As China's rich grow in numbers, so do their mobile aspirations


By Jaime A. Florcruz, CNN
November 12, 2011 -- Updated 0807 GMT (1607 HKT
Editor's note: "Jaime's China" is a weekly column about Chinese society and politics. Jaime FlorCruz has lived and worked in China since 1971. He studied Chinese history at Peking University (1977-81) and served as TIME Magazine's Beijing correspondent and bureau chief (1982-2000).
(CNN) -- Despite the global financial crisis, China's rich are getting richer.
"As of April this year, China has 960,000 millionaires with personal assets of 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million)," says Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman of the Hurun Research Institute, which compiles China's rich list.
"It has 60,000 super-rich with 100 million yuan assets, and their numbers keep growing," he says.
The newly affluent are getting more outwardly mobile, too.
Nearly half of them are thinking of emigrating overseas, according to a Hurun Research Institute report. About 14 per cent of them have or are in the process of applying for emigration, it said.
"In Chinese, emigration refers also to getting a permanent residency, or a 'green card'," Hoogewerf explains. "We estimate this to make up 80% of the total who want to 'emigrate'."
Many businessmen are capitalizing on this trend. Among them is Larry Wang, founder and chairman of Well Trend United Inc, one of the leading immigration consulting companies in China.
Born and bred in Beijing, Wang went to Canada in 1985 for post-graduate studies. He stayed until 1995 when he decided to return to Beijing.
"China's economy then was changing rapidly," he recalled. "I asked myself, what does Canada have to offer China? Maple syrup and immigration. I couldn't sell syrup so I got into the immigration business."
His business has grown the past 17 years.
Well Trend now employs 500 people who work in 10 major cities across China, handling immigration and student visa applications. The company charges 12,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan to help clients secure student and immigrant visas.
"Over the years we've helped more than 10,000 applicants for immigration," Wang says, including many millionaires.
But why are China's newly affluent seeking to emigrate? Some do so for convenience, experts say.
"A foreign passport makes it a lot easier for them to travel around the world," Wang says. "They don't want to go through tedious visa applications all the time."
China's new rich -- a mixed group of Red capitalists, young tycoons and up-and-coming "fuerdai" (second-generation capitalist scions) -- are typically cosmopolitan and tech-savvy, frequent travelers who are willing to pay a premium for convenience.
They are also ready to spend on education for their children to give them a competitive edge in a new kind of rat race, in which millions of Chinese are striving for advancement.
Wang remembers the case of Liu Weijie, 44, an old client who emigrated to Canada over 10 years ago who refers to his move as "the best decision I've ever made in my life."
Liu's teenage son did not excel at school in China, but after entering the University of British Columbia he blossomed and is now doing well in Canada. Liu, a real estate mogul, is still doing a lucrative business in China.
Likewise, many Chinese millionaires who apply for U.S. "alien investor's visa" --applicants have to commit $500,000 to $1 million in capital investment -- seek permanent resident status there so their children will have easier access to U.S. education.
"In the long run, after their children complete their undergrad or graduate studies, they would have the opportunity to compete for jobs without having to find an employer willing to sponsor them for U.S. work visas," says Joyce Gomez, an immigration lawyer based in Washington.
A small percentage of the applicants, she adds, intend to operate their own businesses in the U.S. after they obtain permanent resident status.
Hoogewerf cites other reasons. He says some millionaires opt to leave to escape China's insufficient medical care, pollution and food safety. "There is also an element of insurance against economic, social and potential political unrest," he says.
Still, Wang does not see the spike in emigration as a mass exodus of millionaires. "It's very normal that people would want to leave and see the outside world after they've made a fortune," he says. "The same thing has happened in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea."
Wang thinks it's a good thing. "It's globalization," he says. "It facilitates exchange of business ideas and helps bridge cultural gaps."
Even when they emigrate, experts say, most Chinese elite keep one foot planted in China. "They keep their businesses here," says Victor Lum, a former immigration specialist at the Canadian Embassy in Beijing, and now a top executive at Well Trend.
"These millionaires are familiar with China's unique culture," says Lum. "They have succeeded here, but success elsewhere is not guaranteed."
Hoogewerf agrees. "When weighed against the gains to be made in China today, not to mention the prevailing confusion in the European and U.S. markets, most Chinese prefer to keep significant part of their assets in China," he says. "This is also where they are 'at home' no matter their passport or residency."
Some 40% of the Chinese millionaires polled by the Hurun Research Institute prefer to set up their "second home" in the U.S., followed by Canada, Singapore and Europe.
"The U.S. requires shorter time of stay in the country to gain permanent resident status and their other procedures are less complicated," says Wang.
But the hurdles on the way into America are high, too, says Gomez.
"An alien investor applicant must be able to demonstrate that the funds invested were obtained from a legitimate source," she explains.
An applicant may also be rejected if they are unable to demonstrate that their capital investment in the enterprise will create or preserve at least 10 jobs for qualified American workers within the U.S.
Legal fees from immigration attorneys that prepare the applications are not cheap. "It can range from $15,000 to $25,000," says Gomez.
But for the Chinese millionaires, that's small change

