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About 200 golden visa applications have been received in New Zealand since April when new changes took effect.
Immigration New Zealand announced that it has received 189 applications for the visa since the government applied new changes to facilitate the acquisition of these permits, two months ago, VisaGuide.World reports.
In this regard, Economic growth minister, Nicola Willis, said the surge was significantly higher compared to 116 applications registered over more than two and a half years ago, under the previous rules.
Investor migrants are clearly attracted to New Zealand’s growing reputation as a safe, pro-business, high-potential economy. In a world where countries compete for dollars and talent, it’s great to see New Zealand’s growth prospects being recognised.
In a bid to attract skilled and experienced foreigners’ authorities in New Zealand applied new changes to the Active Investor Plus scheme on April 1, 2025.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, through a statement, announced that two simplified procedures were introduced to the scheme: Growth and Balanced.
The Ministry back then announced that the minimum amount required for the Growth category would be NZD $5 million over a three-year investment term, and NZD $10 million for the Balanced category over a five-year investment term.
According to a report from RNZ, as of June 23rd, a total of 100 applications have been approved in principle. Of those seven have transferred and invited their funds in New Zealand and had been issued a visa.
In this regard, New Zealand’s Immigration Minister Erica Stanford said she would have been satisfied with only 200 applications in the first year.
As of this week we’re almost at 190 after 10 weeks, and I think that shows you the level of interest from overseas, in lots of different markets we haven’t seen before.
The Minister said that the most significant interest has been noted from nationals from the United States, Hong Kong, China and Germany. Stanford said that investors have a total of six months to transfer their funds and begin investing in New Zealand through this scheme.
Investment Boost delivers the confidence to put that capital to work, and to ensure that people are making investments that will pay off in the long run.
Up to this point, the scheme has managed to attract a large number of internationals.
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The United States has decided to resume the processing of visa applications filed by foreign students.
Announcing the news on Wednesday, the US State Department said applicants will now face expanded screening, with them being required to make their social media accounts public so that the authorities can conduct enhanced checks, VisaGuide.World reports.
Under new guidance, we will conduct a comprehensive and thorough vetting, including online presence, of all student and exchange visitor applicants in the F, M, and J nonimmigrant classifications. To facilitate this vetting, all applicants for F, M, and J nonimmigrant visas will be instructed to adjust the privacy settings on all of their social media profiles to “public.”
As explained by the authorities, the failure of applicants to make their accounts public and available for review can be seen as a sign of them trying to hide their activity and thus could lead to visa rejection.
The decision to expand screening and vetting for study visa applicants comes as part of the US attempts to protect national security and public safety.
Stating that a US visa is a privilege and not a right, the State Department emphasized that it will use all available resources to identify individuals who are inadmissible, including those posing a threat to the country.
A U.S. visa is a privilege, not a right. We use all available information in our visa screening and vetting to identify visa applicants who are inadmissible to the United States, including those who pose a threat to U.S. national security.
According to the cable signed by the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, the embassies will need to review the online presence of study visa applicants beyond social media activities.
They will need to identify any signs from the applicants for “hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the US”.
Moreover, embassy officials have also been instructed to flag cases of “advocacy for aid or support of foreign terrorists and other threats to the US national security” and signs of anti-Semitic harassment and violence from the applicants.
Among many other things, consular officials have also been required to check the applicants’ political activism history and to take screenshots to preserve proof.
The Trump administration halted the scheduling of student visa applications last month, leaving many students waiting anxiously. It is yet to be seen how the new decision will be received by international students.
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Israel has decided to extend the validity of stay visas for foreign nationals legally residing in the country.
The decision has been announced by Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority, which explained that the visas will be automatically extended until September 30, 2025, for those holding valid visas as of June 12, VisaGuide.World reports.
In view of recent events, the Population and Immigration Authority informs that visas for foreigners who were legally residing in Israel as of June 12, 2025, are automatically extended until September 30, 2025.
The new changes include the following visa types:
The extension automatically applies to all relevant visa holders, so no application, formal request, or other action is required.
In addition, according to some local media reports, the embassy highlighted that no physical visit to PIBA offices is needed for the visa extension process.
