Through investment, more than 1,500 Chinese nationals have acquired Irish residency

Through Ireland's Immigrant Investor Programme (IIP), around 1,500 rich Chinese nationals have received resident permits during the previous ten years, with the majority of these being granted in the last five years.

These numbers have been made available through a recent report from the Irish Department of Justice.

Authorities in Ireland launched the Immigrant Investor Programme in 2012 in an effort to attract many rich investors from nations outside the European Economic Area to the nation (EEA).

The Department of Justice has authorized 1,613 applications under this procedure, according to a report published by the Independent; of them, 1,511 were granted to Chinese applicants, accounting for 94% of the total number of successful applications.

Chinese nationalities received the most benefits from this program, followed by Americans (31% of applications were approved overall) and Vietnamese (12% of applications were approved).

The IIP program in Ireland attracted a lot of interest from Russian individuals as well, but after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Irish officials decided to exclude Russian candidates from applying.

According to a recent Bloomberg report, 3,284 Americans applied for Irish passports in the first half of this year, more than double the number of applications received during the same period last year.

Although Ireland does not officially offer the well-known in European nations Residency by Investment (Golden Visa) or Citizenship by Investment (Golden Passport) schemes, it does have the Irish Immigration Investor Program, which also draws many foreigners to the country and boosts its economy. This program is the equivalent of a Residency by Investment (Golden Visa).

Since it was implemented, the program has brought in roughly €1.2 billion for the nation, but this year saw a noticeable uptick with over 800 applications being submitted in the first nine months of the year.

Internationals must invest in one of the four investment alternatives, have a net worth of at least €2 billion, and be free of any felony convictions in order to be eligible for this program.

Concerns about the participation of EU nations' Golden Visa and Golden Passport systems in illegal activities such tax evasion, money laundering, and tax evasion have led to an increase in the number of Irish visas.

According to reports, between 2011 and 2019, the two programs listed above gave the EU nations a combined total of more than €21.8 billion. The European Parliament, however, has repeatedly demanded that such schemes be stopped as quickly as possible.

By fLEXI tEAM