The New Zealand Minister of Immigration, Mr Jonathan Coleman, has announced two new Retirement Visa categories: the Temporary Retirement Category and the Parent Retirement Category, both aimed at increasing investment and stimulating the New Zealand economy.  These policies will come into effect on 29 March 2010.

Temporary Retirement Category
This is an extension of the visitor’s policy designed for people who wish to stay in New Zealand longer than the 12 month period which the current visitor’s visa allows.  Applicants under this visa will be issued with a 2 year multiple entry visitor’s visa which allows for travel in and out of New Zealand.  Please be aware that is only a temporary visa, and at the end of the 2 year period, applicants must leave New Zealand or re-apply for a further visa under this category, subject to meeting the requirement of this visa.
To be successful under this category, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Be aged 66 or over; and
• Be able to nominate funds and or assets to  the amount of NZ$0.75 million and undertake to invest that money in New Zealand for a period of two years; and
• Be able to evidence that they own the funds and or assets and that they have been legally earned or acquired; and
• Be able to transfer and invest the said fund in an acceptable investment in New Zealand; and
• Be able to nominate funds of NZ$0.5 million of maintenance funds and demonstrate ownership of these funds; and
• Have an annual income of at least NZ$60,000.

In this category, the applicant may include his/her partner but dependent children cannot be included in the application.  Both the principal applicant and partner must also meet the health and character requirements and hold and maintain comprehensive travel and or health insurance for the two year duration. Should you be successful in your application, you will need to transfer and invest your funds in New Zealand within 3 months of your approval in principle.  If you fail to do so your application will be declined.

Parent Retirement Category
The main objective of this visa category is to provide residence to those already with family ties in New Zealand and who wish to make a contribution to New Zealand’s economy.  The Parent Retirement Category is an extension of the existing Family Category – Parent Class visa.  The introduction of this new category is to prioritise high net worth individuals who are already looking into migrating under the Family Category – Parent Class.  Currently the Family Parent Category is capped and has a lengthy processing time frame of approximately 2 years.  Applications under the new Parent Retirement Category will be prioritised and processed quicker.
To be successful under this category, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Have an adult child who lives in New Zealand and is either a new Zealand citizen or resident; and
• Be able to meet the ‘centre of gravity’ test under the Family Parent Policy; and
• Be able to nominate funds and or assets to  the amount of NZ$1 million and undertake to invest that money in New Zealand for a period of four years; and
• Be able to evidence that they own the funds and or assets and that they have been legally earned or acquired; and
• Be able to transfer and invest the said fund in an acceptable investment in New Zealand; and
• Be able to nominate funds of NZ$0.5 million of settlement funds and demonstrate ownership of these funds; and
• Have an annual income of at least NZ$60,000.

In this category, the applicant may include his/her partner and dependent children in the application.  The principal applicant, partner and dependents must also meet the health and character requirements. Should you be successful in your application, you will need to transfer and invest your funds in New Zealand within 12 months of your approval in principle.  If you fail to do so your application will be declined.

For a FREE initial test to see if you qualify for immigration to New Zealand under these or other visa categories, please take one of our Quick Check Eligibility Assessments. Click here.