Significant Investor Visa Forum – Wanda Sofitel Hotel in Beijing on the 24th of June.

The Evolve Team visited China for two weeks during the month of June to attend the Australia – China Trade and Investment Expo and to also take part in the Significant Investor Visa Forum hosted by the Migration Institute of Australia at the Wanda Sofitel Hotel in Beijing (SIV Forum).

The SIV Forum was well attended by various industry professionals,  representatives from Australian State and Territory Governments and representatives from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)  in Hong Kong.

Erica Biddle (Consul, Immigration) presented on behalf of the DIBP in Hong Kong (being the DIBP office responsible for processing SIV/188C visas for applicants in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). Ms Biddle shared some valuable insights from her experience in dealing with SIV applications received by the DIBP in Hong Kong. Particularly, the following statistics are of note:

• the current processing time standard is 9 months and this has generally been met in practice;

• 873 SIV applications have been received by the Hong Kong office with 327 applications finalised;

• of the 327 finalised applications, 225 visas were granted, 32 applications refused and 70 applications withdrawn. This represents a success rate of roughly 90%; and

• as at 31 May 2014:

  • 90.4% of SIV applicants were from mainland China and 85.5% of visa grants were to Chinese nationals;

  • 1446 expressions of interest have been submitted; and

  • a total of $1.275 billion have been invested in Australia by way of SIV complying investments

The trip also gave members of the Evolve Team the opportunity to meet existing clients and further develop relationships with key industry stakeholders across various Chinese cities including Chong Qing, Hang Zhou, Ning Bo, Xiang Shan and Beijing.

Until next time – the Evolve Team