//The scheme excludes mainland Chinese residents, but Benny Cheung Ka-hei, director of Goldmax Immigration Consulting, said he expected a strong response from wealthy mainlanders who would simply obtain permanent residence from an African country to meet the entry criteria.
“Usually mainland Chinese account for most applicants, so the entrant scheme will appeal to those who want residency in Hong Kong while keeping close ties with the mainland,” he said.
On mainland social media platform Xiaohongshu, many visa agents began posting advertisements about the entrant scheme right after the announcement. While some users wanted more information, others complained about the relatively high investment threshold.
“We’ll still have to wait seven years for permanent residence even after investing HK$30 million,” one user wrote. “That’s totally unattractive. I’d rather choose permanent residence in the US, Canada or Australia.”
Cheung, however, noted the Hong Kong scheme was more attractive than Singapore’s.
“The Singapore scheme is very complex, involving risky investments with a greater threshold and other conditions such as having to create jobs,” he said.
“The investment options under Hong Kong’s scheme are simpler and all applicants need to do is to put their money in low-risk financial assets such as bonds.”
He added that in Singapore, the sons of permanent residents would have to do compulsory national service.//
