Kirkham Law -

Our Services

Immigration advice for investors, skilled workers, family members of New Zealand residents
Buying land in New Zealand
General tax advice
Citizenship

Useful Tips & Information

The following information is intended to give you an overview of the New Zealand immigration policy. It is general in nature and is intended to give an overview of the policies covered. It should not be relied upon except to indicate whether or not you should look further into categories that may apply to your circumstances.

For full information on the immigration categories you should contact us or visit the Immigration New Zealand website, www.immigration.govt.nz.

So, why and in what circumstances should you use an immigration lawyer or immigration consultant?

Like a lot of procedures in the law, your first chance is your best chance. If you get your first attempt wrong then you are often on the back foot dealing with a negative mindset or having to lodge an appeal. Sometimes a bad start can sink your chances of getting your permit.
The decision to move to another country is often not taken lightly and you need to consider the implications of failing to gain the permit you seek and decide how important this is to you.
The immigration process is often lengthy and uncertain. This can be stressful on top of other worries that you may have. A good immigration lawyer or consultant can take a lot of the uncertainty and stress out of the situation

Cost estimate
Review of & assessment of your circumstances for immigration purposes
Responsive and personal service
Representation of you to ensure as far as we can that immigration policy is correctly applied
Assistance with property purchases
Business advice
General legal advice
Advice on overseas investment in New Zealand

If you have any concerns either at the outset or part way through your immigration process, get the assistance of an experienced immigration lawyer or consultant.

Immigration categories

The 3 main categories we assist in are summarized below. They are:

The investor category;
The skilled migrant policy; and
The family reunification group of policies.

All applicants must have acceptable health and good character. It is not always obvious what constitutes acceptable health and good character and you should discuss any issues with us before assuming whether or not you would be accepted.

There are also minimum English language requirements in most residence categories.

Investor category

Active Investor Policy

There are 3 categories within this policy and they are prioritized for selection of the places allocated each year for 1,000 successful applicants and accompanying family members as follows:

Global Investor Category
Professional Investor Category
General (Active) Investor Category

Each category has very specific rules. The following is a brief overview.

Global investor category
The minimum requirements for principal applicants in this category are:
1. Good health and character
2. Have investment funds of NZ$20,000,000 to invest in New Zealand for a 4 year period of which NZ$4,000,000 must be invested in an "active investment"
3. Have a minimum of 4 years of business experience
4. Once granted a residence permit, to spend a minimum of 20% of each year in New Zealand during the 4 year investment period.
Professional investor category
The minimum requirements for principal applicants in this category are:
1. Good health and character
2. Be aged under 65 years
3. Acceptable standard of English language ability (IELTS score or 4 or an English speaking background)
4. Have investment funds of at least NZ$10,000,000 to invest in New Zealand for a 4 year period of which NZ$2,000,000 must be invested in an "active investment"
5. Have a minimum of 4 years of business experience
6. Once granted a residence permit, to spend a minimum of 30% of each year in New Zealand during the 4 year period
General (active) investor category
This category contains 2 stages. The first requires an applicant to submit an expression of interest on the specified form providing details and claiming points against the relevant factors in the category. If sufficient points are achieved and sufficient places are available under the active investor policy an expression of interest will be selected from the pool and an invitation to apply for residence may be made. Expressions of interest remain in the pool for 6 months but Immigration New Zealand has discretion to retain them in the pool for a further 6 months.
The minimum requirements for principal applicants in this category are:
1. Good health and character
2. Acceptable standard of English language ability (IELTS score or 4 or an English speaking background)
3. Be aged under 55 years
4. Have a minimum of 4 years business experience
5. Have investment funds of at least NZ$2,000,000 to invest in new Zealand for a 4 year period
6. Have settlement funds of at least NZ$1,000,000 for their maintenance during the 4 year investment period
7. Achieve a points score of at least 95 on the points table below
8. Once granted a residence permit, to spend a minimum of 40% of each year in New Zealand during the 4 year investment period.

Points table

Please download the points table for your reference and personal point calculations.
Click here to download the pdf.

