More wealthy Chinese set to flood US investor visa scheme: think tank report

More Chinese are expected to apply for the United States' investor visa this year as people embrace an expanded immigrant quota and promising business opportunities, says a think tank report released yesterday.

Mainland Chinese received 9,128 EB-5 investor immigrant visas last year, 46 per cent more than in 2013. Among the 10,692 investor visas the US issued last year, mainlanders received 85 per cent of them.

The visa, with no age limits or language requirements, grants US citizenship to foreigners willing to invest at least US$500,000 (HK$3.88 million) and create 10 full-time jobs in the US.

"Better education for their children and more diversified investment opportunities are behind the choice of the wealthy Chinese," said the authors of the Annual Report on Chinese International Migration, launched by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Centre for China and Globalisation (CCG).

"The US, Australia, New Zealand and European countries are attracting wealthy mainland investors, and a visa may ensure them easier access to overseas businesses," CCG director Wang Huiyao said.

Commercial real estate projects in the US were popular investment targets among Chinese investors, supported by a strong yuan and high property prices in major mainland cities, according to the report.

To create jobs and attract foreign capital, the administration of US President Barack Obama announced late last year that it would increase the number of green cards for immigrant investors from about 10,000 a year to 14,000.

Under the scheme, foreigners and their family members receive a US green card in exchange for an investment of at least US$500,000 in high-unemployment or rural areas, or US$1 million in other regions.

Australia, New Zealand and some European countries have announced similar investor immigration schemes to attract mainland Chinese investment. Foreigners who invest more than A$4 million (HK$23.7 million) will be granted an investor visa in Australia.

In Spain and Portugal, the minimum investment required to be allowed to buy property is €500,000 (HK$4.12 million), and it is €300,000 in Cyprus to get a residency permit.

But not all administrations are going down that path. Canada and Hong Kong announced last year that they would either scrap or suspend their investment visa schemes.

China is the world's biggest source of international immigrants, with nearly 60 million Chinese holding visas in the US, Canada, Australia and Singapore, among other countries.

In contrast, fewer than 850,000 foreigners held working visas in China in 2013, accounting for only 0.06 per cent of the population, the lowest in the world.

"China should lower immigrant requirements … to help ease the deteriorating workforce shortage as well as attract more foreign professionals," Beijing-based immigration law scholar Liu Guofu said.