Before submitting your application, please ensure that all required documents are included – we can only accept and start assessing once we have all the required information.
Read more about the documents required
Attachments
Keep attachments to a minimum and ensure they are scanned so their orientation is correct. High volumes of attachments make it hard for us to identify what is missing and to find the information we need.
All attachments should be named in English, and be clearly numbered and labelled – for example “Attachment 3 – Sensitive land certificate(s)”; “Attachment 5 – Aerial maps”.
For benefit to New Zealand applications, the first two attachments should be your investment plan and sensitive land certificate(s).
Where possible, combine similar information into one attachment – for example CVs and passports; land title documents; maps; sensitive land certificates; and job descriptions.
Business plans prepared by a third party should be clearly labelled and included as an early attachment so they can easily be referred to. For example, “Attachment 4 – Business plan prepared by Sesame Limited”.
Vendor Information Form attachments should be clearly labelled as VIF attachments to distinguish them from applicant information. For example, ”VIF Attachment 2 – Financial Statements”.
Statutory declarations
For both the true and correct, and investor test statutory declarations, we recommend using templates available on this page:
How to prepare a statutory declaration
If a statutory declaration is sworn offshore in a different language, we require the original English translation to be attached.
Statutory declarations should be declared by someone able to bind the applicant. This is generally a key shareholder, director, CEO or CFO of that company, however in some circumstances this can be a general counsel. Please contact us if you are unsure or wish to have someone else swear the declaration.
True and correct statutory declarations
A separate true and correct declaration is required for each applicant.
A new true and correct declaration is required for each new application because it covers representations made for that specific application.
Investor test statutory declarations
You may rely on a previous investor test statutory declaration if the relevant overseas persons (ROP) and individuals with control (IWC):
- are covered under an investor test statutory declaration in the previous six months
- have not changed since the previous declaration.
If changes have been made, we only require an investor test declaration for the new ROP and/or IWC.
Find out more about ROPs and IWCs
Sensitive land certificates
Please ensure these have been prepared and signed within the previous six months.
Investment plan
The investment plan should stand alone as an explanation for how the investment meets criteria for consent. Therefore, all claims should be clearly laid out in this document.
If you have supplied a separate business plan, ensure you make your claim in the investment plan and refer to the business plan as evidence. For example, “46 temporary FTE will be created during the construction period – see paragraphs 45–49 of Attachment 9 for Sesame’s analysis”. This allows assessors to work with one primary document while undertaking their assessment rather jumping between documents to understand the investment.
References to attachments should point to the specific document – for example, “As per the aerial photos shown in Attachment 4”.
Jobs should be calculated as full time equivalents (FTE), including how many people will be employed for each FTE. For example, the equivalent of six FTE employed for three years, with three people working double shifts.
If you provide an independently produced business plan which contains assumptions or initiatives you do not intend to implement, this should be made clear in your investment plan. The investment plan should also include information to explain if you intend to exceed the claims.
National interest
National interest submissions should include rationale as to why s20A and/or s20B of the Act do or do not apply to an application – particularly in cases where s20B may be relevant.
Fees
Please do not attempt to pay any fee, including lodgement fees, until you have been issued with an invoice.
How to pay overseas investment fees and penalties
General
English translations are required for documents that are in another language.
Avoid referring to past applications for details about the applicant and ownership. Each application and investment plan document should stand alone and must be current. In addition, if we receive a request under the Official Information Act and a document refers to another case, the other application may also be requested.
If you have pre-consulted with other agencies, please provide full copies of that correspondence.
It’s helpful when we are provided with the rationale behind certain aspects of an application. For example, if one of the pieces of land being acquired doesn’t require consent because it is not sensitive, please explain why. The same approach applies to farmland, applying alternative thresholds for SBA applications, and rationale around the most appropriate outcome in relation to residential land.
Refer to these pages for more information about:
Avoid repetition in the application form and investment plan where you can by referring to earlier sections or paragraphs that contain the relevant information.
Please do not go to the expense of preparing a briefing note prior to submitting an application. Please request a pre application meeting, submit a query or submit the application.