The case of Peter Thiel -- the billionaire venture capitalist who was granted citizenship under special circumstances.

He doesn't live here, and doesn't appear to have intentions to live here.

He bought just under 200 hectares at Glendu Bay in 2015 -- it's on the edge of Lake Wanaka and is considered 'sensitive land' under the Overseas Investment Act.

As a foreigner, he would need official permission to buy that. As a Kiwi, he didn't.

But as you file through all the documentation around this case, it's difficult to see the issue here.

He's worth almost three billion. He invested heavily in Xero and was behind Pacific Fibre too.

He's a tech super-brain, an investor and an entrepreneur, and given that we've been incredibly slow at rolling out ultra-fast broadband.....we could probably do with a few more tech experts in this country.

Thiel was recommended for citizenship off the back of his $150 million dollar investment in Xero. He first invested in the company in 2010 and he still holds a stake -- seven years on. He donated a million dollars to the Christchurch earthquake appeal, as well.

The issue, it seems, is that Thiel is a supporter of Donald Trump and that appears to rattle some.

But outside of that? He's an incredibly wealthy man who has significantly contributed to our economy. He's bought a couple of properties. He's law-abiding. He pops in here occasionally, but believes he better represents New Zealand and our entrepreneurs as a citizen. And to that end, he jumped through a few hoops at the Department of Immigration, and received citizenship.

I don't, on the face of it, have a problem with this. Sometimes we grant citizenship under exceptional circumstances.

What is more concerning is when we get it wrong.

Remember William Yan? He was the millionaire businessman from China with multiple identities.

He was granted special citizenship under Labour, and later was alleged to have stolen $129 million from China, concealing the money through a series of complex transactions here.

He had invested in KimDotCom's Mega company. His investment was around the $39 million mark apparently.

Shane Jones, as a Labour Cabinet Minister in 2008, granted Yan citizenship -- and that was against the advice of officials concerned about whether he met the 'good character' requirement.

And so I come back to Peter Thiel.

The New York Times has picked up on this story this morning too.

They've published excerpts from his applications -- they quote him saying "New Zealand is the future" and the wide global network he has cultivated would be of great value to New Zealand.

And that's true.

I don't see the outrage about this. Do you? I'm not sure. Am I missing something?

I think we're cherry-picking here, aren't we? And we've granted a highly intelligent and highly successful billionaire citizenship, under special circumstances.

To me, that's a smart move.