A Smarter Path to Residency
Through Investment
Understanding the Active Investor Plus opportunity.
The Active Investor Plus Opportunity
New Zealand’s Active Investor Plus (AIP) Visa is the country’s flagship residency programme for high net worth investors. Offshore investors can obtain residency by committing eligible capital into approved investments that support the New Zealand economy.
The programme is designed to attract long term international capital into businesses, funds and productive assets while providing investors with a clear pathway to residency.
Two Investment Pathways
Growth Category Investments
The Growth Category focuses on active investments in New Zealand businesses and NZTE approved managed funds. While investments require formal approval, this pathway provides investors with higher visa weighting and a shorter residency requirement.
These investments are intended to support innovation, expansion and high growth sectors of the New Zealand economy. Fox Partnerships supports Growth Category participation by working with approved fund managers and structuring opportunities that align with programme requirements.
Balanced Category Investments
The Balanced Category provides broader flexibility across listed equities, bonds, philanthropy, selected managed funds and eligible property developments.
Fox Partnerships has extensive experience structuring Balanced Category investment opportunities, particularly those supported by property backed strategies and real asset investments. As this pathway does not require NZTE approval, it offers an efficient route for international investors while directing capital into New Zealand housing, infrastructure and business growth.
Fox Partnerships and the AIP Ecosystem
Fox Partnerships works alongside developers, businesses, fund managers and advisers to prepare investment opportunities that align with the Active Investor Plus programme.
Our focus is on ensuring opportunities are properly structured and investment ready before capital is introduced. By working on the receiving side of investment, the New Zealand project or business, we help create a clear pathway for international capital to enter credible opportunities across the New Zealand economy.
Market Momentum
Since the updated Active Investor Plus (AIP) settings came into effect on 1 April 2025, Immigration New Zealand has received approximately 589 applications representing around NZD 3.39 billion in potential investment, with more than NZD 1.05 billion already committed into New Zealand assets. These figures highlight strong and growing global demand for New Zealand investment opportunities.
While many investors pursue Growth Category investments, the Balanced Category remains a highly efficient yet under utilised pathway. Because it does not require NZTE approval, it provides a simpler route for investors, advisers and New Zealand businesses to deploy diversified capital across managed funds, private markets, bonds and qualifying property investments.
What This Means for Developers and Businesses
International demand for New Zealand investment opportunities is accelerating, with billions of dollars already in the pipeline. The Balanced Category in particular creates a compelling pathway for diversified strategies, including property backed lending and real asset investment.
Fox Partnerships works with New Zealand projects and fund managers to ensure they are investment ready now, positioning them to capture offshore capital as the next wave of AIP investment enters the market.