More immigrants losing permanent residency


Nicholas KeungImmigration Reporter
Sergey Popkov immigrated to Canada from Russia in 2004 and had travelled between the two countries marketing for a Brampton trading company.
His permanent resident card expired in 2009 after five years, and Popkov, nominally a Toronto resident, lost his immigrant status when it was discovered he’d spent only 470 days in Canada in that time, short of the 730-day presence required to retain it.
It’s a hard lesson for the 55-year-old former commercial pilot, who has twice been denied a visitor’s visa to see his wife, two daughters and grandson — all citizens here. He may remain separated from his family for the foreseeable future.
The number of immigrants losing their permanent residency for not spending enough time in Canada has almost tripled over the past five years, from 1,653 in 2006 to 4,587 last year, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Officials say the rising revocations have nothing to do with the Conservative government’s hard-line approach to immigration and citizenship.
In 2003, Ottawa introduced the permanent resident card as a mandatory international travel document for immigrants who are not yet citizens. The so-called Maple Leaf card has also been used to track immigrants’ movements to see if they fulfill their residency obligation — two out of five years — in Canada.
All immigrants must meet that minimum to keep their status. If they spend 1,095 days or more over the five years here, they are eligible to become citizens.
Exemptions are given to those staying outside Canada who are accompanying a Canadian-citizen spouse or who are employed full-time by a Canadian business or government.
“The increase in the number of permanent residency revocations, (especially) in 2008, is likely related to the PR card becoming mandatory for international travel in 2003 and the surge of renewal applications that occurred following the initial five-year validity period,” said a department spokesperson.
“In the course of regular processing of applications, residency issues are identified. These may also be informed through ongoing investigations by enforcement partners.”
Popkov was in Moscow when his request to renew his permanent resident card was denied. The visa officer found he was not working full-time for the Brampton firm and did not count his days in Russia toward his residency obligation.
His daughter, Alina Popkova, said she recognizes her father has no legal grounds to keep his status, but is upset immigration officials use his family ties in Canada in their decision-making only when it suits them.
In stripping Popkov’s permanent resident status, an immigration tribunal concluded that “he does have family ties to Canada; however, he is only minimally established in Canada.”
But in rejecting his visitor’s visa, authorities said they weren’t satisfied he’s leave at the end of the temporary period if they granted a visa.
“We recognize my father didn’t meet the residency requirement, but you can’t keep the family apart by denying him a visa to visit us. It is just inhumane,” said Popkova, 32, a product manager who now plans to sponsor her father to Canada — with no assurance that he would be accepted.
Immigrant status revoked on failed residency requirement
In-CanadaOverseasTotal
2006 309 1,3441,653
20074031,4421,845
20085302,7933,323
20096253,5224,147
20109993,5884,587
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Canada earns No.1 country brand in the world… AGAIN!


