Australia promises citizenship to rich Americans with a hefty price tag

Flush with the success of a millionaire visa programme to attract wealthy Chinese, Australia is now promising citizenship to rich Americans who are willing to bring their cash and entrepreneurial talent Down Under. But there’s a rather large catch: participants in the invitation-only Premium Investment Visa scheme will need to invest A$15 million ($11.57 million) for the privilege of becoming an Aussie. Launched earlier this month but not widely publicised, the scheme’s investment requirements easily top the existing two-year-old Significant Investor Visa (SIV) programme, which asks for a A$5 million commitment and has been especially popular with Chinese migrants.

The U.S. has some problems that Australia doesn’t have. It’s got a lot more racial crimes, it’s got a lot more gun-related crimes, but I don’t think that is going to drive a whole bunch of ultra-rich Americans out of their country.

Bill Fuggle, a partner at law firm Baker & McKenzie.

Investment advisors who have been briefed on the plan by government officials expressed doubts about the wisdom of targeting Americans, with several telling Reuters the more obvious place to start was Australia’s Asian neighbours. The programme, which does not have any residency requirement, allows would-be migrants to invest pretty much anywhere except housing. In comparison, Significant Investor Visa holders must put at least 40 percent of their A$5 million investments in risky small-cap and venture capital funds, and be an Australian resident for 40 days a year for four years.

Australia has long been a place of innovative ideas, research and development, but has often lacked the capital, depth of entrepreneurial talent or scale to commercialise our ideas successfully.

The Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) said in a statement.

Asia-Pacific