Singapore has never been a large immigration country, but in recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of people applying for investment immigration to Singapore. According to Manager Han from Suzhou Aoxing, the main reason is that more and more successful individuals are recognizing the benefits of investment immigration to Singapore, in addition to the increasing number of applicants from northern China.
Manager Han from Suzhou Aoxing stated that the changes in the investment immigration policy implemented by the Singapore government since February of this year have not affected applicants. The policy adjustments only pertain to the review of investments in the EDB fund, specifically that the Monetary Authority of Singapore has tightened the approval process for the EDB fund, which conversely benefits the investment security of investment immigrants. The policies regarding visa processing have not changed; however, the processing time will be affected, extending from the previous fastest time of 2 months to approximately 4 months.
Manager Han specifically pointed out that the Singapore government stipulates that the funds for investment immigration must be from funds related to the restructuring of listed companies, which carry very low risk. According to this investment strategy, investment immigrants will not incur losses within five years. Furthermore, the return on investment from these funds is significantly higher than bank interest rates; currently, the bank interest rate in Singapore is less than 1%, while the investment return rate for the funds is between 7% and 10%.
The number of immigrants is closely related to the overall economic situation both domestically and internationally. The financial crisis of 2008 swept across the globe, with information spreading rapidly, forcing many investors to change their strategies. At the same time, the crisis made northern domestic investors aware that Singapore is a low-risk and reputable country, extremely suitable for investment and value preservation. This has led to a surge of new immigrants to Singapore. According to Manager Han, the process for applying for investment immigration to Singapore has not changed and is generally similar to the processes in other countries. However, Singapore is the only country in the world that does not charge a visa fee for investment immigrants, while countries like Australia and Canada charge visa fees ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 RMB.
