- Written by Hannah Ritchie
- BBC News, Sydney
The scheme was originally marketed as a way to stimulate foreign investment
Australia has abolished the so-called “golden visa”, which gave wealthy foreign investors the right to live in the country.
The goal of this program was to attract foreign business, but it was stopped as part of a comprehensive immigration reform after the government found that it “achieved poor economic results.”
Critics have long argued that the scheme is used by “corrupt officials” to “raise illicit funds.”
They will be replaced by more visas for skilled workers.
Thousands of Significant Investor Visas (SIV) have been granted through the program since 2012, with 85% of successful applicants coming from China according to government data.
Marketed as a way to stimulate foreign investment and foster innovation, candidates had to invest more than A$5 million (£2.6 million; $3.3 million) in Australia to be eligible.
After multiple reviews, the government found that the scheme failed to achieve its basic objectives. In a policy document released in December, she announced she would scrap them, focusing instead on creating more visas for “skilled migrants” who can “make significant contributions to Australia”.
“It has been clear for years that this visa does not deliver what our country and economy need,” Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neill said in a statement on Monday.
Clancy Moore, chief executive of Transparency International Australia, welcomed the move, telling the BBC: “For too long, corrupt officials and rulers have used golden visas as a way to deposit their illicit funds in Australia and hide their proceeds.” of crime.”
The program has already come under intense scrutiny for alleged “loopholes” and “vulnerabilities.” Bill Browder, widely credited as being responsible for creating the Magnitsky Act, a US law designed to target individuals for abuses committed abroad, also criticized the scheme.
In 2016, a government investigation raised concerns that it had “potential for money laundering and other nefarious activities”, while in 2022 The Australian newspaper reported that members of Hun Sen’s regime in Cambodia were among the bad actors who exploited the regime.
The government investigation also found that the visas were bringing people to Australia with “less business acumen” than they could have otherwise, while offering tax concessions that were costing the public.
Some asset managers have disputed these valuations, arguing that the subsequent investment from structured investment vehicles ended up being much more than the A$5 million purchase.
Australia now joins the UK, which has scrapped a scheme providing fast-track residency for the super-rich in 2022, over concerns about the flow of illicit Russian money.
So-called golden visa programs have also come under scrutiny in Malta, which grants fast-track citizenship to wealthy non-EU citizens. In 2022, an investigation found that visas were being granted after people had spent just days in the island nation, while the European Union raised concerns about the risks of money laundering, tax evasion and corruption.