Immigration New Zealand ceased accepting Expressions of Interest (EOIs) under the current Investor Policy on 31 July 2007. The new Active Investor Migrant Category, which replaces the Investor Policy, will be implemented in November 2007.

Immigration New Zealand outlines the details of the new Active Investor Migrant Category as follows:

The new Active Investor Migrant policy is divided into three sub-categories:

* Global investors
* Professional investors
* General (Active) investors.

The three categories have been segmented on the basis of the migrant’s potential contribution and according to the level of risk.

The category investors apply under will depend on their potential to contribute to New Zealand in financial and human capital, the amount of investment and the activeness of that investment. Investment must be active or semi-active (having money in a bank account will not meet the policy requirements, nor will investment in residential property development).

The three tiers are:

* Global Investors – top priority category for high value investors investing $20 million (including at least $5 million in active investment).
* Professional Investors – a second priority category for migrants investing $10 million (including at least $2 million actively).
* General (Active) Investors – a category for those investing a minimum of $2.5 million. Applicants selected through a points system.

The General (Active) investor category will be a points based system to prioritise migrants on the basis of their potential to contribute to New Zealand businesses. The points system will recognise:

* the importance of having both financial and human capital
* the benefit of active investment
* the value of export linkages, technology transfer, entrepreneurship and management skills.

The government has set an annual cap on the number of places available under the Active Investor Migrant policy at 1000 people (around 300 applications). Global and Professional investors will be selected first and the remaining places will be available to the General (Active) investor category.

Source: Immigration New Zealand