PayPal co-founder and Facebook board member Peter Thiel spent only 12 days in New Zealand before his citizenship being granted.

The minister who gave US billionaire Peter Thiel citizenship says he's been a "great ambassador" for the country ever since - despite the fact Thiel kept it secret for six years.

It emerged today that Thiel only spent 12 days in New Zealand as a resident before becoming a citizen.

Usually potential citizens have to spend at least 1350 days in New Zealand over a five-year period (70 per cent) before being eligible, but Thiel was granted a special circumstances grant when he became a citizen in 2011.

David White PM Bill English addresses media over the Peter Thiel

The 12 days in the five years were spread over four trips.

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Thiel's New Zealand citizenship was revealed in January of this year.

Peter Thiel's application form for New Zealand citizenship.

The PayPal co-founder and Trump backer has never lived in New Zealand long-term and made clear in his application he didn't plan to any time soon.

Nathan Guy, who was Minister of Internal Affairs at the time, gave Thiel a special grant in the "public interest".

Thiel's application noted his considerable investments in New Zealand technology companies such as Xero and Pacific Fibre. There was also discussion of a $1 million donation to the Canterbury rebuild.

The exact amount of time that Thiel spent in New Zealand before gaining citizenship was redacted by the Department of Internal Affairs when they released documents relating to the application as they ruled it would infringe on his privacy.

RNZ complained to the ombudsman about this decision, who agreed that the public interest in the issue outweighed privacy concerns.

There is a provision for a shorter period of presence in the law, where a resident only has to spend 450 days in a 20 month period before applying - but Thiel only spent nine days in New Zealand during that period.

Peter Thiels citizenship has raised eyebrows from the Labour camp.

Guy said he stood by his decision in 2011.

"This guy has made a significant investment here in New Zealand. If you think back to 2011, at the time we were coming through a GFC, we were rebuilding Christchurch, and this individual had stepped up and said 'yes I want to be a part of the rebuild,'" Guy said.

"He's a great ambassador and salesperson for New Zealand.

MORNING REPORT/RNZ New Zealand First leader Winston Peters says Peter Thiel's citizenship is a joke and he essentially bought his citizenship.

"He's promoting New Zealand all the time, to people in the US, it's a very important market."

Guy had considered 833 special citizenship grants in his time as internal affairs minister, but he couldn't recall whether any other citizens had been granted citizenship after so little time in the country.

He said journalists were only interested in the matter because Thiel was connected to the "Trump regime".

"I back the decision in 2011, I back the decision now."

He said any questions about why Thiel kept it secret for six years would have to be directed to him.

Prime Minister Bill English said Thiel had been committed to New Zealand and he was happy with the contribution he had made to the country.

Asked if Thiel had "bought" the citizenship, English said "it's just someone who is able to contribute, that includes investment, and we are happy with the result of that.

Labour leader Andrew Little said the government needed to explain why they gave him the citizenship.

"It doesn't look like exceptional circumstances. It looks pretty dodgy," he said.

Labour immigration spokesperson Iain Lee-Galloway said it was clear that Thiel wanted citizenship in New Zealand so he could have a "bolthole" in the South Pacific.

"It's extraordinarily unusual, it goes way beyond exceptional circumstances," he said.

WHO IS PETER THIEL?

Thiel, worth a reported $3.7 billion, rose to fame as the co-founder of PayPal. After PayPal was sold to eBay he became an extraordinarily successful venture capitalist, making over a billion dollars as the first outside investor in Facebook.

Just before gaining citizenship, Thiel talked up New Zealand in foreign media, donated $1m to the Canterbury rebuild, and invested in failed fibre venture Pacific Fibre.

Prime Minister Bill English has defended the Government's decision to grant him citizenship, saying Thiel had "demonstrated his commitment to New Zealand" over the last 11 years after becoming a resident in 2006.

"There's 200 to 300 cases a year where they don't quite fit the criteria or there's some overriding public interest, and the minister acts on the advice of officials as to whether it is generally appropriate for that person to become a citizen."

Thiel's lawyers and PR agency have been asked for comment on the circumstances of his citizenship, but he is yet to respond.

The German/American/Kiwi has been in the spotlight often over the last few years.

He secretly funded a lawsuit in 2016 that bankrupted media company Gawker and was a member of Trump's transition team.

He also made an investment in a company experimenting with the transfusion of young blood into older people, calling the area "underexplored".

Thiel is the co-founder of Palantir, a secretive data analysis company that works with several spy agencies, including potentially New Zealand's.

* A previous version of this story said Peter Thiel was in New Zealand for 9 days before being granted citizenship. This has since been corrected.