Hong Kong’s cash-for-residency scheme is attracting applicants, but will they stay?
Immigration consultants say some applicants with HK$30 million to invest are simply seeking business ‘stepping stone’ or education for children
Investors who applied to Hong Kong’s relaunched cash-for-residency scheme included some who may not stay in the long run but sought the status as a “stepping stone” for their business ventures or children’s education, immigration consultants have said.
The government reintroduced the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme with revised criteria in March, opening back up a door for migration that closed in 2015 after property purchases by the new arrivals helped send home prices skyrocketing. This time around, property does not count towards the investment threshold amount.
According to the government, more than 500 applications have been received involving HK$15 billion (US$1.92 billion) in investment, while 47 successful candidates have each invested HK$30 million in the city.
“They are looking for a stepping stone, that’s what we’ve seen so far,” said Willis Fu Yiu-wai, a senior immigration consultant at Goldmax Associates. “They think Hong Kong is somewhere for investment, it’s a transit hub. This hasn’t changed.”
The scheme is designed to provide a fast track to residency for the wealthy and their families, and the revised version requires they keep at least HK$30 million in the city’s financial markets for at least seven years. It is open to foreigners, mainland Chinese with a foreign passport, Macau residents and “Chinese residents” of Taiwan.
The consultants said many investors saw the residency route as a way to make use of the city’s low tax rates or obtain a Hong Kong passport for easier business travel, but they would also weigh up the city’s future and its seven-year requirement when considering whether to stay in the long run.