The 888 Visa (or “Golden Ticket” Visa as it is now known) is starting to be utilised.
The visa allows migrants to secure permanent residency by investing $5 million in Australia – other features:
- No English language test.
- No age limit.
- The applicant needs to live in Australia for a minimum of (only) 40 days a year for four years.
- The applicant gets to re-invest the money and dictate to a certain degree how the $5 million is to be spent.
- State guidelines must be met – New South Wales is competing for the wealthy migrants and is trying to ensure that $1.5 million from every $5 million is invested in a Waratah Bond (state infrastructure), whilst Registered Migration Agents are still waiting on the Victorian government to release it’s guidelines.
Organisations such as Ord Minnett, Macquarie Cash Fund, Otan and Nab Private Wealth have their sights squarely set on the massive pool of funds which are likely to be worth a whopping $3.5 billion a year. This means that investments banks and consulting firms are now spending a good proportion of their time positioning themselves for the golden ticket visa.
The overwhelming majority of all potential 888 investor visa ‘golden ticket’ applicants are nouveau riche Chinese. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that migrants from ‘Asia, India, South America, Russia and Taiwan are also keen’.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison MP is insisting that legislative requirements should focus on entrepreneurship and economic value, not just capital.
Interest in the new visa – referred to as the “golden ticket visa” among migration agents – is strong, according to most of the agents interviewed by Fairfax Media.
With an estimated 700 new Significant Investor visas set to be approved each year that is a huge amount of money coming into our economy.
Chinese wealth research group Hurun, publish a China Rich List every year, which reports that China now has more than 1 million millionaires and 85 per cent of them plan to send their children overseas to be educated….. Australia is on their target list.