

While it’s not quite as cheap as the Cyprus EU residency permit (which will only set you back $393,000) a new Australian visa will be music to incredibly wealthy Chinese ears.

From Nov. 24, Australia will accept applications under a new program, known as the Significant Investor Visa scheme, aimed at attracting the world’s wealthy to make the move and park their money Down Under. The only catch is that the A$5 million must be invested in state and territory Australian government debt, privately-owned Australian companies and managed funds that invest in Australian assets regulated by the Australian Securities & Investment Commission for four years.

Consultants expect no shortage of takers especially from China, which is seeing an increasing flow of wealthy citizens sending money overseas, investing in assets as diverse as condos in Cyprus, or education for children overseas. A Wall Street Journal analysis of these flows suggests that in the 12 months through September, about US$225 billion headed out of China, equivalent to about 3% of the nation’s economic output last year.

As a sweetener, Australia’s government has cut residency requirements from two years to 160 days over a four-year period, giving business migrants significantly greater flexibility than a decade ago.

Some people might say that the creation of a loophole for the super-rich in Australia’s notoriously strict and borderline xenophobic immigration law is an utterly cynical, grasping move. Those people would be right.

If anyone was under any doubt who the visas were aimed at, their category number in the Australian immigration system is “888“.





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