VANCOUVERNov. 10, 2011 /CNW/ - For the second year in a row, Canada has been named the No.1 most powerful country brand in the world by FutureBrand, a leading international brand and design consultancy. Canada holds its ground against its competitors as it extends the global reach of its tourism brand.
Today, at the 32nd annual World Travel Market (WTM) in London, England, FutureBrand announced that Canadakeeps the top spot in its 2011 Country Brand Index (CBI), the most comprehensive global study of how travellers perceive countries around the world. The rankings are based on a global sample of online interviews of savvy leisure and business travellers. FutureBrand's 2010 CBI assessed 110 countries through online interviews with 3,400 travellers from 13 countries, eight of which were markets where the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) invests.
According to the CBI, the most important factors that truly differentiate a nation's brand are its associations and attributes: the qualities that people think of when they hear a country's name, read or see images of a location, or plan a business or leisure trip.
Says the Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism, "Canada's continued rating at the top of FutureBrand's Country Brand Index is a testament to our country's global appeal. We have a wealth of compelling experiences for travellers, and our government is committed to sustaining this momentum by promotingCanada in innovative ways on the international stage. Through our recently launched Federal Tourism Strategy, we are continuing to position Canada's tourism sector as an economic driver of jobs and growth."
Recognizing the significant influence that Canada's tourism brand has on perceptions of the country, the CTC includes Canada's CBI rank among its own performance measures.
As a nation's personal calling card, a country's brand is a measure of international reputation. FutureBrand notes that a properly managed brand can inspire confidence in difficult times and boost the value of a country's exports from people to product and entire corporations.
"While Canada's tourism brand has grown into a powerful cultural force and a marketing tool to inspire visitation, it also has largely untapped potential as a lever to drive trade and investment in ideas, education and business," saysMichele McKenzie, CTC President & CEO. "In this period of global economic turbulence, by showing the world thatCanada is a dynamic, modern and cosmopolitan society, we're not just inviting the world to visit us, we're capitalizing on our positive reputation to open new doors and create new opportunities."
After the CTC launched Canada's revitalized tourism brand "Canada. Keep Exploring" six years ago, the country leapfrogged on FutureBrand's CBI ranking from 12th place in 2006 to 6th place in 2007, and jumped again to the No.2 spot in 2008 and 2009, and finally clinched the top spot for the first time last year following the 2010 Winter Games.Canada keeps the coveted premier spot this year, being recognized as the most powerful, engaging and vibrant country brand in an intensely competitive international tourism marketplace.
Background information about FutureBrand's Country Brand Index (CBI):
The CBI, now in its seventh year, is a comprehensive study by FutureBrand, a leading international brand and design consultancy with 25 offices worldwide, of more than 3,000 international business and leisure travellers.
The CBI identifies emerging global trends in the world's fastest growing economic sector—travel & tourism—and examines how countries are branded and ranked in a variety of categories, such as best country to travel to, best country that showcases its historic assets, best place to extend a business trip to, most environmentally oriented and most friendly locals.
The CBI incorporates global quantitative research, expert opinions and relevant secondary sources for statistics that link brand equity to assets, growth and expansion. The result is a unique evaluation system that provides the basis of rankings and insights about the complexities and dynamics of country brands. The full report is available on the FutureBrand Web site at www.futurebrand.com
Additional Web links:
About the Canadian Tourism Commission:
The CTC is Canada's national tourism marketing organization. Our vision is inspiring the world to explore Canada. With our partners in the tourism industry and the governments of Canada, the provinces and the territories, we advertise and market Canada in 11 countries around the world, conduct industry research and studies, and promote product and industry development. For regular updates on CTC initiatives, subscribe to CTC News, available through RSS feeds and by e-mail. Become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our YouTube channel. For more information visit: www.canada.travel/corporate
Video with caption: "Video: The Power of Tourism: the role tourism plays in Canada's economy". Video available at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyE2qNyXRHM
Image with caption: "A highlight of the new Federal Tourism Strategy is CTC's Signature Experiences Collection(R)- an innovative marketing program to take Canada's tourism brand even further. Credit: 20,000 years under the ice, SEC member Jardin des Glaciers, Baie-Comeau, QC. (CNW Group/Canadian Tourism Commission)". Image available at:http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20111110_C4340_PHOTO_EN_6429.jpg
Image with caption: "To grow tourism export revenues for Canada, CTC focuses on international markets where Canada's tourism brand leads and yields the highest return on investment. Credit: CTC campaign ad in Australia. (CNW Group/Canadian Tourism Commission)". Image available at:http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20111110_C4340_PHOTO_EN_6427.jpg
For further information:
Margaret Nevin
Senior Communications Advisor
Canadian Tourism Commission
Tel: 604.638.8406
E-mail: nevin.margaret@ctc-cct.ca

