Chris Alexander says Chinese millionaire are still welcome to Canada

Though the controversial Immigrant and Investor Program (IIP) has been frozen and cancelled by the Conservative government, Chris Alexander, Immigration Minister, has however welcomed Chinese millionaires.

Chris Alexander in an interview in Hong Kong earlier this week, to a local newspaper, SCMP (South China Morning Post), invited rich Chinese people to find new ways to come to Canada.

He said to the local daily, that there are many immigration programs available, and the prospective immigrant could find the one that best suits him/her.

The axed IIP (Immigrant and Investor Program) offered visas to experienced business people with a deposit of at least $ 1.6 million who are willing to lend an investment of $800,000 to the Canadian government for a five-year time period.

The Immigration minister also said there was a backlog of nearly 8 to 9 years in applications, numbering almost 59,000, when Canada’s government stopped the program in the year 2012. The majority of those affected by this action were some among the wealthy Chinese mainlanders, as per South China Morning Post.

The immigration minister was also quoted as saying that the ‘immigrant investor program’ had been open to fraud, and that there were some people who though they had no intention of living in Canada still applied for a passport. Nobody should be surprised by the actions of the Canadian government, he stated, and also said that immigration legislation changes and reflects the government’s approach towards immigration as a whole. He stated that the government would have to and wants to tackle fraud and abuse, wherever it finds it. Chinese millionaires need not feel unwelcome, Alexander told the newspaper.

The Immigration minister also asked interested prospective immigrants to apply under new programs such as a ‘Business Skills Program’ or a ‘Immigrant Investor Venture Capital Fund’ that the government will launch later this year.