Immigrant investor programs
Immigrant Investor Programs are programs designed to attract foreign capital and business people by providing the right of residence and citizenship in return. They are generally established by highly developed, first-world countries whose citizenship is therefore desirable. Immigrant investor programs usually have multiple criteria that must be fulfilled for the investment to qualify, often pertaining to job creation or specific targeted industries. The U.S. EB-5 visa program requires overseas applicants to invest a minimum of anywhere from $500,000 to $1 million, depending on the location of project, and requires at least 10 jobs to be either created or preserved.[1] When these criteria are met, the applicant and their family become eligible for a green card. There is an annual cap of 10,000 applications under the EB5 program.[2]
Similar programs exist for many countries that are either highly developed or provide legal and tax advantages. Other countries with immigrant investor programs include the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, St. Kitts and Nevis, Malta, Cyprus, Belgium and others. St. Kitts and Nevis offers its own economic citizenship program through a qualified real estate purchase or investment into its Sugar Industry Diversification Foundation.
A large majority of users of such programs are wealthy Chinese seeking legal security and a better quality of life outside of their home country. More than three-quarters of the applicants to Canada's (since canceled) immigrant investor program were Chinese.[3]
Quebec Investor Program The Quebec government said it would accept a maximum of 1750 applications to the Immigrant Investor Program during the period of January 5 to 20, 2015. Applicants with an intermediate-advanced aptitude in French are not subject to the cap and may apply at any time.[4][5]