Hongkongers pursue overseas passports and sell homes at huge discounts to fund move as city’s protests rage on
- Emigration inquiries have risen fourteen fold since the protests started more than four months ago, says Midland Immigration Consultancy
- A homeowner in Tuen Mun sold a flat 25 per cent below market value to finance emigration application.
Hongkongers’ interest in emigrating has jumped fourteen fold as the four-month long anti-government protests show no signs of ending, and many are selling their property before the housing market deteriorates further to finance their move, according to Midland Immigration Consultancy.
The consultancy said that inquiries have skyrocketed from some 20 in May before the controversy over the now-abandoned extradition bill erupted to about 300 in September when the protests started taking an increasingly violent turn.
“Part of the reason is the recent situation,” said Tina Cheng, director of strategy at the consultancy. “The vast majority [of them] want to have a better living environment and better education for their children.”
Cheng said that the more recent inquiries have largely been from professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, and those in the middle to high income category, compared to July, when it was mainly people in their 30s.
She said that as a lot of clients did not have ready cash amounting to millions of Hong Kong dollars for the golden visas, they were considering selling their homes to finance their move.