in Citizenship by Investment by Prabhu Balakrishnan on June 15, 2017

The Australian Significant Investor visa (SIV) scheme aka “golden visa” offers quick and easy path to permanent residency in Australia to international investors who invest AUD$ 5 million for 4 years in Australia.

The Australian SIV 188C Visa has number of benefits such as:

Low residency requirement (40 days per year for primary applicant)

No English requirement

No age limit

No points testing

Fast processing (Visa grants far quicker than other countries)

Money can be gifted to spouse to become primary applicant

Dependent children as sub-applicants

Due to low residency requirement, the applicant doesn’t need to be an Australian resident for tax purposes.

Ability to extend provisional visa by 2 x 2 year extensions

Australian citizenship after 4 years of holding lawful permanent residence.

The following are the breakdown of $5 million investment solutions which qualify for the Significant Investor Visa (SIV), being:

At least $500,000 in eligible Australian venture capital or growth private equity (VCPE) fund(s) investing in start-up and small private companies. The government expects to increase this to $1 million for new applications within two years as the market responds;

in eligible Australian venture capital or growth private equity (VCPE) fund(s) investing in start-up and small private companies. The government expects to increase this to $1 million for new applications within two years as the market responds; At least $1.5 million in an eligible managed fund(s) or listed investment companies (LICs) that invest in emerging companies; and,

in an eligible managed fund(s) or listed investment companies (LICs) that invest in emerging companies; and, A ‘balancing investment’ of up to $3 million in managed fund(s) or LICs that invest in a combination of eligible assets that include Australian listed securities, eligible corporate bonds or notes, annuities and real property (subject to the 10 per cent limit on residential real estate).

Chinese are the major investors in Australian golden visa scheme.

The table below shows SIV statistics from 1 July 2016 to 31 March 2017.

Item Total Expressions of Interest (EOI) submitted through SkillSelect 351 Invitations to apply for a SIV issued as a result of applicants being nominated by a state or territory government 323 Primary applications lodged 281 Primary visas granted (subject to regulations post 1 July 2015) 131 Primary visas granted (subject to regulations prior to 1 July 2015) 213

As of 31 March 2017:

1778 SIV visas have been granted from the commencement of the programme on 24 November 2012. 1623 (subject to regulations prior to 1 July 2015) 155 (subject to regulations post 1 July 2015)

AUD 8.890 billion has been invested in Complying Investments.

The table below shows government sponsor distribution of the SIV.

Significant Investor visa: Government sponsor distribution – 1 July 2016 to 31 March 2017.

State Expressions of Interest (EOI) submitted through SkillSelect Invitation Applications lodged Visas granted

(application lodged prior to 1 July 2015) Visas granted

(application lodged on or after 1 July 2015) Any 7 N/A N/A N/A N/A Austrade <7 <5 <5 0 <5 ACT <5 0 0 0 0 NSW 121 115 100 50 43 NT <5 0 0 0 0 QLD 19 18 15 5 <5 SA 8 7 5 8 0 TAS 0 0 <5 0 0 VIC 179 178 156 146 84 WA 5 <5 <5 <5 <5 Total 351 323 281 213 131

The table below shows the distribution of primary visa applications and visa grants for the top five source countries from the commencement of the programme – 24 November 2012 – 31 March 2017 for the SIV.

Applicants for top

five source countries Percentage of total

visa applications Grants for top

five source countries Percentage of total

visas granted China 89.3 China 88.0 Hong Kong 3.2 Hong Kong 2.9 Malaysia 1.2 Malaysia 1.3 South Africa 0.8 South Africa 1.2 Vietnam 0.7 Vietnam 1.0

Source: https://www.border.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/work-in-australia/significant-investor-visa-statistics#









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