Advertisement
China-New Zealand relations
This Week in AsiaLifestyle & Culture

In one US-China battle, Americans have taken the lead: ‘golden’ visa applications to New Zealand

  • Coronavirus pandemic and political uncertainty combine to drive Americans’ interest in relocating
  • Americans now account for nearly half of applicants for New Zealand’s Investor Visa programme, while Chinese applications have tumbled

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
0
Many more Americans are yearning to give up pandemic madness, civil unrest and political uncertainty to move to New Zealand. Photo: Handout
Joshua Mcdonald
While Chinese nationals used to make up the bulk of applicants for New Zealand’s so-called golden Investor Visa, they have been overtaken by Americans between April and October this year, with US citizens accounting for close to half of applications amid the Covid-19 pandemic and political uncertainty across the United States.

During the same period last year, Americans accounted for just 3 per cent of applications while Chinese applicants made up 43 per cent of the group, according to data from New Zealand’s Department of Immigration. The share of Chinese applicants slid to 25.4 per cent for April to October this year.

To be considered for such a visa – called the “golden visa” because it comes with the possibility of permanent residency in exchange for a large sum of money – each applicant is required to have a minimum of NZ$3 million (US$2.05 million) in available funds or assets and a detailed plan of investment.

David Cooper, chief executive of Malcolm Pacific Immigration, a private immigration consultancy with offices in Auckland and Wellington, said Americans specifically have struggled with a “quadruple whammy” this year, pushing them to seek homes abroad and somewhere safe for investment.

“They’re saying the civil unrest, the political instability, the bush fires in California and Covid-19 are pushing them over the edge,” he said. “We’ve had a regular stream of phone calls and emails coming in – people just want to know how they can move to New Zealand,”

New Zealand is currently virtually free of Covid-19, while the US is in the midst of a resurgence, averaging over 100,000 daily cases since the start of November.

02:35

New Zealand swears in new cabinet including Maori and LGBT members

New Zealand swears in new cabinet including Maori and LGBT members
Georg Chimel, head of the Chinese real estate portal Juwai, said the reason for fewer Chinese applicants was likely that staying in China was the safer option. 
Advertisement