Irish fund offering residency on the ‘Emerald isle’ for €1 million sees surge in interest from wealthy Hongkongers looking to escape civil unrest
- An Irish fund is offering rich Hongkongers a way to gain permanent residency by investing €1 million in family-run hotels near Dublin
- Interest has quadrupled in recent months as Hong Kong has been ravaged by political turmoil, according to the fund’s chief executive
With Hong Kong still mired in a political crisis that has upended the economy and frequently turned the streets into battlefields, more and more people who can afford it have been looking for refuge overseas.
European countries such as Spain and Portugal have emerged as popular choices for those with the means to activate a “plan B”.
Now an Irish fund is offering wealthy Hongkongers a way to gain permanent residency on the “Emerald Isle” – by investing €1 million (US$1.1 million) in family-run hotels outside the capital, Dublin.
Executives of the Irish Diaspora Loan Fund (IDLF) have regularly travelled to Hong Kong from Dublin in the last six months as interest among Hongkongers in Ireland’s Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP) has quadrupled.
“There is a huge interest from Hong Kong, and it’s growing,” said Joanna Murphy, IDLF chief executive officer. “[In the last six months] I have been here four times, and my colleague’s also been here too so we travel a lot.”
The interest among Hongkongers to secure the right to live, work and study in another country is not a new trend. But with the city reeling under the weight of its worst political crisis, more have been looking for a back-up plan that will allow them to leave in a hurry should they wish to.
This rising demand from Hongkongers has prompted property agents from countries like Portugal and Spain to regularly hold investment seminars in Hong Kong to sell real estate that will qualify buyers for permanent residency in those countries.