Your gateway to New Zealand. Investment, residence and the life that follows.

Whether you are considering obtaining an Active Investor Plus (AIP) New Zealand residence visa, acquiring a residential property in New Zealand, or both, Anthony Harper can support you by being a single point of contact for all of the legal, immigration and tax advisory expertise you need.

Overseas persons cannot acquire residential property in New Zealand without first obtaining consent from the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) under the Overseas Investment Act (OIA).

We provide specialist advice on how the OIA applies to your situation and help you with any required OIO consent application. We can also provide all the support you may need to conduct legal due diligence on your intended property and with the acquisition and conveyancing of the property.

We will connect you with our trusted network of specialist and expert immigration and tax advisers who can assist with obtaining your AIP visa and provide you with any New Zealand tax advice you may require. We will remain available to you to ensure seamless delivery of that advice.

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Acquiring a residential property in New Zealand

There are three routes to residential property ownership in New Zealand for overseas persons, each of which requires you to apply for and obtain consent under the OIA before purchasing the property:

1. "One home to live in" pathway

The "one home to live in" pathway under the OIA is suitable for you if you hold a residence-class visa or are an Australian or Singaporean citizen or permanent resident and you intend to permanently live in New Zealand and become a New Zealand tax resident.

This pathway allows you to purchase any property in New Zealand as long as it will be your primary residence.

2. AIP visa pathway

If you hold or plan to obtain an AIP visa, the AIP visa pathway under the OIA will allow you to purchase or build a residential property in New Zealand for NZ$5 million or more, without requiring you to permanently migrate or transfer your tax domicile to New Zealand.

This pathway comes with restrictions on the type of property you can buy; for example you won't be able to acquire a pure waterfront property with land area of more than 0.2 hectares, a property on an island with land area greater than 0.2 hectares or a rural lifestyle block with land area of more than 5 hectares.

3. Benefit to New Zealand pathway

This pathway under the OIA does not require the applicant to hold a residence visa or AIP investor visa or have any intent to migrate to or spend time in New Zealand. And there are no restrictions on the type of property you can acquire.

But to obtain consent under this pathway you will need to establish that your investment in the property will deliver certain benefits to New Zealand, such as new employment, productive capital investment, increased exports of goods or services, and new or continued public access and/or environmental protection measures. Expert advice is required if you want to proceed down this route.

How we support you

Our overseas investment experts are highly experienced and adept at advising overseas investors who may not be familiar with the regime about how the OIA applies to you and your proposed property purchase. You can rely on us for clear and helpful advice so you fully understand what you need to do to comply with the rules, and to guide you through all stages of the consent preparation and application process with clarity and a minimum of fuss.

In particular our experienced experts will:

Advise you on how the OIA regime applies to your proposed purchase of residential property in New Zealand, including which consent pathway applies to you, what you need to do to meet the requirements of that pathway and the relevant costs and timeframes to obtain consent.
If you hold a residence-class visa or are an Australian or Singaporean citizen or permanent resident and you intend to permanently live in New Zealand and become a New Zealand tax resident, prepare and submit on your behalf a "One Home to Live In" OIA consent application.
If you are an AIP investor visa / 'golden visa' holder and wish to acquire a property under the >$5 million property purchase exemption, prepare and submit on your behalf an OIA consent application under that pathway.
Advise you on any consent conditions and ongoing reporting requirements.

As a one-stop shop for those interested in AIP investor visas ('golden visas'), we will connect you with our trusted network of specialist and expert immigration and tax advisers who can assist with obtaining your AIP visa and provide you with any New Zealand tax advice you may require. We will remain available to you, and to those advisors, to ensure seamless delivery of the advice you need.

Wills, estates and succession planning

Acquiring assets in New Zealand, particularly real property, has implications for your estate planning that are worth addressing before your investment is in place, not after. If you are making a permanent move to New Zealand, establishing tax residency here, or simply acquiring property here while remaining based offshore, your existing wills, powers of attorney and relationship property arrangements should all be reviewed in light of that change. We advise on the full range of wills, estates and succession planning arrangements that must be considered, and ensure they work together to provide the best outcome.

How we support you

Preparing a New Zealand will that works alongside your existing offshore arrangements, ensuring your New Zealand-situated assets pass in accordance with your wishes
Advising on trust structuring and estate planning options for New Zealand-held assets, including how these interact with any existing offshore structures
Preparing New Zealand enduring powers of attorney covering property and personal care and welfare
Advising on the implications of New Zealand's relationship property regime, which applies to all property situated in New Zealand regardless of the owner's residency status, and on whether a contracting out (or prenuptial) agreement is appropriate for your situation
Reviewing existing wills, trusts and powers of attorney to ensure they remain effective once you are spending significant time in New Zealand or have established assets or residency here.

Other ways we can help

About Anthony Harper

Anthony Harper is one of New Zealand's leading commercial law firms, with offices in Auckland and Christchurch. We advise international investors, high-net-worth individuals and family offices on complex cross-border transactions, and our experience with New Zealand's overseas investment regime is among the strongest of any firm in New Zealand.

Our approach is commercially focused and genuinely collaborative. We take time to understand your goals, your existing structures and your timeline before advising on next steps.

If you are interested in an AIP application, property acquisition or other investment into New Zealand, get in touch with our team.

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