
Peter Thiel only spent 12 days in NZ before being granted citizenship - r721
http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/06/peter-thiel-only-spent-12-days-in-nz-before-being-granted-citizenship.html
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philliphaydon
As a Kiwi. The way they treat Kim Dotcom, and grant this guy citizen for
little reason at all, makes me super disappointed in NZ. Just so sad we treat
people differently based on politics that don't benefit NZ.

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handedness
> Just so sad we treat people differently based on politics that don't benefit
> NZ.

Surely someone there benefits from it, or it would have never happened.

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mankash666
However controversial Thiel may be, there's no arguing the benefits his
citizenship grants NZ. If millions of $$ of investment and hundreds of jobs
created don't qualify him for citizenship, there's a fallacy needing fixing.

FYI - the US grants green cards to foreigners who invest $1M in new American
businesses, NZ probably has an unwritten law that grants citizenship to those
who stimulate it's economy

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webkike
I think this mindset is largely harmful to the indigenous population of New
Zealand, who will become increasingly margenalized in their home country.

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Bakary
There's no evidence to suggest that Thiel's presence will increase that
marginalization, or if Thiel is actually interested in decreasing it in the
first place.

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raleighm
"or if Thiel is actually interested in decreasing it in the first place"

So, even if hypothetically there were increased marginalization, it would only
matter if it were against Thiel's intention?...

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Bakary
No, I simply mean that not only is there nothing to indicate that Thiel's
presence will marginalize anyone, but also that Thiel himself doesn't seem
likely to engage in any behavior that would marginalize anyone. Therefore the
probability of it happening seems quite low.

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marak830
Let 1000 people in worth 1,000,000 dollars or let on 1,000,000 people in with
1000 dollars, which group will on average create more jobs?

Look I'd like to take the high road too and say everyone is equal, but we only
begin that way.

(Note: I'm from the second group in this mind game)

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jjeaff
My tangential comment to your comment would be: Which creates more jobs, 1,000
millionaires, or 1 billionaire. I would say 1000 millionaires would have a
much greater chance of creating many more jobs.

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vorg
At least 1000 immigrant millionaires have spent the million buying a house in
Auckland over the past few years. These are houses that would have sold for
only, say, 950,000 if those immigrant millionaires hadn't been in the buyers
market, so I guess that's created an extra office job or two at the local
banks and real estate offices.

An immigrant billionaire might buy a mansion with airfield attached for his
armageddon hideout. Or he might grow a business employing immigrant workers on
work visas. Some citizens might get jobs in the service sector servicing them.

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r721
Full report from the NZ government [pdf]:

[https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Peter-Thiel-
rel...](https://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Peter-Thiel-
release-29-June-2017/$file/Peter-Thiel-release-29-June-2017.pdf)

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gman83
It says he gave a $1 million donation to the Christchurch earthquake relief
fund. That'll probably do it yeah.

~~~
coldtea
It takes way less than $1 million to get citizenship in most countries:

[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/countries-selling-
cit...](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/countries-selling-citizenship/)

~~~
0xbear
Including the US. You do have to spend quite a bit of time here to be granted
citizenship, even if you invest.

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smsm42
So what? In Israel, you can become a citizen without spending even a whole day
there:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Return](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Return)

I don't see why if NZ thinks having Thiel as a citizen would be good for them,
they can't give him citizenship at any moment they'd like.

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tnzn
So because other countries do the same or worse, it justifies this ? I'm
impressed.

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smsm42
How is this worse? What is bad in it?

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lukasben
That's so f __* up! Money can buy you everything. Even a citizenship. The NZ-
gov should asked themselves why a close Trump supporter and VC is looking for
a safe haven outside of the US. Will this person really add value to the
society? Or will he build a massive mansion with a wall around it and an
airport?

~~~
org3432
Of course you can buy citizenship. Here's a price list if you are in the
market:

[https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/countries-selling-
cit...](https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/07/countries-selling-citizenship/)

~~~
Kurtz79
Latvian citizenship at 35.000€ with no residency requirements looks like a
steal, considering that you would be allowed to live anywhere in the EU, if
I'm not misinterpreting.

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peteretep
You didn't finish your research. Process takes ten years and requires you to
become fluent in Latvian.

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peter_retief
He is very wealthy and adds intellectual capital to any country he chooses to
live, why is that controversial?

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detaro
He doesn't intent to live there, at least that's what he claimed in the
application.

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sytelus
So why did Thiel chose NZ? USA allows dual citizenship to many other countries
as well. NZ seem to have 33% tax rate so shouldn't that be off putting? Also,
why take duel citizenship at all because US may then force you to relinquish
USA citizenship.

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audeyisaacs
Safest place to be in case of nuclear war (due to low number of nearby
potential targets, opposite hemisphere of most targets, good wind patterns to
avoid fallout from potential targets).

There's probably more playing into it. But being a relatively geographically
far, politically stable country probably has a fair bit to do with it.

I'm not sure if NZ is a net food importer/exporter, but IIRC AU can produce
enough food to cover AU population so I wouldn't be surprised if NZ was
similar.

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basicplus2
1 rule for the rich quite a different bunch of rules for the rest of us

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matt4077
The rule is: if you're willing to spend a million for membership, welcome to
the club!

...and it's the same rule for everyone.

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creamypie
It's funny a lot of people thinks it's not okay to grant citizenship because
of Thiel's own opinion, or arguing whether Thiel will add value to the
society. It's funnier when they themselves don't have the same net worth.

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Steeeve
He's probably one of their 5 richest citizens at this point. Why would they
not seize the opportunity to increase their tax base?

~~~
pavlov
Most likely he doesn't pay personal taxes to NZ. If he still retains his
American citizenship, the IRS expects him to file there.

~~~
matt4077
If he spends the plurality of days of a year in NZ, he will pay taxes there,
and those are deducted from his US tax return (which usually means no US
taxes, considering most countries' taxes are higher than the US').

Granted that's assuming he actually has any meaningful personal taxable
income, which is somewhat doubtful.

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ponco
I'll take any motherfucker's money if he given' it away - Geoff "Clay Davis"
May

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duncan_bayne
That's ridiculous.

How can it take that long for funds to clear?

