Google co-founder, Larry Page has been granted residency in New Zealand after spending time in the country during the coronavirus pandemic.
The 48-year-old billionaire applied for New Zealand residence in November 2020 through the nation’s “Investor Plus” residency visa but the application was unable to be processed because he was offshore at the time.
The visa requires applicants to have NZ$10 million ($7 million) to invest in New Zealand over a three-year period.
His application was processed in February 2021 when he returned to New Zealand.
- The sparsely populated country is home to around 5 million people located in relative isolation from the largest population centres of the world and has become a popular destination for high net worth individuals in recent years.
- The country has been praised as one of the best places in the world to ride out a societal collapse, as it’s relatively self-dependent in terms of food and energy. It also boasts a temperate climate and a stable political system, according to CNBC.
Larry Page’s new residency has brought a lot of debate whether the super-rich can essentially buy access to the South Pacific county whenever they want.
What you should know
In 2017, Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal was also granted a citizenship in Kiwi even though he spent only 12 days in New Zealand.
