NZ reveals plans for Global Impact Visa

Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will partner with the Edmund Hillary Fellowship to bring innovation-based ventures to New Zealand, the country’s Immigration Minister has announced.

“In April, the Government agreed to pilot a new Global Impact Visa (GIV) in partnership with the private sector, to enable high-impact entrepreneurs, investors and start-up teams to launch global ventures from New Zealand,” said Michael Woodhouse.

“Today, I am pleased to announce that The Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) has been selected as the private sector provider to deliver the attraction, selection and integration programme for Global Impact Visas.”

The Minister continued: “The Edmund Hillary Fellowship will identify potential applicants and build a regional network which will support participants across the country, while INZ will be responsible for processing and making decisions on visas.”

The EHF is a collaboration between the Hillary Institute for International Leadership, a not-for-profit organisation that identifies and celebrates mid-career leaders from around the world and Kiwi Connect, an organisation promoting and connecting high impact entrepreneurship in New Zealand.

“These partners have an exceptional combined record of recognising, rewarding and nurturing emerging entrepreneurs and leaders,” Minister Woodhouse continued. “By drawing on private sector strengths and knowledge in this space, the government is better positioned to accelerate innovation and continue to grow the contribution migrants make to the economy.”

The visa will initially run as a four-year pilot, and be limited to 400 visas over the duration of the pilot. In addition, up to 80 New Zealand entrepreneurs and investors will be accepted into EHF over the four years, providing the opportunity for collaboration between GIV migrants and New Zealand entrepreneurs and investors.

The Programme opens for applications in early 2017 with the first Global Impact Visa migrants to arrive later in the year.

Article published 28th September 2016