The growth of 'investment migration' businesses has been driven by the urge of many newly well-off Chinese citizens to emigrate. More than 80 countries offer schemes in which fast-track residence rights ('golden visas') or even citizenship ('golden passports') are available to foreigners who invest large sums. However, the closure of some schemes in recent years highlights the controversial nature of these arrangements.
As long as it has been accepted in China that 'to get rich is glorious', it has also been known that to, too. The urge felt by many newly well-off Chinese citizens to emigrate has been a big reason for the growth of 'investment migration' businesses.
According to the Investment Migration Council, a lobby for the industry, more than 80 countries offer schemes in which fast-track residence rights ('golden visas'), or even citizenship ('golden passports'), are available to foreigners who invest large sums. The most popular has been America's, where the waiting-list for Chinese applicants reached 15 years in 2022. For tiny countries such as Vanuatu and St Kitts and Nevis citizenship-by-investment schemes are important sources of foreign exchange. China is the biggest source of demand, but far from the only one. People all over the world want to move countries—to flee persecution, political instability or, in some cases, justice. Many simply hope to secure a better education for their children or to work somewhere with a pleasant climate and good cuisine. The money they bring to their host countries seems to make such arrangements a win-win. Yet, as the closure in recent years of a number of schemes demonstrates, they are highly controversial. In every country the question of who has the right to live there is a sensitive one. But for the European Union (EU) in particular golden visas raise fundamental issues
Investment Migration Golden Visas Citizenship-By-Investment Emigration Controversy
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