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New Zealand raises price for investor migrants

Xinhua, December 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

The New Zealand government will be asking migrant investors to shell out more money before giving them residency under new rules announced Wednesday.

The changes included doubling the funds Investor 2 category migrants must invest to 3 million NZ dollars (2.14 million U.S. dollars), while removing the need for them to hold 1 million NZ dollars (713,800 U.S. dollars) in settlement funds.

"There's no doubt the migrant investor categories are performing well with 2.9 billion NZ dollars (2.07 billion U.S. dollars) invested since they were launched in July 2009 and a further 2.1 billion NZ dollars (1.49 billion U.S. dollars) in funds committed," Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said in a statement.

"However, around two thirds of investment is currently placed in bonds and the government believes there is an opportunity to rebalance this towards growth-oriented investments," he said.

"That is why we are making changes to increase the amount and performance of investment while better recognizing the non-financial contribution of migrant investors."

The changes would also reward higher levels of business experience and English language skills and investment in growth-oriented investment.

The government was also raising the cap on migrants under this category from 300 to 400.

"Many investors tend to move into growth focused investments as they become more familiar with the New Zealand environment. These changes will encourage them to do so earlier in the process while incentivizing investments that deliver greater economic benefits for New Zealand," Woodhouse said.

The changes would come into effect in May 2017. Endit