Hong Kong.

Residence (not citizenship) for people who invest in Hong Kong without running a business there; run by the Immigration Department under the 'Rules for the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme' (ID(E)968); no law establishing it was found. Threshold HK$6.5m in property and/or financial assets from 27 Oct 2003; HK$10m in financial assets only from 14 Oct 2010. Open to foreign nationals, Macao and Taiwan residents, stateless persons and Chinese nationals holding permanent residence abroad (not Mainland residents). Two steps: approval-in-principle (enter as a visitor to invest within six months), then formal approval and two-year permissions to stay, renewed if the investment is kept. After seven years' continuous ordinary residence investors and dependants could apply for the right of abode (permanent residence) under the Basic Law. Suspended 'until further notice' from 15 Jan 2015; applications already received were still processed and all were finalised in October 2023. The large majority of applicants were Chinese nationals with foreign permanent residence; of those formally approved to end-2007, the largest groups held permanent residence in Gambia (414 of 1,114), Canada, New Zealand, Nauru, Australia, the Philippines, Niger and Guinea-Bissau (LCQ12, 2008).

Residence for investors of at least HK$30m: HK$27m in permissible financial assets and/or real estate (real estate counts for at most HK$10m; residential only for single properties of HK$50m+ from 16 Oct 2024) plus HK$3m in the CIES Investment Portfolio managed by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation. Approved by the Executive Council on 19 Dec 2023; no law establishing it was found. The launch date is the date of that Executive Council order, which states no date of effect (the LegCo brief only aims to launch the scheme and invite applications in mid-2024); applications opened on 1 Mar 2024 (separate event). InvestHK verifies net assets (HK$30m, held two years before applying until Feb 2025, six months from 1 Mar 2025) and the investment; ImmD grants approval-in-principle (180-day visitor stay to invest), then formal approval: 2 years' stay, then 3-year extensions. After seven years' continuous ordinary residence applicants and dependants may apply for permanent residence; those who keep the investment seven years without meeting the residence test may apply for unconditional stay. Eligible: foreign nationals (except Afghanistan, Cuba, North Korea), Chinese nationals with foreign permanent residence, Macao residents, Chinese residents of Taiwan. Official figures are cumulative press-release totals; the only country breakdowns found (May 2024, March 2025) are led by Guinea-Bissau and Vanuatu.