Business experience means senior level business management experience gained through either 25% ownership or management level experience of a lawful business enterprise which was not set up principally for speculative or passive purposes.

As at May 2008 identified future growth areas are biotechnology, information communications technology, advertising, software and computing services, publishing, TV and radio, film and video, architecture, design, designer fashion, music and performing arts, visual arts.

The requirements for investments include the following:

The investment must not be for the personal use of the applicant i.e. a home.
The investment must be invested in New Zealand in New Zealand currency.
The investment must be a "semi active investment" or an "active investment".
The investment must have the potential to contribute to New Zealand's economic transformation, goals [*which are to encourage] innovative productive and global competitive firms.
*words inserted to make sense of apparent misprint

A "semi active investment" is a direct or indirect investment in the equity of an existing lawful enterprise which undertakes significant economic activity in New Zealand and does not qualify as an "active investment".

An "active investment" is either of the following:

At least NZ$100,000 invested and receiving at least 10% shareholding in a new enterprise which undertakes significant economic activity in New Zealand.
At least NZ$200,000 invested and receiving at least a 10% shareholding in an existing enterprise which undertakes significant economic activity in New Zealand.

Skilled Migrant Category

This category leads to residence. The process contains 2 stages.

The first stage requires an applicant to lodge an expression of interest form either on a paper form or by lodging the expression of interest on the Immigration New Zealand website. Expressions of interest are held in the selection pool for 6 months. Expressions of interest do not require supporting evidence to be lodged with them.

The minimum requirements for expressions of interest to be entered into the pool for selection are:

That they and every person included in the expression of interest are of good character and have good health (including non accompanying family members who may be required to provide medical and x ray certificates)
Have acceptable English language ability
they are aged 55 years or younger
achieve at least 100 points for age, offer of employment, work experience qualifications and intention to work in an area of industry with particular needs for skilled workers and intention to work outside of the Auckland region, their partner's offer of employment and their partner's qualifications
They have recognised qualifications or they have work experience.

Expressions of interest are selected for invitations to apply for residence every 2 weeks in the following order of priority:

those having a points total of 140 or more
those between 100 and 140 points where the principle applicant has current skilled employment or an offer of skilled employment. These are selected as are needed to meet the Immigration New Zealand selection quota
additional expressions of interest as may be required and selected according to criteria specified by the Minister of Immigration from time to time.

The second stage requires those invited to apply for residence to lodge an application within 4 months of the date of the invitation to apply. This application will contain all of the information required to verify the information provided in the expression of interest and evidence to show that the applicant will successfully settle in and contribute to New Zealand.

The residence application must meet the following minimum requirements:

acceptable health and character
acceptable standard of English language ability
evidence supporting a points score meeting or exceeding the points selection pass mark at the date the expression of interest was selected from the pool.
achieve points for either qualifications or work experience
evidence that the applicant can successfully settle in and contribute to New Zealand. This is shown by :
1. having skilled employment or an offer of skilled employment of less than 12 months and if less than 3 months then any permit will be conditional upon the principle applicant completing 3 month's employment
2. having skilled employment or an offer of skilled employment of 12 months or more
3. having completed at least 2 years of full time study in New Zealand resulting in the ward of a doctorate or masters degree or a qualification in an area of identified future growth or relevant to an occupation in an area of absolute shortage
4. in exceptional circumstances where the applicant has demonstrated that they have the ability to successfully settle in and contribute to New Zealand.

English Language Requirements
The applicant must show that they have adequate English language ability either by providing an IELTS certificate less than 2 years old showing an overall band score of 6.5 in the general or academic modules or showing that through their educational instruction, work in New Zealand or other evidence which demonstrates that they are competent in the used of English.

Family members (non principal applicants) must also show that they have adequate English language skills or alternatively pre purchase English language tuition.

Points table

Please download the points table for your reference and personal point calculations.
Click here to download the pdf.

Skilled employment
The employment must be current or an offer of ongoing (indefinite or for a term of at least 12 months), fulltime employment requiring considerable technical, specialist or managerial expertise. It must be relevant to the applicant's qualifications or require considerable technical, specialist or managerial expertise gained from previous employment. There are some exceptions and your qualifications and skilled employment will need to be assessed against current policy.

