept some form of reparation. In the case of New Zealand, there’s a genuine effort to reach an equitable solution, but no final settlement to date.

Gold and lamb

Further immigration was spurred by the discovery of gold and by the invention of the refrigerated cargo ship. The effect of gold is obvious, the impact of refrigeration is not so apparent. The ability to refrigerate lamb and mutton for long duration voyages effectively turned New Zealand into a lamb and sheep farm, with sheep specially bred to graze on steep terrain, to feed English workers during the industrial revolutions and the two world wars. Large-scale sheep farming, to a greater extent than gold, enabled New Zealand to became an efficient and mostly self-reliant country. This special relationship between lamb and prosperity lasted until the UK joined the European common market and could no longer continue favorable trade relations with New Zealand to the exclusion of the rest of Europe. After some hard times, New Zealand diversified its agricultural base, with farming remaining one of the more important economic activities.

New Zealand’s political and social values

New Zealand became a dominion of the British Empire in 1907 and became independent in 1947. The egalitarian ideas of New Zealand’s original settlers resulted in a nation that prizes economic equality as well as investment in social infrastructure. New Zealand is a leader in women’s suffrage, social security, trade unionism, child care services and education. The country remains nuclear free and essentially has disbanded its armed forces. The theory is that New Zealand is too far away and too much trouble for anybody to bother with, and that Australia and/or the US would come to the rescue if need be.

New Zealand and Australia have a special relationship in that nationals of either country can work in either country without work permits. In many respects, citizenship in either country works for both. This is a nice benefit for those who move to New Zealand but feel limited by the small market and less entrepreneurial atmosphere than Australia.

New Zealand, like Canada and Australia, designs and re-designs its immigration policies to attract skills, capital and population. In addition, New Zealand looks for people that the authorities think will fit into the social fabric. This is a very subjective standard but a real New Zealand concern. If you fit in – i.e. you at least speak excellent English – you will find visa processing, by immigration standards, rather pleasant and rapid.

The basics

New Zealand requires a minimum investment of NZ$ 1,000,000 and a two-year holding period and uses a points based system to evaluate applicants. As alternative pathways to immigrate to New Zealand have become more difficult, the popularity of the investor program has increased. Applicants must speak a reasonable level of English and be under 85 years of age. The points system blends business experience with age and the investment amount. For example, a 35 year old would receive nine points for age, one point for investing NZ $1 million and two points for four years’ business experience. The pass mark is currently 12, but changes from time to time.

The points system

Applicants must score total points equal to, or greater than, the pass mark at the time of application, with a minimum of one point (for NZ$1,000,000) for investment funds.

Business experience

Other than money, the key requirement is business experience. The applicant must own 25% or more of the enterprise used as a basis for proving business experience and must have worked a minimum of 30 hours per week in the enterprise(s). Business experience may include management or supervisory experience, particularly when the applicant held senior management positions within substantial businesses. Choosing the enterprise to prove business experience is not always straightforward. In such cases applicants with experience as senior managers or executives may qualify.

What investment funds qualify for points

One must provide evidence of ownership and current fair market value of the net assets used to qualify for points for investment funds. Given recent concerns over money laundering and the like, the authorities often require evidence of how the applicant acquired their assets and that the level of asset ownership is consistent with the applicant’s earning history. Assets must be owned by the applicant or jointly with a spouse, common law spouse or child. Assets acquired by borrowing are not allowed, although it is possible to claim for gifted funds so long as these were legally gifted and were originally earned lawfully.

Many accounting firms issue reports verifying net worth and business history in order to facilitate the visa petition. As in most things, a logical and well-crafted report will increase the likelihood of a successful outcome to the application.

Procedures

Upon passing the points test, language and good character requirements, the applicant must:

• Transfer the investment funds into New Zealand
• Prove the investment funds have been invested in New Zealand, in NZ$ in a profit seeking investment
• Provide a New Zealand contact address.

Listed shares, commercial property, purchase of a business, and interestingly, bank deposits all qualify. The investment funds can be held in several different investments but may not be used to purchase personal assets such as a home.

Applicants have 12 months from the date of approval to satisfy these conditions. Upon satisfaction of the conditions, all persons included in the application (spouse and children) must land in New Zealand, at which time they receive a multiple entry Returning Residence Visa (RRV) valid for two years.

The investment funds must remain invested in New Zealand for two years. Conditional status will be removed upon submitting proof of maintaining the required investment at the conclusion of the two years. At this time the applicant and family are issued life-long RRVs without any conditions.

Conclusion

Experienced business people with enough money can move to New Zealand simply by investing in the share market or buying a commercial property. I’m surprised more people don’t do it. Economic opportunities are limited by the small population and remote location. The main reason to move to New Zealand is quality of life, which is fantastic and reasonably priced. The main disadvantage to living in New Zealand is location. Everywhere but Australia is a long way away. Please be aware that New Zealand immigration policies can change frequently and without advance notice and intending applicants must update themselves on the current policy before progressing their interest.

Acknowledgements

Mathew Collins, Frans Buysse and Richard Howard contributed to this article. Frans Buysse has been active in the field of migration since 1986. He started working as a consultant for the Dutch Emigration Centres and later became immigration officer for the Canadian Embassy. In 1993 he founded Buysse Immigration Consultancy, a team of professional consultants based in the Netherlands. He offers a full package of services to prospective immigrants to Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.

Email: [email protected]

Mathew Collins is founder of Ambler Collins, one of Europe’s oldest multi-destinational immigration consultancies. Ambler Collins maintains branch offices in London and Sydney.

Email: [email protected]

Richard Howard is Managing Director of Pathways to New Zealand Ltd, a New Zealand-based specialist immigration consultancy established in 1992. PathwaysNZ focuses on investor and business visa applications, assisting with visa applications, and processing as well as locating appropriate investment opportunities in New Zealand. Website: www.pathwaysNZ.com Email: [email protected]