By Kalyan Kumar, International Business Times |
By Kalyan Kumar, International Business Times |
Canada’s ambitious pilot immigration program for attracting super millionaires have drawn a muted response. In the past six months, since the program started, there were only six applicants, which is nothing compared to the former investor class immigration program. The latter was scrapped in 2014, amid criticism that it allowed wealthy Chinese to buy their way into Canada.
Referring to the poor response to the program, named “Immigrant Investor Venture Capital scheme,” an immigration lawyer said “it is poorly designed.” Richard Kurland, a Vancouver based immigration lawyer said he received this information when he filed an Access to Information request, seeking the data on the new immigration plan for the rich. The federal government had started accepting applications in January.
In December 2014, Canada announced that it was looking for 50 wealthy foreigners to join the pilot run of the IIIVC to attract applicants far richer than those who have already entered under the previous program. The previous Immigrant Investor Program was scrapped even while a huge backlog of applications were existing at Canada’s Hong Kong consulate from mainland Chinese.
Kurland quipped that the revamped program will “wither on the vine and quietly go away” because of the low demand from would-be immigrants. He sees two reasons for it. One is the high price tag and second is the uncertainty about investment.
Program To Stay
Though the initial response is looking poor, an official at the Citizenship and Immigration department said, there is no question of the government reverting to the previous investor class visa. “We believe it is important to continue testing demand, because we know that the IIVC pilot program can deliver significant benefit to Canada,” the official said.
The ambitious new program envisages would-be immigrants to invest a minimum of CA$2 million in Canada for a 15-year period. They must also have a net worth minimum of at least C$10 million. Other include their requirement to speak English or French. “Few were prepared to throw good money away, and C$2 million dollars is a lot of money to get a visa. There was no monitoring oversight and control after the investment is made … (and so) this is not a wise financial decision to take. I’m not surprised to see just six takers,” Kurland noted.