Entrepreneur Visa
Why is an entrepreneur visa application challenging?
Do you want to set up or buy a business in New Zealand? If you wish to own a business in the country, you will need to apply for an entrepreneur visa.
You need to meet several requirements for this visa, which can be quite challenging to prove without an experienced lawyer. Immigration New Zealand may not accept your business plan as a clear enough plan for your investment if it has changed or is notional or too generic. Providing how you have acquired your investment funds and if they were lawfully earned can also be a complicated process.
It’s always a good idea to have an experienced team of lawyers behind you to support your visa application, especially with entrepreneur visas, which have a high decline rate.
What requirements do I need to meet?
Requirements
The Entrepreneur Visa category is worth considering if you wish to set up or take over a business venture. The route to residence is initially started with an Entrepreneur Work Visa (EWV), which is valid for up to 3-years. You need to have a required number of points for business experience and other factors. The visa is given in two stages firstly for 12 months and then 2 years following that if you make satisfactory progress.
Business plan
Your business plan needs to be specific to the proposed business that you are setting up or purchasing and meet immigration requirements for a business proposal.
Investment Funds
Requirements around the location and source of the investment funds are quite stringent. You will need to be able to provide evidence showing that your nominated investment funds and/or assets are owned either by you or jointly by you and your partner and/or dependent children. The funds must also be unencumbered, earned or acquired legally, and transferable through the banking system. Currently the initial investment requirement is NZ $100,000. However, the fast track option requires NZ $500,000 investment and the creation of at least three jobs which are maintained for at least two years. As we have said in a recent blog this is still an attractive proposition for some people they do not NZ $5,000,000 to invest in investment categories.
Challenges with the entrepreneur visa.
It is often very difficult to meet the requirements under this category. When we last checked, there was a 90% decline rate for residence. We never recommend this visa if there is another option. Much would depend on your business plan and your business track record. We find that most clients overestimate points Call, which do not stand up to Immigration New Zealand’s very tough assessment. We always recommend independent accounting, international tax and other financial advice for applicants.
We meet regularly with senior business team management. Recently, we were told that only 20 such applications were on hand. BUT changes under the new Active Investor Plus Category have evened up the playing field, especially for the Fast Track Entrepreneur applications.
So, get in touch with Pacific Legal for expert immigration advice and find out the best immigration path for your situation!
Fast track another option
As our recent blog explains explains, there is one possible exception to the difficult picture of high decline rates: This is to invest into an existing NZ company using the fast track, investment of $500,000 into a high growth New Zealand company where you create 3 new jobs and remain profitable for at least 2 years. The work visa stage could be as little as 6 months.
Other options
If you are creating a New Zealand branch of your overseas business, and either you or your partner have long term prospects to obtain a skilled job offer, then a good short to medium term option could be a specific purpose work visa. We have assisted clients with business plans for between two and three years obtained 12 months renewable Specific Purpose Work visas by introducing independent directorship for New Zealand based company. Ultimately such clients need to find another pathway to residence but with the partner having open with conditions finding a good job offer from an accredited employer and a possible pathway under Skilled Migrant category is that much easier.
If you have a job offer from an accredited employer you may qualify for an accredited employer work visa. If your role is highly paid or in demand you may qualify under Green list: Straight to Residence or Work to Residence.
If you have at least NZD $5 million to invest you may qualify under our investor categories.
Many immigration pathways involves planning various steps which realistically match your personal circumstances. So, get in touch with Pacific Legal for our expert immigration advice and find out the best immigration path for your situation!
Make a start to the process by contacting us