Recently, the European Union changed the rules for suspending visa-free short visits to the bloc, with Israel expected to be the first one to be affected by these changes.
The new rules allow the grounds for temporarily halting visa-free schemes to include violations of human rights, which could then lead to the imposition of mandatory visas for citizens of Israel, among others, according to a report from Euronews.
At present, nationals from the following countries (also taking into account Israel) are eligible to travel to Schengen Zone countries for stays of up to 90 days in any 180-day period: Brazil, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, Israel, Ukraine, as well as Western Balkan countries.
This tool helps us deliver the values that have built our community and allows us to enforce human rights and respect for international law. No specific country is being targeted.
Recently, a source told Euronews that it is more likely that a European Union country, not the Parliament, would bring up the issue of Israel. However, some political groups in the Parliament pushed for the inclusion of human rights violations, referring to Israel.
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The unified tourist visa for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has been officially approved.
Announcing the decision, the United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, said that the visa will be launched soon, VisaGuide.World reports.
He stressed that the visa will make it easier for travelers to visit the six GCC countries, or more specifically, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
The new changes are considered very important towards better and easier regional travel.
The single (GCC) tourist visa has been approved and waiting now to be implemented, hopefully, soon. Now, it is with the Ministry of Interior and the relevant stakeholders and they should look into it.
The new visa, known as the GCC Grand Tours Visa, is similar to Europe’s Schengen system, facilitating the travel process for its members. It means that nationals from GCC countries won’t be eligible to apply separately for a visa for each country.
In May 2024, the UAE Minister of Economy, Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, announced the introduction of the new GCC Grand Tours visa that allows tourists to spend more than 30 days in Gulf countries.
Marri’s announcement came during the opening of the annual travel and tourism event held in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM).
In a significant move to simplify travel logistics and support tourism, the Gulf Cooperation Council has given the green light for a unified tourist visa that will allow travelers to visit all six countries. Thanks to the GCC “Grand Tours” that we are working on and intend to complete, we will enable tourists to spend over 30 days in the region.
Back then, the Minister said that once taking effect, the new visa will contribute to highlighting the diverse tourism destinations in Gulf countries, bringing in and retaining tourists for longer periods.
Previously, the GCC’s Statistical Centre figures revealed that in 2023, a total of 68.1 million people visited the region, while tourism brought a total of $110.4 billion
In addition, the statistics from the Statistical Center also revealed that the figures were up by 42.8 per cent in comparison to 2019, before the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
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About 70,000 people have signed for the new US Gold Card, according to the US Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick.
Last week, the US announced the launch of the new website that would permit applicants to register their interest in the new visa program, providing basic information like their name, email address and region of the world, VisaGuide.World reports.
Recently, Lutnick said that his department’s internal online dashboard revealed that there is a total of 67,697 people on the waiting list, adding that in a minute, the number increased to a total of 68,703.
The US Commerce Secretary told the Financial Times that the card will be made of gold, stressing that it will be beautiful.
Donald Trump appreciates these kinds of things. He cares about how it looks. He cares about how it feels. I mean, he deeply cares about that, and thinks if you’re going to buy and make this investment in America, we should give you something that is beautiful.
He said the idea for this visa came from billionaire John Paulson, a President Trump supporter. It was meant to help the United States earn money and also lower its $36 trillion debt.
In addition, according to a report from the Financial Times, the Commerce Department plans to issue a large number of Gold Cards over the summer. In this regard, Lutnick said that issuing a total of 200,000 visas would reap $1tn for the Treasury.
In May, he traveled with the president to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. During the meeting with the leaders, he also promoted the new Golden Visa Program.
Whenever I meet with international executives, I always go through it with them and sell it to them. I can’t help myself.
However, the White House is still working on further details of this plan, in spite of the fact that Lutnick said on the All-In Podcast three months ago that it would launch in about two weeks.
The White House still has to work out key details of the plan, even though Lutnick said on the All-In Podcast three months ago that it would launch in about two weeks.
Recently, the United States Commerce Secretary said that wealthy foreigners with $5 million to spare will soon be able to register for the Golden Visa program, giving them the opportunity to live and work in the US permanently.
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