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WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – Google co-founder Larry Page has been granted residency in New Zealand, officials confirmed on Friday, fueling debate over whether the extremely wealthy can essentially buy the access to the South Pacific country.
Immigration New Zealand said Page first applied for residency in November under a special visa open to people with at least NZ $ 10 million ($ 7 million) to invest.
“As he was offshore at the time, his request could not be processed due to COVID-19 restrictions,” the agency said in a statement. “Once Mr. Page entered New Zealand, his application could be processed and it was approved on February 4, 2021.”
Obtaining residency in New Zealand would not necessarily affect Page’s residency status in the United States or any other country.
New Zealand lawmakers have confirmed that Page and his son first arrived in New Zealand in January after the family filed an urgent request for the son to be evacuated from Fiji due to a medical emergency.
“The day after receiving the request, a New Zealand air ambulance consisting of a New Zealand ICU escort nurse evacuated the child and an adult family member from Fiji to New Zealand. Health Minister Andrew Little told lawmakers in Parliament.
Little was responding to questions about how Page had successfully entered the country at a time when New Zealand closed its borders to non-residents in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Little told lawmakers the family followed applicable virus protocols when they arrived.
Page’s residency application was approved about three weeks later.
Immigration New Zealand noted that although Page had become a resident, he did not have permanent resident status and remained subject to certain restrictions.
Still, the agency on its website touts the “Investor Plus” visa as offering a “New Zealand way of life,” adding that “you may be able to bring your car, boat and household items to New Zealand. , without customs fees ”.
Some local news agencies reported that Page had since left New Zealand.
Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Forbes on Friday ranked Page as the sixth richest person in the world, with a fortune of $ 117 billion. Forbes noted that Page resigned as chief executive of Google’s parent company Alphabet in 2019, but remained a board member and majority shareholder.
Opposition lawmakers said the episode raised questions about why Page was approved so quickly at a time when many skilled workers or separated family members desperately seeking entry into New Zealand were being turned away. .
“The government is sending a message that money is more important than doctors, fruit pickers and families separated from their children,” Brooke van Velden, deputy head of ACT, said in a statement.
In 2017, it emerged that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel was able to obtain New Zealand citizenship six years earlier, although he had never lived in the country. Thiel was approved after a senior lawmaker decided his entrepreneurial skills and philanthropy were valuable to the nation.
Thiel didn’t even have to leave California for the ceremony – he was granted citizenship in a private ceremony held at the New Zealand Consulate in Santa Monica.
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