Hon Gerry Brownlee
Minister of Economic Development

Hon Jonathan Coleman

Minister of Immigration

28 July 2009 Media Statement

Business Migrant Scheme Revamped

The Government’s new business migration scheme launched today aims to boost economic performance by making New Zealand more attractive for business and entrepreneurial migrants.

Attracting the right business migrants was identified as a high priority initiative at the recent Job Summit and the new government scheme has been announced by Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee and Immigration Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman.

“This fresh approach will ensure we bring more investors, connect them with existing business networks, and create real jobs for New Zealanders,” said Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee.

Announcing the new policy, Dr Coleman said that since 2005 there has been a significant drop off in business migration investment due to unrealistic investment expectations and English language requirements.

The new policy package is designed for migrants who want to invest or set up a business in New Zealand and gain permanent residence.

“For investor migrants the previously existing three categories are streamlined to two, with more realistic requirements for capital, language skills and time spent in New Zealand annually, as well as a far greater flexibility in terms of investment vehicles,” said Dr Coleman.

For entrepreneurial migrants the new policy introduces a new Entrepreneur Plus category which complements the existing Entrepreneur category. Entrepreneur Plus offers a faster path to residence for applicants who create at least 3 fulltime jobs and invest $500,000 in their business.

“The last government’s business migration policies have not attracted investment. Since 2007, there have only been 23 migrants bought to New Zealand through Labour’s business migration policy. Business migration needs to be urgently addressed, and stakeholders’ feedback has been extremely positive regarding this new package,” said Dr Coleman.

Jeremy Moon, the CEO of Icebreaker Clothing was a chair at the Prime Minister’s Job Summit, and says the scheme is a “win win”.

“Business leaders suggested this idea during the Job Summit as something that could be highly effective for little cost. I back the idea because the more investment and entrepreneurship we can get in New Zealand the better, “said Mr Moon.

The new Investor policy will be implemented from 28 July 2009 and the Entrepreneur Policy from November 2009.

For more information please go to www.immigration.govt.nz/migrantinvestment

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APPENDIX: Summary of Requirements

1. Investor Policy:

New Policy:

* Principal Investor applicants with IELTS 3 must complete additional English language tuition (20 hours), as part of their residence conditions.

Old Policy:

2. Entrepreneur Policy:

There will be a new definition for ‘creating employment’ to ensure that migrants who claim to create employment are not just creating jobs for family members. Under the old policy, we couldn’t prioritise top entrepreneurs. The new Entrepreneur Plus category provides a faster path to residence for higher value entrepreneurs who can create more jobs.

3. IELTS – scale for measuring English language ability, graded in bands 1 (non-user) – 9 (expert)

IELTS 5 – copes with overall meaning in most situations.

IELTS 4 – basic competence limited to familiar situations.

IELTS 3 – conveys and understands only general meaning in familiar situations

ENDS

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