NZ’s ‘miserly’ investor migrants

Not one overseas investor has chosen the option of donating to a charity as part of their investor visa application, Immigration New Zealand figures show.

That needs to change, according to a group of charities and other organisations which says that rather than just letting wealthy migrants invest their way into New Zealand, the country should encourage people to donate their way in, as well.

To get residency, wealthy investors can either invest $10 million in the country in three years, or $3m within four years with points earned based on factors such as the applicants’ years of business experience and the amount of investment. ‘‘That feels a bit light,’’ BNZ chief economist Paul Conway said.

Since May 2017, investor visa applicants have been able to donate a maximum of 15 per cent of their investment to registered charities or not-for-profit organisations. Immigration New Zealand was not aware of any applicants who had made donations using that option, a spokesman said.

‘‘I think it’s reasonable we ask for a larger amount or a longerterm commitment, and I also think we could improve the economic bang for our buck from migrant visas if we somehow incentivise them to direct their capital and their expertise to where it can have the biggest impact,’’ Conway said.

Investments considered acceptable include equities or government bonds, which are very low-risk government-backed debt.

‘‘A lot of investor migrants currently put their money in government bonds for a few years, then they’re kind of done,’’ said Conway. ‘‘That might have a very small impact in terms of reducing the cost of Government borrowing, but I think we can devise a scheme or a system that allows us to get a bit more out of it than just a few basis points off the cost of government borrowing.’’

Conway was part of a group – including charity The Gift Trust, Philanthropy NZ, and nongovernment organisation Human Rights Measurement Initiative – discussing the promotion of donations as part of New Zealand’s approach to investor migrants.

Cheryl Spain, executive director of The Gift Trust, said her organisation dealt with a lot of wealthy individuals who wanted to bring significant amounts of money in charitable donations to New Zealand. But there were barriers to them contributing to charities. ‘‘We have dealt with a lot of donors after they’ve gone through this category, they have not put their donation towards their visa status, they’ve done it after the fact,’’ she said.

‘‘They might be philanthropic in their home country, but it takes time really to get to know a country and to get to understand what the issues are and how they might make a difference with their donations.’’

Conversations with industry insiders suggested that the lack of donations was because it was optional, and because investors perceived it as riskier in terms of meeting the immigration criteria than something like government bonds.