Recent figures released by Hong Kong authorities show a decline in the number of Hong Kong emigrants leaving for popular destinations like Canada, Australia and the United States, whereas figures released by Taiwanese authorities show that the number of people from Hong Kong applying to move to Taiwan has been increasing steadily.
In 2014, only 4,900 people from Hong Kong reportedly moved to Australia, Canada and the US, which is the lowest numbers of emigrants from Hong Kong to these countries in the past ten years. While Canada’s share dropped from 1,000 to 800 in 2014, Australia recorded a 13% decline in the number of Hong Kong immigrants, down to 1,900. The number moving to the US on the other hand increased by 300 to 2,200.
According to Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency, the year 2014 saw the state recording the highest number of residency applications from Hong Kong nationals over the past 20 years – a total of 7,498, with 697 of them qualifying for long-term residency.
Cheung Ka-hei of the Goldmax Immigration Consulting Hong Kong has said that besides the usual popular destinations, increasing numbers of Hong Kong residents have been choosing Taiwan and other Asian destinations for permanent residency.
Immigration experts suggest that the increasing demand for Taiwanese residency can be attributed to the fact that the amount of investment required to get permanent residence in Taiwan was considerably cheaper than similar options available in European countries and the US. At the moment, it costs about US$315,000 in investment to move to Taiwan. However according to Cheung, it was China’s ‘Occupy Central’ movement and the resulting unrest last year that caused many Hong Kong residents to consider moving to Taiwan.
The Hong Kong Security Bureau has however clarified that the emigration figures stated above only reflected the number of people who applied for police clearance certificates for their immigration applications and therefore do not show the exact numbers of people who actually emigrated to various overseas destinations.
Source: Want China Times