Vietnamese entrepreneurs: is a New Zealand business visa the hardest step?

News · 2026-09-03 · 3 min read

Do you run a business in Vietnam? Maybe you have thought about starting a new one in New Zealand. Many people have. There is news that matters for that plan.

New Zealand had a visa called the Entrepreneur Work Visa. It was for founders with a business idea. That visa has closed. A new visa has taken its place. It is called the Business Investor Visa. It is made for investors, not for people who only have an idea.

What is the new visa?

An investor is a person who puts money into a business. Under this visa, you must put at least NZ$1 million into a New Zealand business that is already running. If you commit NZ$2 million, there is a faster route to residence. Residence means you can live in the country long term.

Why did New Zealand change the rules? Officials found that the old visa had few applicants. Many of them were refused. The results for the economy were not what the country wanted.

So is the visa the hardest step?

Often, no. Researchers talked to skilled migrants who had already built businesses in New Zealand. The visa was seldom their biggest problem. The hard things came after they arrived:

Meeting local investors and joining their networks
Winning the trust of local customers
Finding partners who would support a business started by a newcomer

Some founders asked for help from people in their home country or in other countries. They used these contacts to raise money, find staff and reach bigger markets. A few left New Zealand before the study ended. Many more were thinking about leaving. They did not leave because of a visa refusal. They felt the local business world could not give them enough once the business needed to grow.

How to prepare, step by step

Think of the visa as the first step of a long road. Here are four things to do before you decide:

Learn how investors and start-ups really work in New Zealand, not only how the visa rules describe them.
Find out where new businesses go to raise money and find their first customers.
Check if your type of business has support there, or if you will start your network from zero.
Plan a realistic timeline. You may reach some goals faster in another country.

Documents and staying safe

Even an investor visa needs paperwork. If a police certificate is requested, Vietnamese citizens usually need the Judicial Record Certificate No. 2 (Phiếu lý lịch tư pháp số 2). Where the visa rules ask for it, prepare certified English translations of your Vietnamese documents. You need IELTS or PTE only if the visa or a partner asks for an English test. Read the rules on the official New Zealand visa pages.

Please stay careful. Deal only with licensed organisations and real business partners. Never pay an unlicensed broker. Be wary of anyone who asks for money upfront to "secure" a visa or a business deal. A real opportunity does not need you to rush.

A short summary

The visa is the first door, and you need real capital to open it. Behind that door is the harder work: people, trust and money networks. Plan for that work early, and you will be better prepared.

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