New priorities are changing immigration


By Carol GoarEditorial Board
Driven by economic pressure and political ideology, Jason Kenney is transforming Canada’s immigration system. But he is doing it so gradually and in such carefully crafted installments that most people are unaware of the magnitude of his ambition.
The immigration minister’s latest announcement is a good example. Last week he imposed a two-year moratorium on applications to bring parents and grandparents into the country. During the freeze, he will consult the provinces and the public about how to change the family reunification system permanently.
“If we leave the program open for applications during that period of consultations and redesign, we know what will happen,” Kenney said. “We will get absolutely flooded, as immigration lawyers and consultants anticipate changes. We’ll never be able to deal with the backlog.”
He softened the blow by offering a “super visa” to visiting relatives that would allow them to stay up to two years at a time, provided they are covered by private medical insurance.
There were grumbles from new Canadians who had hoped to sponsor their parents or grandparents. At the same time, there were plaudits from the business community, which wants younger, more productive immigrants. The imbalance protected Kenney from any serious backlash.
That is how the minister works: Change the system incrementally, ensuring that each announcement has more supporters than foes. Kenney’s makeover is still a work in progress. But the outlines of the transfigured system are coming into focus:
 • The government will be much more selective about the “skilled workers” it admits. Each year, the minister will issue a list of 30 or so favoured occupations. Immigrants in those fields will be whisked to the front of the line. Everybody else will have to wait.
 • The role of the provinces in recruiting immigrants will continue to grow. Since 2005, the number of provincial nominees has increased from 8,000 to 40,000.
 • The temporary foreign worker program, which waives Canada’s normal admission criteria for short-term immigrants, will keep swelling. And more of the people brought in that way — especially caregivers, foreign students educated in Canada and workers with high-demand skills — will be encouraged to stay here and become citizens when their visa expires.
 • Refugee claimants, except those selected by the government and those sponsored by private groups, will find it much harder to get in. The government will turn back anyone from a country deemed safe with a cursory hearing. Those who arrive on a rickety ship will be detained on suspicion of involvement in people smuggling.
 • Family reunification will become more restrictive. Spouses and dependent children will still get in. Parents, grandparents, siblings and other relatives may not.
Two options won’t be on the table. Kenney will not raise Canada’s immigration level (254,000 a year). He admits it would be beneficial to have more young immigrants to pay the nation’s bills. But he says his department lacks the resources to integrate more newcomers into the workforce. He also argues that opening the floodgates would “jeopardize the generally very positive and welcoming attitude towards immigration” among Canadians.
Nor will he yield to lobbying from humanitarian groups to restore Canada’s reputation as a beacon of hope for the needy and oppressed.
From an economic perspective, Kenney’s approach makes sense. Recruiting the brightest and most employable immigrants will make Canada more competitive and better able to support an aging population.
But from a social perspective, his reforms will further unsettle Canadians who see self-interest trumping compassion at home and abroad.
If Kenney is right — and he generally reads public opinion well — he will be able to persuade a nation that once prided itself on being open and generous to look after itself first.
Carol Goar’s column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Source: The Start.com