Work experience
Work experience must be:

relevant to the applicant's current skilled employment or offer of skilled employment in New Zealand, or
it enabled the applicant to gain significant specialist, technical or management expertise, or
it is relevant to the applicant's recognised qualification, or
if the applicant does not have current skilled employment or an offer of skilled employment then that it has been gained in a comparable market to new Zealand and meets either of items 2 or 3 above.

30 hours per week is considered to be full time. Part time work is given credit on a proportional basis.

Close family support in New Zealand
The close family member must be the principal applicant's adult sibling, adult child or parent. They must be a New Zealand or Australian citizen or a New Zealand residence permit holder without any conditions imposed under section 18A of the Immigration Act. They must also have New Zealand as their primary place of residence.

As at September 2005 identified future growth areas are biotechnology, information communications technology, advertising, software and computing services, publishing, TV and radio, film and video, architecture, design, designer fashion, music and performing arts, visual arts.

Areas of absolute skills shortage are skilled employment in an occupation contained on the long term skill shortage list.

Family reunification (residence)

The rules in this category depend upon the applicant's particular circumstances.

Spouses and de facto partners of New Zealand citizens or residents
The applicant must be living with their spouse in a genuine and stable relationship for at least 12 months and be sponsored by their New Zealand resident or citizen spouse. A work permit may be issued if the relationship is determined to be genuine and stable but the partners have not been living together for the required 12 months

Dependant children of New Zealand residents or citizens
Applicants must:

Be aged at 24 years or less
Be financially dependant upon their parents
Be single and
If they are aged between 17 and 24 years they must have no children of their own.

Siblings and adult children of New Zealand residents or citizens
Applicants must:

Have no parents or siblings living in the same country as them
Have an acceptable offer of employment in New Zealand
Be sponsored by an adult parent or sibling who has been in New Zealand or Australian resident or citizen over the proceeding three years
If the applicant has children then the applicant's income in New Zealand must meet the minimum requirement for their support.

Parents of adult children who are New Zealand residents or citizens
Applicants must either:

Have no dependant children and more adult children living in New Zealand than in the same country as them; or
If they have dependant children the dependant children number no more than the adult children living in New Zealand and the adult children living outside New Zealand number no more than the number living in New Zealand; and
Be sponsored by an adult child who has been in New Zealand or Australian resident or citizen over the proceeding three years.

Grandparents may be considered "parents" in this category if the New Zealand resident's or citizen's natural parents have died.

Legal guardians may be considered "parents" in this category if the New Zealand resident or citizen's natural parents have died before the New Zealand resident or citizen reached the age of 20 years.

Advice before you leave home

The following is a checklist of documents and evidence you should consider bringing with you to New Zealand:

Full birth certificate for each member of your family showing full parents details,
Police certificates from your country of citizenship and from each country in which you have lived for 12 months or more in the last 10 years,
If you have health problems then, any medical reports or letters from your health care providers which may be of assistance to the immigration service consultant physicians,
If you are travelling to New Zealand with your children but without the childrens' other parent then a consent form from that parent. Contact us for details of what form of consent will be required,
Evidence of any IELTS test certificates taken recently and any other evidence of English language ability. This evidence may not be required if English is your first language,
Depending upon the category applying to you, you should bring official marriage certificate, any divorce certificates or death certificates of any former spouse if applicable, the qualification certificates issued to you, course test transcripts, evidence or your work or business experience, evidence showing that investment funds have been acquired legally and that investment funds already transferred to New Zealand have been transferred through the trading bank system.

Buying land in New Zealand

There are no restrictions on overseas people buying small residential sized lots. However accumulated small lots could move the acquisition of land over the Overseas Investment Act threshold.

The Overseas Investment Act restricts the acquisition of land, fishing quota and equities over a certain level. Any overseas person agreeing to buy land affected by the Overseas Investment Act must make the agreement to purchase conditional upon obtaining the consent of the Overseas Investment Office. The Overseas Investment Office will grant consent to the acquisition if it would be in the national interest.

