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Erica Stanford: Immigration Minister on the new Business Investor Visa · Best of Business

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to a podcast from News Talks B Follow
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  Speaker 2: Write More visa movement. We talked about the tax treatment
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  Speaker 2: earlier on in the program. So two new visa is
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  Speaker 2: a pathway to residency for business migrant's ready to invest cash.
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  Speaker 2: One million dollar investment into an existing business gives you
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  Speaker 2: a three year work to residence pathway, while two million
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  Speaker 2: allows for a twelvemonth fast tracking. Erica Stamford is of
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  Speaker 2: course the Ministry of Immigration and is with us. Very
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  Speaker 2: good morning to you mate. Somebody asked the question. I
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  Speaker 2: thought it wasn't It wasn't an unfair question. Is there
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  Speaker 2: a noticeable difference between one and two million and the
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  Speaker 2: five and ten for golden So another words, you're dealing
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  Speaker 2: with completely different people.
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  Speaker 3: We are, and I was always very cautious about not
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  Speaker 3: cannibalizing the active investor plus visa, which is going very well.
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  Speaker 3: This is more about people who have got business experience
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  Speaker 3: of running businesses. We will check that investing in a
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  Speaker 3: business that they have to be here at least one
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  Speaker 3: hundred and eighty four days a year, be a tax
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  Speaker 3: resident and actively run the business. They have to speak
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  Speaker 3: be able to speak English. There's an age limit, whereas
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  Speaker 3: the active investor plus is more about their capital and
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  Speaker 3: their business connections and they only have to speak spend
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  Speaker 3: a week a year here in order to get their residents.
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  Speaker 3: Are very very different.
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  Speaker 2: How much of a regime is in place to make
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  Speaker 2: sure the money arrives, the money stays, that they are there,
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  Speaker 2: they do speak English, and they are doing what they
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  Speaker 2: said they would do.
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  Speaker 1: Well.
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  Speaker 3: We're very stripped upfront and that we make sure that
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  Speaker 3: we stick all those things off. But then we check
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  Speaker 3: in along the way, and we certainly check in a
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  Speaker 3: big check in at the three year mark, to make
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  Speaker 3: sure the business is solvent, that you're still employing the
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  Speaker 3: people that you said you would, that you've created the
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  Speaker 3: extra job, and that you've complied with all the other
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  Speaker 3: conditions of your visa before we would offer you your residence.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so what about the do you bring the family
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  Speaker 2: in as well? That wider family.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, you can bring you well your immediate family with
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  Speaker 3: you for this visa and then they would be granted
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  Speaker 3: residents along with you. We're not talking huge numbers. This
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  Speaker 3: is not like an OPRAH style. Everyone gets a visa
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  Speaker 3: as I think you mentioned this morning. I mean we're
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  Speaker 3: thinking probably the first year between one hundred and one
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  Speaker 3: hundred and fifty potentially people who would come in under
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  Speaker 3: that what do you.
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  Speaker 2: Have any genuine sense of what's the balance between entry
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  Speaker 2: point I million dollars versus demand to come to the
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  Speaker 2: country anyway, no matter what rules you made. In other words,
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  Speaker 2: we are attractive.
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  Speaker 3: We are very attractive, and we know that because we
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  Speaker 3: can see from the active investor plus visa. I thought
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  Speaker 3: we'd get two hundred applications in the first year. We
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  Speaker 3: bullitzed that in the first six weeks. I think, so
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  Speaker 3: there is huge demand. This one is This one will
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  Speaker 3: depend on the businesses that are for sale. So if
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  Speaker 3: you look at the moment businesses for sale over that amount,
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  Speaker 3: there's about one hundred and eighty five. But it may
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  Speaker 3: well be that there will be more for sale once
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  Speaker 3: we are able to open up this pool of people
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  Speaker 3: who are from capital to buy businesses.
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  Speaker 2: Do you limit the bit? Is it all bubble tea?
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  Speaker 3: No, we will be really careful. Bubble tea nothing wrong
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  Speaker 3: with bubble.
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  Speaker 2: Teen There's nothing wrong with the bubble tea. But I
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  Speaker 2: see a lot of bubble tea and I just wonder
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  Speaker 2: how much cash is being laun died through that look.
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  Speaker 3: And that's the reason that the This is a third
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  Speaker 3: iteration of a very similar visa. The first iteration was
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  Speaker 3: a long term business visa and people were coming in
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  Speaker 3: and buying and then recycling two dollar shops. So we've
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  Speaker 3: been very careful and that we are limiting what you
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  Speaker 3: can purchase. So adult entertainment, convenience stores, discount stores, drop shipping,
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  Speaker 3: fast food out let's franchise is gambling, you won't be
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  Speaker 3: able to use for this visa.
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  Speaker 2: Those are clean, clear categories. It's not the what's a supermarket,
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  Speaker 2: what's a dairy line? And everyone argues about it.
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  Speaker 3: No, they'll be clear, clear, okay.
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  Speaker 2: And don't get me wrong, because I'm a big fan
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  Speaker 2: of immigration and we need more of it. But there
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  Speaker 2: is a India, Philippines, Fiji vibe about what's going on,
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  Speaker 2: particularly in a place like Auckland, maybe a little bit
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  Speaker 2: of China and there as well. Are they all coming
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  Speaker 2: from the same place.
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  Speaker 3: Well, obviously we don't discriminate in immigration if you know
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  Speaker 3: the skills.
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  Speaker 2: That people in New Zealand do. And after a while
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  Speaker 2: it becomes potentially a political issue doesn't it go this
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  Speaker 2: place is overrun by gap.
