Less than six years after the launch of an overseas investment immigration program, ACB NEWS Australia-China Finance and Economics reported on May 28 that it had already received A $9.87 billion in "money", while more than 8 people in Chengdu were from China. This is Australia's major investor visa program (SIV) launched in November 2012, with foreigners investing A $5 million in Australia (initially mandated to invest in cash funds). Non-venture financial assets such as state government bond funds and bond funds, which were revised in 2015 and raised venture capital requirements), can be converted to Australian permanent residency after obtaining a four-year visa while maintaining an investment period of at least four years.
As of March 31, 2018, 1974 SIV visas had been issued, receiving a total of 9.87 billion Australian dollars (47.6 billion yuan), according to the latest data released by Australia's Home Office in late April. Moreover, since its launch, China has been the largest source of SIV applicants, accounting for 88.1 percent of applicants as of March 31, 2018, and 86.5 percent of successful SIV applicants.
Proportionally, more than 1700 rich Chinese families emigrated to Australia over the past five years.
A decline in investor interest after the rise in investment plan risk
"half of the clients we usually contact are from overseas, and about 80 percent of these customers are SIV immigrants from China, most of them are business owners / businessmen, the first group are Chinese developers, and in recent years there is an education industry. Businessmen in various industries, such as health care and automobiles, aged between 45 and 65, are mostly from the southern coast. Recently, I also saw some new technology startups emigrate to Australia, many people in their twenties, the crowd showed a younger trend, and their industries tended to be novel. For example, one of our recent new customers is the gold medal seller of Taobao. Also met more people from the north and the central and western regions of China. The prices of our top-tier properties range from A $5 million to A $30 million, and people who invest in A $5 million typically buy about A $20 million in real estate. " Melbourne high-end real estate brokerage firm Kay&Burton partner, head of the international division of Mijie said.
But the popular "strong money-sucking" immigration program has recently shown signs of falling short of expectations.
From July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018, an average of 15 SIV visas were issued from July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018, according to Australia's government. In the previous fiscal year, from July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2017, an average of 34 SIV visas were issued monthly, with a total of 405 SIV visas issued. Between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, a total of 552 SIV visas were issued, or an average of 46 visas a month. In addition, data show that the first three years of the policy issued a total of 879 visas.
It is understood that the project did not meet expectations mainly because Australia adjusted the investment requirements, raising the risk of A $5 million investment, which has deterred some Chinese investors.
In 2015, Australia's government revised the SIV investment rules. As of July 1, 2015, SIV investment must meet the following requirements, investing at least A $ five hundred thousand in venture capital funds or growth private equity funds. To promote the growth of start-up and small private companies in Australia; At least A $1.5 million will be invested in emerging Australian Stock Exchange listed companies, and the remaining A $3 million will be invested in "flexible portfolio" funds, which can be made by corporate bonds. Annuity fund and real estate fund mix composition (investment residential real estate limit is 10%).
As for the reasons for the decline in investment interest among Chinese immigrants, industry insiders analyzed that initially, because there were no local requirements for investment targets, Chinese clients were conservative in their investments, preferring bonds and even bank deposits. We also had this partnership with one of the country's top four, customizing the bank's savings-based products with Australian government bonds for domestic customers. There is now a mandatory requirement to invest in venture capital funds, which has a greater impact on the willingness of clients to invest, a level of exposure that is less in line with Chinese investors' risk preferences.
In addition to the changes in the conditions of the project itself, there are other factors. China, for example, has tightened controls on capital departures in recent years, while Australia's review process has tightened. Under the above-mentioned factors, the original processing time is about one year, and now it will take about one year and a half to two years.
Some Australian authorities have pointed to the risks associated with potential SIV projects because it is difficult to identify the real source of funding.
Productivity Council: SIV "not cost-effective", recommended to the Federal government to abolish it
Although Australia's government has had an operation on SIV with additional restrictions, like the US EB-5 visa, Australia's SIV visa has been questioned even after the reform.
In September 2016, the Productivity Commission published a report evaluating Australia's immigration system, which specifically criticized the SIV visa, arguing that the existing SIV had the following loopholes and flaws in its design. "the economic benefits of SIV are small and are mainly owned by visa holders and fund managers," the report said. Overall, the reasons for retaining this visa are inadequate. "
It is clear that the Productivity Commission's attitude towards the SIV is largely negative, and in the recommendations section it is clear: "the Australian government should abolish the SIV visa."
If the Australian government does not abolish this visa, how will it be reformed? In response to the shortcomings identified, the report's recommendations for "rectification" are twofold: one is to increase the transparency of compliance with the visa to convince the public that it is not suspected of money-laundering; Second, the level of English, age and entrepreneurs can put forward minimum requirements.
To sum up, money needs to be legal, and people need talent.
It is hard to say that the tightening of immigration policy is going on, and the A $5 million alone cannot be exchanged for an Australian green card?-it is possible.
According to the estimates of the Productivity Commission, according to the current rate of immigration growth, Australia's population will reach 40 million by 2060 from the current 24 million, with a 50% increase in per capita real income. If immigration is not introduced at all, the population will then be 27 million, Real income per capita increased by 42%. In other words, the impact on real income per capita is only 8 per cent different between the introduction of large numbers of immigrants and the total absence of migrants.
How long will Australia's government, along with the White House on the "anti-globalisation" road, let SIV live? Perhaps you can use German Foreign Minister Steinmeier's words to consider this: Trump's inauguration means that "the old order of the 20th century is over, the order of the 21st century and how the world will be in the future is not yet certain, and everything is possible."
The Immigration Board reviewed the investment immigration policy, and SIV will have a major operation.
In July 2017, the Australian Immigration Service issued a document to immigration lawyers and agencies to review the investment immigration policy.
"the Immigration and Border Protection Agency is reviewing Australian business, investment and talent visas," the document said. The review will assess whether these visa programs will enable Australia to attract the best business migrants, entrepreneurs, investors and talented people who will make a valuable contribution. We invite the Australian public to submit their views on the existing project and to convey the relevant message to us. "
ACB News has learned that, from the documents, the Australian Immigration Service will conduct a comprehensive and systematic review of existing business, investment and talent visas. The scope of this review includes:
1188 Business Innovation and Investment Visa category 888, covering the following:
a. Business innovation
b. Investo
c. Major investo
d. High-end investo
e. Entrepreneu
2132 Category visas, including the following:
a. Important business history
b. risk investment
3124 and 858 Outstanding Talent Visa
4405 temporary Investment Retirement Visa