New Zealand over the years has attracted several entrepreneurs and wealthy HNWIs families through the investor residence visa stream.
- Entrepreneur visas issued to Startup businesses or self employment persons investing NZ$ 100,000 (US$ 67,000)
- Investor 2 visa seekers must have NZ$ 3 million (approximately $ 2 million USD) invested in New Zealand for four years.
- Investor Plus (investor 1) requires applicants to invest NZ$ 10 million (US$6.8 million), not subject to language, age, or experience requirements.
According to latest New zealand visa statistics, residence visas decided for investor 1 and 2 categories..
- A total of 219 investor 1 visas approved since 2008
- A total of 1491 investor 2 visas approved with almost 33% refusal rates
- As of June 2018, 443 investor category onhand applications pending and 99 under entrepreneur stream
- 219 Entrepreneur visas approved in 2018, 594 approved in 2017.
- Wealthy Chinese are the leading investors in New Zealand, followed by US and UK citizens who have shown keen interest for New Zealand.
| Investor 1 category | Investor 2 category | |||
| Approved | Declined | Approved | Declined | |
| 2008/2009 | ||||
| 2009/2010 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
| 2010/2011 | 9 | 1 | 33 | 15 |
| 2011/12 | 1 | 6 | 57 | 24 |
| 2012/13 | 21 | 4 | 99 | 60 |
| 2013/14 | 28 | 7 | 167 | 52 |
| 2014/15 | 26 | 11 | 155 | 132 |
| 2015/16 | 33 | 26 | 311 | 229 |
| 2016/17 | 46 | 17 | 401 | 145 |
| 2017/18 | 52 | 18 | 258 | 106 |
| Total | 219 | 91 | 1491 | 767 |
Country Statistics
| Investor category | Entrepreneur category | |||
| Country | Approved | Declined | Approved | Declined |
| China | 1167 | 637 | 689 | 177 |
| Great Britain | 87 | 41 | 251 | 93 |
| South Korea | 23 | 8 | 303 | 78 |
| United States Of America | 108 | 32 | 45 | 25 |
| South Africa | 20 | 11 | 79 | 27 |
| Japan | 45 | 14 | 27 | 10 |
| Malaysia | 30 | 18 | 18 | 12 |
| Germany | 29 | 12 | 14 | 10 |
| France | 22 | 7 | 20 | 9 |
| India | 7 | 12 | 21 | 15 |
| Singapore | 32 | 8 | 7 | 8 |
| Fiji | 1 | 2 | 23 | 20 |
| Hong Kong | 26 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
| Russia | 15 | 9 | 10 | 8 |
| Canada | 12 | 3 | 9 | 7 |
| Switzerland | 13 | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| Netherlands | 6 | 3 | 14 | 4 |
| Taiwan | 8 | 3 | 8 | 3 |
| Pakistan | 3 | 2 | 8 | 6 |
| Thailand | 4 | 1 | 9 | 5 |
| Italy | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| Vietnam | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Belgium | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Indonesia | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Ireland | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
| Egypt | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Iran | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| Philippines | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| Tonga | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Israel | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| Brazil | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Austria | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Cambodia | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| Sweden | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| Czech Republic | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Denmark | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Hungary | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Macau | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Spain | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| St.Kitts-Nevis | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bangladesh | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Sri Lanka | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Afghanistan | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Finland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Portugal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Slovakia | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Belize | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Chile | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Lebanon | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Palestine | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Romania | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Rwanda | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Vanuatu | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Australia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Dominica | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| French Polynesia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Greece | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Guatemala | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Iraq | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jamaica | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kenya | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Latvia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Malawi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mauritius | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Myanmar | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nauru | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nepal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nigeria | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Poland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Serbia & Montenegro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Slovenia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Venezuela | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Albania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Algeria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Samoa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Angola | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Antigua & Barbuda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Argentina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Armenia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Azerbaijan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bahamas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bahrain | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Barbados | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Belarus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Benin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bermuda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bhutan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bolivia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Botswana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bulgaria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Burundi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cameroon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chad | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Colombia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Comoros | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Congo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Costa Rica | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Croatia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cuba | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cyprus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic Republic Congo (l) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Democratic Republic of Congo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Djibouti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dominican Republic | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| East Timor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ecuador | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| El Salvador | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Eritrea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Estonia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ethiopia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Federated States Of Micronesia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gabon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gambia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ghana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gibraltar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guinea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Guyana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Haiti | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Honduras | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Iceland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kazakhstan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kiribati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kosovo Republic of | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kosovo – UN Mission in | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kuwait | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Laos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lesotho | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Liberia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Libya | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Liechtenstein | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lithuania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Luxembourg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Macedonia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Madagascar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maldives | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mali | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Malta | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marshall Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Moldova | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mongolia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Morocco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mozambique | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Namibia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Zealand | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nicaragua | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Niger | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Norway | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Palestine (inactive) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Panama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Papua New Guinea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Paraguay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Peru | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qatar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Samoa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Senegal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Serbia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Seychelles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sierra Leone | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Solomon Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Somalia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| South Sudan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Soviet Union | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| St. Lucia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| St.Vincent and the Grenadines | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Stateless | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sudan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Suriname | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Swaziland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Syria | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tajikistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tanzania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Timor Leste | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Togo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trinidad & Tobago | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tunisia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turkmenistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Turks and Caicos Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuvalu | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Uganda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| United Arab Emirates | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| United Nations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Uruguay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Uzbekistan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yemen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yugoslavia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zambia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Zimbabwe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
