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... The government in April relaxed rules for the visa, including lowering the minimum required funds for the category that focuses on higher-risk investments to NZ$5 million ($3 million) from NZ$15 million, and removing the English language requirement.

"(There has been) a flood of formal interest in the new 'golden' visa," Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said.
"New applications under the scheme represent a potential NZ$845 million ($503 million) of new investment in New Zealand business."

In a statement, Stanford said the government had received 189 applications in less than three months for the Active Investor Plus visa, compared with 116 submissions over more than two-and-a-half years under the previous settings.

Eighty-five of those applications, or just under half of the total, were submitted by U.S. citizens, followed by China with 26 and Hong Kong with 24. ...