Investment Immigration

Hong Kong Government allows the applicants to engage a certified public accountant who must be a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants to assist them in proving that they meet the conditions of immigration application.

Qualifications for Applying Capital Investment Entrant Scheme ("CIES").

• The applicant must be aged 18 or above and have no criminal record
• The applicant must have net assets of at least HK$10 million for 2 years immediately before his/her application.
• The applicant must invest at least HK$10 million in the investment products authorized by the Hong Kong Government

Role of Certified Public Accountant (Practising)

As set out in paragraph 2.1(b) of the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme ("CIES"), an applicant has to meet the eligibility criteria, among others, that he has Net assets or Net equity to which he is absolutely beneficially entitled with a Market value of not less than HK$10 million Net throughout the two years preceding the date he lodged his application for Approval-in-Principle or Formal Approval.

To streamline the procedure and to shorten the processing time, with effect from 16 March 2009, applicants under the "CIES" may at their own cost engage a Certified Public Accountant (Practising) ("CPA (Practising)") who is a member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants to issue a report to demonstrate that they meet the requirement of paragraph 2.1(b) of the Scheme Rules. The report may be submitted to the Immigration Department together with the CIES application form. The new arrangement is also applicable to applications submitted before the implementation date.