The Government's flagship reforms to New Zealand's overseas investment regime will come into force on 6 March 2026. This marks a significant change to New Zealand's overseas investment framework that will streamline the consent process for many types of investors and investments.
Key changes
The core purpose of the Amendment Act is to reduce compliance costs and facilitate timelier decisions, while ensuring the Government has the tools it needs to safeguard New Zealand's national security interests. Those goals are reflected in a revamped and expanded national interest test pathway, which takes a risk-based approach to ensure low-risk investments can proceed quickly, while higher risk investments receive appropriate scrutiny. In summary:
- New national interest test: The new national interest test will apply to most overseas investments, including acquisitions of significant business assets and sensitive land (other than residential and farm land). Transactions will be screened to identify potential national interest risks, and if no risks are identified, the transaction should receive consent in no more than 15 working days (with the Overseas Investment Office stating that it aims to assess most applications within five working days).
Transactions that may pose a risk to New Zealand's national interest will undergo a more detailed national interest assessment by the Office. Following assessment, the Office may grant consent, or refer the application to the Minister if the transaction may be contrary to New Zealand's national interest. Only the Minister can decline consent.
Fees under the new pathway will depend on whether a full assessment is required. Applications that receive consent following an initial risk assessment will cost $22,800, while a full national interest assessment will cost an additional $83,700. - Active investor visa pathway: Holders of a qualifying investor visa (Active Investor Plus, Investor 1, or Investor 2 residency visa) will be able to rely on that visa to secure consent under the national interest pathway to purchase residential (but not otherwise sensitive) land, provided that the purchase price (or total cost of the land and construction if building a new dwelling) exceeds NZ$5m.
Fees for applications under the investor visa pathway are $2,040 where the purchase price of the land is more than NZ$5m, or $3,500 where a new dwelling is being constructed.
An investor may only rely on the qualifying visa pathway to acquire/hold 1 property (ie, it cannot be relied on to accumulate residential land interests).
We expect the Office will provide more information in the coming weeks about the application process under the new regime, and will be keeping a close eye on implementation in line with the Government's goals to promote increased trade and investment.
For more about the reforms, have a look back at our previous updates: Flagship Overseas Investment Reforms Passed and Ready for the starting line-up: Cabinet signs off Overseas Investment Act changes.
Talk to one of our experts for more on these changes to New Zealand's foreign investment regime.
