Am I allowed to start a business with a kiwi?

[Squeeble]

Hello,

So it looks like I have been grossly misinformed by some friends of mine, I was told that to be able to start a business in NZ that I would need $400K to fulfill the 'sufficient funds' part of the business visa application and I was also told that I already needed to be a resident.

My friend and I (a kiwi) would love to start a business together and have been talking about doing it for a few years, is this something I am allowed to do? And how would we go about starting the process?

Also, if she was to start the business up first and I bought into it, does it need to be up and running for a certain amount of time before I'm allowed to buy into it?

Any advice would be great, thank you

[JandM]

Being a Resident isn't the only possibility, but the other qualifying visas are quite specialist. These are the people who can start a business in NZ.

Anyone who has a right to live in NZ permanently
Holders of Partnership Work Visa (until their visa expires)
Holders of Working Holiday Visas (unless restricted by the terms of a particular scheme)
Holders of Post-study work visa (open)

http://www.dol.govt.nz/immigration/k...base/item/1106

[JandM]

Further to that, it's not clear what the criteria are going to be for business visas, because the old category has closed and INZ haven't yet stated what is going to replace it. http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/invest/