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  Speaker 3: Well, I mean what I want is this place to
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  Speaker 3: be overrun by highly skilled people who've got access to
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  Speaker 3: capital and connections and who can come in and purchase businesses,
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  Speaker 3: keep Kiwis employed, create more jobs. And actually, you know,
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  Speaker 3: if you look at business brokerage at the moment we
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  Speaker 3: went out and talked to them, there is a real
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  Speaker 3: problem with people who want to retire and there isn't
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  Speaker 3: enough people in this country to be able to afford
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  Speaker 3: their businesses. This is a very small niche category of
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  Speaker 3: We will highly target this to people who have business
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  Speaker 3: skills in the capital.
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  Speaker 2: What's the skill via the number, because I mean one
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  Speaker 2: of the things that you come into and we talk
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  Speaker 2: to the people who buy and sell businesses on a
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  Speaker 2: regular basis, and a lot of the businesses that sell
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  Speaker 2: a hospo so easy access to the country, instant job,
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  Speaker 2: get the kids involved in the cafe. They couldn't run
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  Speaker 2: a cafe to save themselves, but they've got a million
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  Speaker 2: bucks and they've got a job. Is that good for
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  Speaker 2: the country.
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  Speaker 3: Well, we'd be very careful with that, and you'd have
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  Speaker 3: to have business experience and so one of the criteria
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  Speaker 3: of this visa to get around exactly that is you
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  Speaker 3: have to have business experience, and we will be checking
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  Speaker 3: that so and you look, business experience is transferable, So
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  Speaker 3: if you've run a successful business overseas that might be
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  Speaker 3: in a hospitality, it's probably transferable into potentially maybe into manufacturing.
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  Speaker 3: So we'll keep an eye on that. But we're certainly
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  Speaker 3: not going to be allowing people and have just got
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  Speaker 3: cash and decide they want to run a cafe that
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  Speaker 3: won't be there.
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  Speaker 2: Because a million dollars is getting down to, without sounding
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  Speaker 2: like a snob, a million dollars is getting down to
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people are going to. A million dollars
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  Speaker 2: is in the thing for a lot of people anymore.
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  Speaker 2: It's like you've got a million dollars, go buy your
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  Speaker 2: way into New Zealand.
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  Speaker 3: Well, the previous the previous visa was one hundred thousand,
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  Speaker 3: so we've up to it significantly. As I said, there's
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  Speaker 3: only one hundred and eighty five businesses for that amount
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  Speaker 3: for sale at the moment that we could see, so
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  Speaker 3: it is a small amount. But look, the settings of
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  Speaker 3: the previous visa were horrendous. It had a fifty percent
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  Speaker 3: decline rate we only had about thirty applications last year.
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  Speaker 3: It was just an absolute dog and I say that
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  Speaker 3: respectfully because it was actually a national pay policy. It
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  Speaker 3: was a bit of a disaster. But I'm fixing it
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  Speaker 3: and I think it's going to go down very well later.
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  Speaker 2: On you while I've got you two other things. Somebody
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  Speaker 2: raised it yesterday. It was ELPs, the guy who's involved
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  Speaker 2: in working visas and stuff. What he wants is the
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  Speaker 2: holiday visa age up to fifty from whatever it is
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  Speaker 2: at the moment, thirty five. Is that possible? Is that sensible?
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  Speaker 2: Is it logical or not?
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  Speaker 3: We can look at that. They are all individual holiday
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  Speaker 3: working holiday visas that are tied in with agreements we
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  Speaker 3: have with different countries, so we'd have to go through
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  Speaker 3: them one by one. But it's certainly something that we
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  Speaker 3: can look at. It's a good suggestion, and I think
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  Speaker 3: when I was in opposition, we wanted to raise it
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  Speaker 3: from I think thirty to thirty five for a few
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  Speaker 3: countries and the previous government did that.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, golden visa. They need a house. We're moving rapidly
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  Speaker 2: towards them being able to buy a house in this country.
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  Speaker 3: We are we're trying hard to get that across the line,
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  Speaker 3: and I'm confident that it will get across the line.
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  Speaker 2: Good on you. The other thing, this is only anecdotal.
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  Speaker 2: So Principal, principal we're talking to, loves you. Thinks you're
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  Speaker 2: the greatest thing in education in the history of the world.
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  Speaker 2: There's more. He then goes and he ends up at
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  Speaker 2: the Ministry of Education. Nothing happens. He talks to you.
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  Speaker 2: It's all on. He talks to the Ministry brick Wall.
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  Speaker 2: Do you have an ongoing issue with the public service
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  Speaker 2: in this country fighting against what you're trying to do.
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  Speaker 3: I don't think so. I think certainly since I've come in,
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  Speaker 3: they have shifted a huge amount. The new Secretary of Education,
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  Speaker 3: Alan McGregor read is outstanding and she is changing the
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  Speaker 3: culture of the place, and things have shifted a lot.
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  Speaker 3: I've noticed a big shift. When I want things done,
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  Speaker 3: they do do it. Of course, there's a lot of
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  Speaker 3: people that work there, and then a lot of them
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  Speaker 3: still do have their own views and sometimes that will happen.
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  Speaker 3: But that's why it's killing me. But I have to
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  Speaker 3: micro manage the place because sometimes you ask for something
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  Speaker 3: to get done and it floats off into them even ever,
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  Speaker 3: so my staff and I have to micro manage almost
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  Speaker 3: everything that we do. But since we've had the new
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  Speaker 3: Secretary of Education, things have massively improved.
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  Speaker 2: Good to hear, good to see. You appreciate time Erica
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  Speaker 2: Stanford's for.
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