From Newsgroup: nz.general

on leaving it behind for us to deal with, SFGATE features reporter
Ariana Bindman writes

ItrCOs an oppressively warm evening at San FranciscorCOs Mark Hopkins hotel, and IrCOm sitting under the glow of an enormous crystal chandelier in a half-empty conference room. Though there are only about 20 other people scrolling on their phones and nursing glasses of white wine, they
probably collectively generate more wealth than the economies of some
small island nations. TheyrCOre here to explore the idea of obtaining a rCLgolden visa,rCY an extremely expensive rCo and highly controversial rCo form of residency thatrCOs inaccessible to the average American.

These days, itrCOs understandable why anyone would want to escape the U.S.
Our demonic, turkey-necked president is destroying Iran, Silicon Valley
aliens in skin-suits are trying to replace us with their hideous
artificial intelligence platforms, and parts of the Bay Area reached 90
degrees as early as March. The climate rCo socially, politically and
literally rCo is absolutely wretched, especially if your apartment doesnrCOt million dollars lying around, yourCOll be able to magically transcend the
mess that AmericarCOs celebrities, politicians and billionaires have
selfishly created rCo and now plan on leaving behind.

New Zealand, along with several other countries like Greece, Portugal
and Italy, are currently offering wealthy foreigners whatrCOs called a rCLgolden visa.rCY To obtain one of these visas in New Zealand, aka the
Active Investor Plus visa, applicants must spend a minimum of $2.9
million on rCLGrowthrCY investments for three years or $5.8 million on rCLBalancedrCY investments for five years, and simply processing this
paperwork costs an equivalent of over $15,000. In exchange, applicants
receive an rCLenviable lifestyle brimming with adventure,rCY as boutique immigration firm Greener Pastures New Zealand puts it on its website,
and cinematic views of rolling hillsides. Once this investment period is fulfilled, they and any immediate family members who were included in
the original application can become permanent New Zealand residents.

That night in San Francisco, attendees at the seminar said they were
worried about AmericarCOs politics, while others expressed concern over
being able to afford their childrenrCOs postgraduate education in the U.S.
One guy, however, bluntly said that he just wanted to pay less in taxes.
Or, as the host liked to call it, rCLthe T word.rCY

A press representative from Greener Pastures New Zealand, which helps
wealthy applicants acquire golden visas, told me that more than 80% of
its websiterCOs traffic comes from the U.S., and that 15% of California visitors come from Northern California specifically. Families, tech
workers and couples without children are just some of the applicants
they work with, Mischa Mannix-Opie, the companyrCOs director of client experience, told me that day.

I asked her why her clients are interested in leaving the U.S., but she
prefers not to dwell on the negative. rCLWe spend less time talking about
the concerns here and more about the opportunity in New Zealand,rCY she
said.

But given the current state of the world, itrCOs impossible to separate
the links between New Zealand, the ultrawealthy and their deep anxieties
about the future. Over the last several years, the super-rich have set
their sights on the island country as a place to build elaborate bunkers
and opulent estates in anticipation of societal collapse.

In 2017, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman told the New Yorker that
buying property there was basically rCLapocalypse insurance.rCY But itrCOs
also us, the commoners, that Silicon Valley executives plan on escaping
from. Long before the rise of ChatGPT and proliferation of data centers, executives reportedly expressed concern about facing rCLbacklashrCY once AI began to rob humans of their livelihoods.

Even though Greener PasturesrCO website heavily emphasizes New ZealandrCOs safety and stability as a selling point, according to Mannix-Opie, many
of her investor applicants are merely interested in summer homes.
Overall, though, the country is advertised as a haven in what the firm euphemistically calls an rCLever-changing world.rCY

rCLSecuring your family's future with a 'Plan B' is a wise move,rCY the companyrCOs website assures. As reasons someone should move there, the
firm cites New ZealandrCOs high rankings in categories like business opportunities, democracy and corruption transparency.

Ironically, countries that host these exact types of expensive
immigration programs have come under fire for basically welcoming
corruption with open arms. According to the advocacy group Transparency International, golden visa programs are allowing criminals to treat
residency and citizenship in European countries as luxury commodities
and use them for money-laundering schemes. In April 2025, the European
Court of Justice declared that MaltarCOs rCLgolden passportsrCY program was illegal, and Spain, Ireland, the UK and the Netherlands have recently
ended their investor visa programs amid rising security concerns, Forbes reported last year. Meanwhile, New Zealand officials announced in
September that golden visa holders can now buy or build homes valued at
the equivalent of around $3 million or more.

But possible criminal activity aside, do New Zealanders really want to
deal with an influx of rich, entitled Americans and their fleets of
lifted pickup trucks?

Based on what IrCOve seen on the internet, the answer seems to be a
resounding no. Several posts on social media complain about desperate
U.S. residents asking New Zealanders how to become citizens, while one
local said that they saw a man in camo shorts huff and puff his way up a mountain to erect the U.S. flag. Another sign at a cafe joked that all Americans needed to be accompanied by an adult, and given the way that
we treated service industry workers during the pandemic, I firmly
believe that this should be taken in earnest. Ultimately, Kiwis pity us,

Meanwhile, as tech oligarchs and celebrities continue to hoard billions
of dollars and pollute the earth with their heinous private jets, the
vast majority of us will continue to live on the brink of homelessness.
After leaving the baroque hotel, still sweaty and exhausted from
trudging up California Street in my stupid secondhand clogs, I couldnrCOt
help but realize just how comically unfair this event felt.

As I made my way down Powell Street, the world around me started to
become grayer, dirtier, more familiar. The farther I descended, the
fewer Mercedes SUVs and smiling tourists I saw, with more unhoused
residents and fatigued 9-5 workers instead. All I could think about was
the churn of daily life, and how the denizens of the Mark Hopkins hotel
were likely insulated from it. I thought of my friends who are educated
and employed and living in cars and on couches. I thought about the
laid-off tech workers who could be entering another year of
unemployment, unsure of how theyrCOll pay their mortgages and medical
bills.

That night, it was business as usual as I trekked back to the East Bay.
I worried whether I had enough money on my Clipper card to exit the BART station. I worried at the grocery store when I saw my receipt and
remembered that I still hadnrCOt paid my overdue internet bill. I worried
about whether my yogurt would spoil on the crowded train home. I
listened to the collective groan of tired office workers heaving their
bags and watched them walk through the train carrCOs doors. I wondered if
this toil would ever end, and if itrCOs supposed to get any better.

My biggest fear, though, is that IrCOll look back on this years later and reminisce about how good we had it.

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/california-millionaires-golden-visa- 22083660.php
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