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Thread: Conundrum Investor / Temporary Retirement visa ("bona fide")

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Brazil
    Posts
    4

    Default Conundrum Investor / Temporary Retirement visa ("bona fide")

    Hello everybody,
    I'm interested in moving to NZ. Not just interest, I really want to do it.

    For a few weeks, I have been browsing through the INZ web side, reading the information there, studying guides, forms, etc. until I had the impression that NZ doesn't really want me to come. I suspect that I'm not the only one who at some point felt like that. I'm going to describe my situation and my problems in the hope that somebody reading this is/has been in a similar situation and can relate what they did to overcome the problem.

    To start with, some facts about me: I am 71 years old, male, widowed, no children, hold a German passport and live currently in Rio de Janeiro Brazil.
    At the age of 27, I was offered a two-year contract in London, UK. Those two years lasted a lot longer, and during my time in London I met a Brazilian lady who became my wife.
    From an early age, I decided that I didn't want to work until I reached the state retirement age. I wanted to stop earlier and enjoy myself while I still could. For this purpose I put part of my salary aside, learned a little about bonds and shares and built up a diversified portfolio of investment. In 1996, I stopped working and moved with my wife to Rio. Ever since then, I/we have been living on the income from my investments.

    My wife passed away 7 years ago. At that time I considered my options (leaving Brazil to move to another country, leaving Rio to move to another city in Brazil, staying in Rio but moving to a smaller flat) but decided that there wasn't any good reason for changing anything. I still live in the same place, and my income - with only one mouth to feed - is more than enough to live comfortably. In addition, since I turned 65, I receive a small pension from both the UK and Germany.

    However, over the last few years, the political and economic situation in Brazil has taken a turn for the worse. There will be elections next month, but none of the candidates looks like he/she will have enough support in parliament to push through the necessary reforms. The one who leads the opinion polls at the moment is the worst of the lot. His supporters want a return to the military dictatorship of 50 years ago. I definitely wouldn't want to live in Brazil under his rule.

    I have fond memories of my holidays in NZ, and it is the first, and so far only, option for my next residence. It seemed all very easy. I have enough money to support myself, and have shown that I can over the last 22 years. I have no health problems and my character should be acceptable.

    At one stage, as I was looking through the INZ site, I clicked on a button that said "retiring in New Zealand". The next day, I received an en e-mail explaining that there is no specific visa for retiring and suggesting that I have a look at the visa options for Investors or the Temporary Retirement visa. So I did.

    There are two Investor visas.
    Investor 1 requires investment funds of a Minimum of NZ$ 10 millions for 3 years. That's a lot more than I have.
    Investor 2 only needs a Minimum of NZ$ 3.0 millions for 4 years, which I could arrange, but has a maximum age of 65.
    Conclusion I'm not rich or not young enough to get a visa in the Investor category. Looks like new Zealand, like the rest of the world is only open to the rich and young.

    Next I looked at the Temporary Retirement Category Visitor Visa. As the name says, it's temporary. It is valid for two years, full stop. It is renewable, but there is no guarantee that it will be renewed again and again until I no longer need any papers.
    To be clear: My plan is to sell my apartment in Brazil and use that money to buy something in NZ. I would pack up my stuff and ship it to NZ. Some items may be too old to warrant shipping. Also electrical equipment might not work in NZ. I would also sell my car, because it's left hand drive. So I would be investing a lot of money in moving and getting settled. And what would I do, if after two years somebody decides not to renew my temporary visa? I don't know of any other country where I'd want to live. And even if I did, moving again after only two years would mean a lot of upheaval and expense. I would be worried from the day I arrive in NZ, that i might be told to leave at the end of the two years.

    And there's something else: In the Guide to the Application Form there's this sentence about being "bona fide": "This includes the requirement to be ‘bona fide’, which means you genuinely intend a temporary visit to New Zealand." It goes on to explain that the applicant must not only confirm that he only wants to stay for two years, he must also provide evidence concerning family ties or personal, financial, employment or other commitments in his "home country". I don't even know anymore which country is my "home country". If it means Germany, the last time I was registered as resident there was August 1981. The only people I know there are my sister, her husband and his sister.

    This post turned out a lot longer than expected. Thanks for your patience, if you're still reading.
    What I'm hoping for, is someone putting my mind at rest, or point out another option. I'm sure that if I ask an advisor, they will say, "No worries, we'll sort it for you."

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    New zealand
    Posts
    157

    Default

    There is no age limit for Entrepreneur Work Visa, though you are expected to have some sort of business experience. You also need to come up with a good viable business plan.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Brazil
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Thanks for the hint, larrykiwi. I hadn't looked into the Entrepreneur Work Visa. I ignored everything that had the word "work" in it. Don't want to be accused of stealing the Kiwi's jobs.
    I'll give it a thorough read. But my first, spontaneous reaction is, "Surely it's not enough to present a plan? Wouldn't there be a check to see that I make an effort to put the plan into practice?"

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    West Auckland
    Posts
    1,029

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    Quote Originally Posted by GatoMedio View Post
    But my first, spontaneous reaction is, "Surely it's not enough to present a plan? Wouldn't there be a check to see that I make an effort to put the plan into practice?"
    Yes, that's correct, you'd need to actually get a business up and running. You don't seem to have any experience running a business? So it might be difficult to get the required points to qualify for this visa
    https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...neur-work-visa
    I had the impression that NZ doesn't really want me to come
    Unfortunately, your impression is correct. The NZ government doesn't want retired people to move here, they're not even letting in the parents of residents (the Parent Category is closed "until further notice").

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    New zealand
    Posts
    157

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by GatoMedio View Post
    Thanks for the hint, larrykiwi. I hadn't looked into the Entrepreneur Work Visa. I ignored everything that had the word "work" in it. Don't want to be accused of stealing the Kiwi's jobs.
    I'll give it a thorough read. But my first, spontaneous reaction is, "Surely it's not enough to present a plan? Wouldn't there be a check to see that I make an effort to put the plan into practice?"
    EWV is to allow you to work as employer to employ locals. I know of someone aged 68 is trying to get EWV. So age is not an issue. You need to have a solid business plan though. You need to have 120 points to be eligible to apply. EWV is a temporary visa. You need to successfully run the business according to the business plan if you plan to get Residence under Entrepreneur Residence category.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Brazil
    Posts
    4

    Default

    Thanks for spelling out clearly what EWV means.
    I'm no stranger to business plans. I have an MBA background and used to work in Information Technology, developing software to help customers manage their business. But that was more than 20 years ago. Since then I have been in "wind down and enjoy myself" mode. This is quite addictive, a habit difficult to break.

    Frankly, I can't see myself coming out of retirement and trying to get my own business going. There are lots of young people around who can do this much better than I could.

    I had planned to go to NZ later this year - as a tourist - take as much documentation as possible about me and my finances, and see what the Authorities say. But there seems very little chance - and Oregonkiwi has confirmed that - that I will manage to get a visa for myself as I am. And I don't want to pretend that I'm someone or something I am not.

    It's a big disappointment, but I may have to look for another place that will let me in.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Germany
    Posts
    163

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by GatoMedio View Post
    I had planned to go to NZ later this year - as a tourist - take as much documentation as possible about me and my finances, and see what the Authorities say. But there seems very little chance - and Oregonkiwi has confirmed that - that I will manage to get a visa for myself as I am. And I don't want to pretend that I'm someone or something I am not.
    You did say you were a widower, and it sounds like you don't have any commitments or responsibilities (an enviable situation)...so you never know, you might go as a tourist, meet a Kiwi in a similar situation, fall in love then have a reason to stay. And if not, you can always go somewhere else...

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