Keywords: Price Hikes
2010 can be described as the year with the most significant adjustments to investment immigration policies across various countries. Throughout this year, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore all raised their investment thresholds without exception, with the highest investment amounts doubling. However, the investment immigration market did not cool down due to these price hikes; on the contrary, it showed unprecedented popularity, with many immigration agencies reporting that their consultation volumes doubled compared to the previous year. In this issue, our reporters provide a detailed review of several major immigration countries.
Canada: Increased from approximately 5.4 million RMB to approximately 10.8 million RMB
Canadian investment immigration has always been a mainstream choice in the investment immigration market. Due to the rising number of applicants year by year, the rumors of a "price hike" from two years ago finally became reality on June 26 of this year. According to the latest policy: the investment requirement for investment immigration applicants has increased from the previous 400,000 CAD (approximately 2.7 million RMB) to 800,000 CAD (approximately 5.4 million RMB); the investment period remains 5 years, with the investment funds guaranteed by the government and returned without interest after 5 years; the net asset requirement for investment immigration applicants has increased from the current 800,000 CAD (approximately 5.4 million RMB) to 1.6 million CAD (approximately 10.8 million RMB).
It is worth noting that to avoid a backlog caused by processing old and new applications together, the Canadian immigration department will separate the review of new and old cases but process them simultaneously. It is reported that the first 1,000 applications will have priority in processing, with one old-law application processed for every two new-law applications. This measure may accelerate the review speed, and the processing time for applications submitted under the new law will be significantly shortened, with the fastest "Green Card" acquisition taking one year.
Hong Kong: Increased from the original 6.5 million HKD to 10 million HKD
The Hong Kong SAR government announced an increase in the investment threshold for the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, raising it from the original 6.5 million HKD to 10 million HKD. Real estate projects will be temporarily removed from the asset classes eligible for the investment immigration scheme, with this new policy effective from October 14, 2010. After the removal of real estate projects, applicants wishing to complete the 10 million HKD investment can only invest in financial products such as stocks, funds, bonds, and certificates of deposit.
Industry insiders generally believe that compared to similar overseas programs, the revised plan remains competitive. Regardless of how Hong Kong's residency policy changes, Hong Kong remains an excellent choice for mainlanders to settle. There are no birth restrictions, and children born in Hong Kong can obtain an SAR passport; with Hong Kong status, one can apply for prestigious domestic universities with lower scores and easily study abroad; it is simple to establish international companies in Hong Kong, and products can enter mainland China with zero tariffs; there are more international job opportunities and greater room for development; and the Hong Kong SAR passport allows visa-free entry to over 140 countries and regions.
In early August of this year, Singapore also saw a wave of price hikes. Starting from October 1, 2010, the requirement for the annual turnover of the applicant's company increased from 10 million SGD to 30 million SGD; starting from January 1, 2011, in addition to maintaining the 30 million SGD turnover requirement for the applicant's company, the applicant's investment amount also increased from 1.5 million SGD to 2.5 million SGD.
The Singapore government stipulates that Singapore residents must pay taxes on income earned in Singapore. Income derived from outside Singapore that is received in Singapore due to employment by a Singaporean enterprise must also be taxed according to the law.
However, overseas income obtained by resident individuals is not subject to tax. Singapore implements a progressive tax rate system. After deducting personal income tax reliefs, personal income tax rates remain between 0-20%. Furthermore, resident individuals are entitled to personal income tax reliefs for items such as child maintenance, professional training fees, insurance premiums, and Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions. As Singapore is one of the developed countries with the lowest tax rates in the world, it has long been known as a "paradise for the rich," attracting wealthy individuals from China to immigrate.
Singapore: 2011 investment amount increased from 1.5 million SGD to 2.5 million SGD
US EB-5: The most affordable investment immigration
To attract more foreign capital, US study and immigration policies have been unprecedentedly relaxed. The requirements for the US EB-5 investment immigration program are very loose; as long as one invests 500,000 USD (approximately 3.32 million RMB) in an investment immigration project designated by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, one can apply for immigration. Moreover, there are almost no requirements for the source of funds; as long as the investor can prove that the source of funds is legal, they are not restricted by age, education level, business background, or language ability.
3.32 million RMB can be said to be a very low threshold, and the biggest hit in the 2010 investment immigration market was the United States.