Land affected by the Overseas Investment Act is the following:

Land over .2 hectares (0.49 of an acre) on certain islands. For example: Matakana Island, Mayor Island, Motiti Island.
Land over .2 of a hectare (0.49 of an acre) on or adjoining the foreshore.
Land over .4 of a hectare (0.99 of an acre) adjoining a road that adjoins the foreshore or a lake over .4 hectares (0.99 of an acre) in area.
Land over .4 of a hectare (0.99 acre) that includes or adjoins:
1. Any lake over .4 hectares (0.99 of an acre) in area;
2. Reserve or public park over .4 of a hectare (1 acre) in area;
3. Certain heritage or historic areas over .4 of a hectare (0.99 of an acre) in area.
Land over 5 hectares in area (12.35 acres) that is not urban land.

Lifestyle blocks are generally not approved however you should discuss this with us as there are exceptions.

A person ceases to be an overseas person when they hold a New Zealand residence permit and they are either domiciled in New Zealand or have resided in New Zealand for 12 months.

Applications for consent need detailed information and require considerable work.

Taxes in New Zealand

Money may be moved in and out of New Zealand freely.

The company tax rate is 30% of income (after deduction of business expenses).

Personal tax rates are for the income earned in each of the following bands are:

Income of 0 to NZ$14,000 12.5%

Income of NZ$14,001 to NZ$40,000 21.0%

Income of NZ$40,001 to NZ$70,000 33.0%

Income of NZ$70,001 and over 39.0%

There are generally no capital gains taxes. The exceptions are:

Gains on property bought with the intention of reselling it and

Gains on land sold within 10 years of being bought, by people in the business of trading or developing land and people associated with them.

New Zealand has a consumption tax (Goods and Services Tax ("GST" for short)). This is similar to the UK VAT. It is charged on nearly all goods and services in New Zealand at the rate of 12.5%. Notable exceptions are financial transactions, residential housing and exported goods or services.

Although GST is charged on all GST transactions the effect of GST is to place the burden of the tax on the final consumer. Traders and manufacturers are able to recover GST they have paid. Consumption otherwise than for business purposes does not give an entitlement to recover the tax paid.

People travelling to New Zealand for extended periods of time should be aware that they are deemed to be tax resident in New Zealand after they have been in New Zealand for 183 days in any 12 month period and will continue to be tax resident in New Zealand until they have been absent from New Zealand for at least 325 days in any 12 month period.

Unless New Zealand has a double tax agreement with the country of the traveller to New Zealand then once that person becomes tax resident in New Zealand they may be taxed on their worldwide income. New Zealand has entered double tax agreements with a number of countries around the world to avoid double taxation of the same income by introducing the rules for the treatment of income.

Education rules

New Zealand provides free (or at least low cost) primary and secondary education to its citizens and residents. Children of work permit holders are also entitled to low cost education. Tertiary education is subsidised for New Zealand citizens. Children of work permit holders wanting to undertake tertiary study are treated as foreign students and must pay foreign student fees.

Visiting children may attend New Zealand schools for up to 3 months without needing student's permits. For periods of study over 3 months children will require a student's permit.

Citizenship

New Zealand citizenship entitles holders to a New Zealand passport and to vote.

People who gained permanent residence before 21 April 2005 and who have been lawfully ordinarily resident in New Zealand for a period of 3 years may apply for New Zealand citizenship provided that they make their application before 21 April 2010.

The term "ordinarily resident" includes temporary departures from New Zealand provided that your intention is to continue to live in New Zealand.

People who have gained their permanent residence after 21 April 2005 may qualify for citizenship if:

they spend at least 1,350 days in New Zealand in the 5 year period immediately preceding their application with at least 240 days in each 12 month period of those 5 years;
they are of good character;
have sufficient understanding of the responsibilities and privileges attaching to New Zealand citizenship;
have adequate English language ability; and
intend to continue to reside in New Zealand.

Income of	0	to NZ$14,000	12.5%
Income of	NZ$14,001	to NZ$40,000	21.0%
Income of	NZ$40,001	to NZ$70,000	33.0%
Income of	NZ$70,001	and over	39.0%