United States looks to compete against Canada for wealthy immigrants

By Andy Radia | Canada Politics 



If you have $500,000 laying around, you can buy yourself a Green Card through a little-known immigrant investor pilot program in the United States.
The EB-5 Regional Centre program,  allocates 5,000 visas a year for individuals who invest $500,000 into one of over 200 US Government designated investment funds across the country.
With job creation now a top political issue and traditional sources of capital hard to find, U.S. Congressman Rick Larsen is sponsoring a bill that would permanently authorize the program, currently set to expire on September 30, 2012.
"(The EB5 program) is one way to seek direct investment into our communities in order to create jobs," Larsen told a press conference in Bellingham, Washington, Tuesday, noting that there over 20 countries around the world, including Canada, with similar types of programs.
"If we aren't in a position to receive this capital investment, it's going to go somewhere else because other countries recognize how important it is to bring in that overseas investor with their dollars."
By comparison, Canada's immigrant investor program provides visas to affluent foreign nationals who invest $800,000 into the Canadian government coffers for a period of 5 years.  Under the Canadian scheme, applicants can finance their investment through an accredited financial institution so most investor immigrants end up spending only about $200,000 for the privilege of becoming a Canadian.
The popularity of the Canadian program however, has lead to long wait lists and slow processing times - something Larsen says the U.S. can take advantage of.
"(Canada is) actually backlogged which means there are folks looking to move their dollars somewhere for investment. That's created demand for the EB5 program. " Larsen told Yahoo! Canada News.
"Other countries are marketing (their immigrant investor programs) oversees. And those dollars are going to end up invested in a country and I would prefer those dollars end up (in the United States).