Tips: In an environment of rising prices, choosing the right project is key
No immigration policy is fixed. Immigration countries often change their immigration policies after making comprehensive considerations based on domestic economic development, especially the employment situation, and these policies are basically adjusted upward periodically. In other words, with the current surge in the number of immigration applications, the thresholds for immigration policies in various countries have a trend of continuously rising. Therefore, when all countries are raising their immigration thresholds, how to choose a project becomes the top priority. In addition, grasping the timing is very important. Some immigration policies are introduced with certain precursors. For the vast number of applicants, it is necessary to identify opportunities and make decisions decisively. Applying for immigration has a certain cycle, so to avoid being caught by new immigration policies, try to plan as early as possible.
Skilled Immigration
Keywords: Tightening
Compared with investment immigration, skilled immigration has lower costs and shorter cycles, but it has strict requirements for the applicant's language ability, work experience, and the conditions of their spouse. Compared with previous years, this year all countries have shown a trend of tightening skilled immigration.
Canada
Occupational categories reduced, Chinese immigrants affected
In November of this year, the Canadian federal immigration department also adjusted its priority occupation immigration policy, reducing the original 38 priority occupation categories to 29, deleting 20 original ones while adding 11 new ones. In addition, the immigration department requires all applicants for skilled immigration and the Canadian Experience Class to submit independent, recognized English test scores, and no longer accepts any written submissions. Based on the needs of Canada's job market, the 38 priority occupation immigration policy formulated in November 2008 was adjusted, retaining 18 of the original 38 occupations, deleting the remaining 20, and adding 11 new occupational categories.
It is reported that in the first three months of 2010, a large number of new applications flooded in. Within three months, the immigration department received 33,190 applications, exceeding the processing capacity of the immigration department. If not channeled in time, a backlog would occur again, so the immigration department needed to make adjustments in time.
Regarding the federal immigration department's adjustment of the priority occupation immigration program, immigration experts believe that it will affect a large number of applicants from mainland China.
Australia
Policy tightening leads to a decrease in the number of international students
The major adjustment to Australia's skilled immigration policy in March this year is considered by the industry to be the most significant adjustment in more than a decade. This adjustment not only means that the difficulty of applying for Australian skilled immigration has increased significantly, but even those students who hold the idea of "studying abroad first and then immigrating" are also affected. Studying in Australia is no longer a simple stepping stone to immigrating to Australia. People in the study abroad industry also stated that the concept of studying in Australia will change from now on.
Although the Australian immigration department has made many minor adjustments to immigration policies over the years, they were only minor adjustments and did not have a major impact on overall skilled immigration applicants. However, this adjustment can be described as a major overhaul, involving adjustments in many aspects such as the skilled occupation list for points, review procedures, and the points-based system. These include: abolishing the existing shortage occupation list, which formally canceled the 15-point shortage occupation bonus; adjusting the priority processing order for skilled immigration visas; and reviewing the points system for skilled immigration visa applications, etc.
The adjustments in the above aspects reveal that Australian immigration is no longer a low-threshold entry. The Australian government prefers talents with higher English proficiency and academic qualifications. At the same time, skilled immigration guaranteed by Australian state governments will also be protected to a certain extent.
United Kingdom
High-skilled immigration begins to implement a quota system
In July of this year, a policy restricting high-skilled immigration in the UK also began to be implemented. This new policy is mainly aimed at high-skilled immigrants. In the global environment where immigration sentiment is tightening, even the UK, which is not an immigration country itself, has recently stepped forward, stating that it will restrict the quota for high-skilled immigrants and emphasizing that this restriction only applies to students and workers from non-EU countries.
The quota system is allocated from annual quotas to monthly quotas. According to the new policy, the UK immigration department will allocate quotas for approved high-skilled immigration applicants to British visa offices in various countries every month. Once the number of people granted visas in a month equals the quota, subsequent visa applications will be automatically assigned to the next month for review. Once the cumulative annual quota is full, the UK immigration department will advise applicants not to submit immigration applications anymore. With the implementation of this quota system, the scoring standard for high-skilled immigration will also be increased from 95 points to 100 points.
Recently, the UK also announced the first immigration quota cap plan implemented by the government, limiting the number of skilled immigrants from outside the EU to 21,700. The plan will be implemented starting in April 2011. The British government wants to reduce the net number of immigrants coming to the UK to tens of thousands per year by 2015.
