Number of Chinese investors applying for NZ residency jumps 48% over past year – The number of investor visa applications processed by Immigration New Zealand has increased 12-fold in the last five years, from 18 in 2009/10 to 218 in 2014/15. Research by PwC has found that applicants need to invest more than the NZ$1.5 million threshold to become eligible due to government limits on the number of approved visas.