On January 14, while delivering the latest Policy Address at the Legislative Council, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR Leung Chun-ying revealed that the Hong Kong Capital Investment Entrant Scheme would be suspended starting January 15. The scheme, launched in October 2003, had been in operation for over a decade and attracted more than HK$176 billion in capital to Hong Kong. Once the news broke, the industry was shocked! Many investors contacted Worldway immediately after receiving the news, requesting to rush their applications. Worldway staff went all out, racing against time to help numerous investors quickly organize their documents for a final sprint to catch the last train for Hong Kong investment immigration. By midnight, when the Hong Kong Immigration Department stopped accepting applications, Worldway customer service staff had successfully submitted the final batch of client applications. All investors who entrusted their cases to Worldway were unaffected by the policy change.
Since then, the Hong Kong investment immigration policy, which had been in effect for 11 years and 3 months, has officially entered the history books, and Chinese high-net-worth individuals have lost another desirable immigration destination! The events Worldway experienced on that day were similar to what happened in Macau on April 4, 2007. Everything is still vivid in our memory: the Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) shut down its investment immigration policy overnight, and the last client file before the closure was submitted to the approval department, the Macau IPIM, by Annie, a colleague from Worldway Macau.
At this moment, which has been recorded in the annals of immigration history, we specifically interviewed Ms. Annie, Customer Service Manager of Worldway Macau. As a professional with over a decade of experience in the industry, Ms. Annie detailed the "past and present" of Macau investment immigration and reviewed the trials and tribulations she has faced throughout her years of immigration service work...
Avenida da Amizade is the most prosperous commercial district in Macau. The Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute is located at the WorldWay Center, 918 Avenida da Amizade, Macau. Worldway Macau has its own office unit on the 14th floor of this building, maintaining the closest possible contact with official authorities regarding information and services. It also possesses the geographical advantage of being nearby and authoritative, ensuring that investors' applications are completed quickly and efficiently.
Macau's investment immigration policy began on April 1, 1995. Based on Macau's economic development and the investment promotion policies implemented, the Macau government introduced specific incentives to attract economically beneficial investments and retain high-quality human resources. These can be broadly classified into three categories: real estate investment immigration, technical immigration, and commercial immigration. Among them, real estate investment immigration was the most popular choice. Before Macau's return to the motherland, property prices remained low, and the market had tens of thousands of vacant residential units, but real estate investment immigration applications were not very effective. The required investment amount for investment immigration was initially set at 4 million patacas, and later reduced to 1 million patacas to stimulate the sluggish property market, making the investment immigration policy a tool for some mainland families to move to Macau or for family reunions. After the Macau government decided to liberalize the gaming industry in 2002, the overall economy developed rapidly, driven by the high growth of the leading industry—tourism and gaming. As the economic outlook became clearer, the number of people coming to Macau through real estate investment immigration increased year by year. Between 2000 and 2005, there were 7,939 applications for residency through real estate investment in Macau, with a total investment of 10 billion patacas (approximately US$1.2 billion), and 27,589 people were granted residency. This finally allowed the Macau real estate market to completely shake off the downturn it had faced since 1993.
The appeal of Macau's investment immigration lay in its lower threshold, which was roughly one-quarter of that of Hong Kong. With Macau's economic takeoff and a favorable business environment, obtaining a Macau ID card was more conducive to free trade. Macau's economic development's demand for talent, the limitations of domestic birth policies on birth rates, and children's academic issues all contributed to attracting mainland immigrants to invest in Macau.
However, this sparked much controversy in the community, with many arguing that the threshold for purchasing real estate for residency was too low, leading to a large influx of immigrants and raising concerns about the various pressures it would bring to Macau. (To be continued)
