Australia Ends Wealthy Chinese ‘Golden Ticket’ Visa Scheme
The Australian government has decided to abolish a visa scheme that was intended to attract wealthy Chinese nationals as part of a significant overhaul of the country’s migration system, the Home Affairs Minister stated in an interview with NCA NewsWire on Jan. 22.
Applications for the significant investor visa, which allowed wealthy foreigners to quickly gain Australian permanent residency if they invested $5 million (US$3.3 million) in the country, have been paused, according to Minister Clare O’Neil.
O’Neil explained that the visa program, also known as the “golden ticket,” was part of a “broken” migration system that the Labor government needed to address as it wasn’t generating what the country and its economy required from a migration system.
“The investor visa is one of many aspects of the system which we are reforming to create a system which delivers for our country,” she said.
Ms. O’Neil had first announced the termination of the scheme in September 2022, pointing out that it had created problems for the immigration system by allowing foreign individuals to essentially buy their way into the country.
Two months ago, the Australian government introduced a 10-year migration reform which included measures to reshape temporary and permanent skilled migration to fulfill skills needs and drive long-term economic growth, while also enhancing the integrity and quality of international education, and addressing the issues of worker exploitation and visa system misuse.
The ‘Troubled’ Visa Scheme
The significant investor visa was established under the Gillard government in 2012 and gave a lucky number of 888 according to Chinese numerology. It allowed foreign investors to drastically shorten their visa processing time compared to other investment visas by investing a minimum of $5 million in a mix of property, government bonds, and local businesses. The visa also did not require English language proficiency, nor was it subject to age restrictions.
Data from the Department of Home Affairs showed that as of June 30, 2020, 2,349 significant investor visas had been granted since the program’s inception, with Chinese investors accounting for 84.9 percent of the cases. The scheme attracted around $11.8 billion in investments that met the requirements.
However, there were concerns about the visa scheme, with 26,000 foreign nationals obtaining permanent residency, and approximately 20,000 being Chinese investors. The report recommended the federal government abolish the scheme due to its proneness to fraud and less favorable impacts compared to other immigrant groups.
There have also been concerns that the visa scheme has opened the way for “dirty money” from corrupt foreign officials and members of organized crime groups to flow into Australia.
Several other Western countries have scrapped similar schemes due to inefficiency and concerns about attracting illicit funds. Australia is one of the latest nations to crack down on such programs due to growing global scrutiny.
