Lawmakers question New Zealand citizenship for billionaire Trump supporter
Source: Xinhua   2017-01-25 11:39:18

WELLINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand lawmakers have been demanding to know how a vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel gained citizenship.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper broke the surprise news on Tuesday, reporting that Thiel had also acquired three expensive properties without having to gain approval from the government's Overseas Investment Office.

The main opposition Labour Party said Wednesday that Thiel did not appear to meet the citizenship criteria normally required of applicants.

"People wishing to become citizens of New Zealand normally have to spend over 70 percent of their time in New Zealand over a five-year period before they can even apply," Iain Lees-Galloway, Labour Party immigration spokesperson, said Wednesday.

"It seems incredibly unlikely that a person of Mr. Thiel's wealth and prominence would be able to reside unnoticed in New Zealand for that period of time," Lees-Galloway said in a statement.

"Questions have rightly been asked about how Mr. Thiel has acquired New Zealand citizenship given that he does not appear to meet the criteria usually expected of applicants."

The government had to urgently respond to questions about how Thiel, a German-born entrepreneur and investor who has lived in the United States since he was an infant, acquired New Zealand citizenship.

Forbes magazine ranked Thiel as the 248th wealthiest person in the U.S. last year with an estimated net worth of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars and stated his residence as San Francisco, California.

"Has the government chosen to allow Mr. Thiel to jump the queue for citizenship?" asked Lees-Galloway.

"Mr. Thiel is a wealthy man who has chosen to invest in two New Zealand tech ventures. That is to be welcomed and applauded, but it is not enough reason to give him preferential treatment," he said.

"There is no evidence of impropriety in this case, but New Zealanders pride ourselves on being an egalitarian nation where citizenship is not for sale, and that ideal must be upheld."

Lees-Galloway said he had lodged a series of Parliamentary Questions to Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne, demanding to know when Thiel was granted citizenship, who granted it and on what grounds.

He also asked if Thiel was required to become a resident for tax purposes as a condition of his grant of citizenship.

New Zealand immigration law also allows the Immigration Minister to personally approve a citizenship application if it "would be in the public interest because of exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian or other nature."

A spokesman for Dunne told the Fairfax news organization Wednesday that Thiel became a citizen "years ago, long before he was minister."

Editor: liuxin
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Lawmakers question New Zealand citizenship for billionaire Trump supporter

Source: Xinhua 2017-01-25 11:39:18
[Editor: huaxia]

WELLINGTON, Jan. 25 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand lawmakers have been demanding to know how a vocal supporter of U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel gained citizenship.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper broke the surprise news on Tuesday, reporting that Thiel had also acquired three expensive properties without having to gain approval from the government's Overseas Investment Office.

The main opposition Labour Party said Wednesday that Thiel did not appear to meet the citizenship criteria normally required of applicants.

"People wishing to become citizens of New Zealand normally have to spend over 70 percent of their time in New Zealand over a five-year period before they can even apply," Iain Lees-Galloway, Labour Party immigration spokesperson, said Wednesday.

"It seems incredibly unlikely that a person of Mr. Thiel's wealth and prominence would be able to reside unnoticed in New Zealand for that period of time," Lees-Galloway said in a statement.

"Questions have rightly been asked about how Mr. Thiel has acquired New Zealand citizenship given that he does not appear to meet the criteria usually expected of applicants."

The government had to urgently respond to questions about how Thiel, a German-born entrepreneur and investor who has lived in the United States since he was an infant, acquired New Zealand citizenship.

Forbes magazine ranked Thiel as the 248th wealthiest person in the U.S. last year with an estimated net worth of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars and stated his residence as San Francisco, California.

"Has the government chosen to allow Mr. Thiel to jump the queue for citizenship?" asked Lees-Galloway.

"Mr. Thiel is a wealthy man who has chosen to invest in two New Zealand tech ventures. That is to be welcomed and applauded, but it is not enough reason to give him preferential treatment," he said.

"There is no evidence of impropriety in this case, but New Zealanders pride ourselves on being an egalitarian nation where citizenship is not for sale, and that ideal must be upheld."

Lees-Galloway said he had lodged a series of Parliamentary Questions to Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne, demanding to know when Thiel was granted citizenship, who granted it and on what grounds.

He also asked if Thiel was required to become a resident for tax purposes as a condition of his grant of citizenship.

New Zealand immigration law also allows the Immigration Minister to personally approve a citizenship application if it "would be in the public interest because of exceptional circumstances of a humanitarian or other nature."

A spokesman for Dunne told the Fairfax news organization Wednesday that Thiel became a citizen "years ago, long before he was minister."

[Editor: huaxia]
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