Pagination



More skilled immigrants needed to boost economy: study

BY CARMEN CHAI, POSTMEDIA NEWS

OTTAWA — The federal government should focus on increasing the number of skilled immigrants and refugees to boost the Canadian economy, a policy report recommends.
On Tuesday, the Institute for Research on Public Policy released a report showing that these two immigrant groups do better economically than any other immigrant cohort entering the country.
Report authors Michael Abbott and Charles Beach say officials should consider reducing total immigrant admission levels during recessions, when Canada is hit with high unemployment periods, because immigrants are first to lose their jobs.
The study was released days after the government said it plans to accept as many as 10,000 more skilled workers into the country in 2012, in part to help deal with a massive backlog in applications.
Researchers at IRPP, a non-partisan think-tank based in Montreal, studied the 10-year annual incomes of three cohorts of four immigrants groups who arrived as permanent residents in 1982, 1988 and 1994.
Immigrants entering Canada are classified under the categories of: refugee, family-class (part of family re-unification) and economic — meaning skilled workers.
"Skill-assessed immigrants, people who go through the point system, consistently do better in terms of higher earning levels than other arriving immigrants . . . 35 per cent better for men and 56 per cent for women," said Beach.
"Refugees had the highest earning growth rates again for both men and women across all entry groups . . . 29 per cent for men and 35 per cent for women," he adds.
"Refugees may start low and have low earnings initially, but their earnings grow faster than other groups," said Beach.
Women in the family class had the lowest earnings.
Recessions, the report found, hit the wages of all groups of immigrants.
Immigration has steadily climbed in the past few decades in Canada — about 84,000 people came to this country in 1985, and immigration hit a 50-year high of 281,000 people in 2010, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
But changes to Canada's immigration policy in recent years could be detrimental to the country's economy and competitiveness, the report said.
Officials have narrowed their focus, the report said, to acquiring a specific group of skilled workers — there are 29 priority occupations — and placed a cap on how many of these people enter the country.
In June 2010, Citizenship and Immigration introduced a global cap of 20,000 people who would be accepted under federal skilled-worker applications, along with a 1,000-person cap on the number of applicants accepted in each occupation.
By July of this year, only 10,000 skilled applicants without an offer of employment in Canada were admitted to the country under the Federal Skilled Worker Program but the number of arrivals under the Provincial Nominee Program and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program — neither of which is skills-assessed — continued to climb.
"There has been a huge growth in the Provincial Nominee Program — while that does a better job of getting people to regions and provinces and so on, the fact is, more than half of those people who come in are roughly low-skilled and the point of our study means, on average, they don't do as well as people with more skills," said Beach.
They urge the federal government to consider tactics European countries have taken in an attempt to sway skilled immigrants to their countries, and noted that countries such as China and India, which are experiencing vast economic growth, are retaining their own skilled workers and even repatriating those who emigrated to Canada.
"In light of this increasing global competition, Canada cannot afford to be complacent in seeking to attract and retain skilled workers. Yet there has not been a major rethink of Canada's immigration objectives and policy since the mid-1990s," the report warned.
The report's data show that within all three cohorts, there is a wide gap between independent skilled workers' earnings and refugees and family-class workers. Other economic-class workers still ranked second to independent economic-class workers by a margin of as much as $10,000 each year.
For example, in 1982, independent skilled workers made a 10-year average of $46,093 each year, while other economic class workers made just more than $28,000. Family-class workers made an average of $27,643 and refugees, the group that saw the highest growth in salary in every cohort, made $20,525.
The authors say their evidence shows it's "remarkably clear and uniform" that skilled workers easily made the most contribution to the country's labour market.
But they concede their data doesn't necessarily show that increased incomes are linked to higher education or skills levels.
The authors recommend maintaining and even expanding skills-focused initiatives, such as the Canadian Experience Class, instead of scaling down efforts to attract immigrant candidates that could adapt to the workforce.
Wait times for applications, recognizing foreign credentials and modifying the current points system so it examines youth, official language fluency and skilled-trades needs are also areas officials need to improve, the report noted.
With files from Amy Chung
cchai(at)postmedia.com
Twitter.com/Carmen_Chai


Read more: http://www.canada.com/business/More+skilled+immigrants+needed+boost+economy+study/5677351/story.html#ixzz1dHFlHBru

Harper Government Helps Internationally Trained Accountants Get Jobs


TORONTO, ONTARIO, Nov 09, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- The Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, today announced a Government of Canada investment to help internationally trained accountants get jobs in Canada faster. The Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) received $1.4 million to streamline the application process for accountants educated in other countries.
"Our government is helping newcomers find meaningful work that contributes to Canada's long-term growth, competitiveness and overall prosperity." said Minister Finley. "Through Canada's Economic Action Plan, we are working with partners to improve foreign credential recognition so that newcomers can put their skills and experience to work sooner."
With this government investment, the Institute will create an online assessment tool that will validate foreign education and work experience. It will also establish customized bridging programs to help these accountants complete any additional courses and examinations required to become a chartered accountant in Canada.
"Skilled professionals are vital to Canada's future," said Kevin Dancey, President and Chief Executive Officer, CICA. "We welcome the federal government's commitment to helping internationally trained professions contribute to their full potential as quickly as possible."
Under the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications, the Government of Canada is working with the provinces and territories, as well as other partners such as regulatory bodies, to address barriers to foreign credential recognition.
In 2010, service standards were established so that internationally trained professionals in eight priority occupations, including accountants and engineers, can have their qualifications assessed within one year, anywhere in Canada. This is one example of progress toward a more fair, transparent and timely system for foreign credential recognition across Canada.
This year, the Government started improving foreign qualification recognition for six more target occupations, including physicians and dentists.
Additionally, Budget 2011 announced that Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada will test ways to help internationally trained professionals cover costs associated with the foreign credential recognition process, with specific details to be announced shortly. This initiative will complement the already significant investments the Government of Canada has made to support the labour market integration of newcomers to Canada.

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