By Mata Press Service

The Federal government should dramatically hike the visa fees for the world’s wealthy who are lining up to get into Canada via the Immigrant Investor Program, says one of the country’s leading immigration policy analysts.
Richard Kurland, an immigration lawyer who is also the editor-in-chief of Lexbase, a monthly publication on current immigration issues, is also warning that agents working with Canadian banks or facilitators are “price-fixing” commissions as they scour Asia for potential investor immigrants .
This practice, if left unchecked will incentivize fraud in the investor immigrant class, Kurland warned.
Facilitators are financial institutions, approved by Immigration Canada to market the Immigrant Investor Program (IIP).
The facilitators  in turn pay “agents” to bring clients to them.
These agents reportedly receive between $40,000 and $60,000 for each referral. Some agents are commanding as much as $100,000 in commissions, the internal documents noted.
Basing his views on a draft briefing note obtained pursuant to the Access to Information Act, Kurland said Immigration Canada has been warned about ‘price fixing’ by offshore Chinese agents.
The internal documents he states in Lexbase, provide a candid explanation of how Canada’s federal immigrant investor program works.
Last year, nearly 12,000 people, including spouses and dependants, moved to Canada under the federal government’s Immigrant Investor Program, up from 4,950 a decade ago, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
To qualify in this category, immigrants must have a minimum net worth of at least $1.6 million, and are required to “invest” $800,000 with the government, mostly through ‘facilitators’ which is returned after five years.
British Columbia, under its provincial nominee program also saw 203 new permanent residents between 2005 and 2010 who invested $423 million in the province, creating more than 1,100 jobs.
Kurland said there is now a three-year supply of federal investor cases and that Canada can immediately increase the amount required for the required investment from the present “$800,000” to $1.2 million.
The minimum net worth from the current “$1.6 million” should also be raised to $2.5 million, he suggested.
“Canada has dramatically underpriced the federal investor program. It is a ‘no risk’ policy proposal (to hike the fees) because the current investor case backlog is so large, that our inventory can continuously supply investor cases right through 2015, even if no new cases enter the system.
 If the demand for investor visas grossly exceeds the available supply of investor visas, increase the price until demand levels out with supply,” he wrote.
In Hong Kong alone, there are 15,835 cases which represent a potential $6.3 billion investment in Canada ($400,000 per case processed under the ‘old’ rules; $800,000 per case under the ‘new’ rules).
The demand for investors’ visas is so great that Canada recently placed a 700 applicant limit on “new cases” in 2011. That quota was filled within a matter of days.
Here is a sampling of who are in the queues around the world trying to get into Canada under the investor visa program, based on the internal documents obtained by Kurland;

Accra: “From the perspective of the selection grid, Accra provided the ideal Investors - highly educated with a good command of English. This is the only Mission where language points were consistently noted. The majority of applicants were awarded 16 points for moderate English. Their average net worth was $2,877,823.  Average age at application was 45. Accra Investors had the highest levels of education amongst all Missions surveyed. 50% of the sample [had] a Masters or PhD. Many of them were educated in the US and UK.”

Beijing: “Compared to the other Missions already surveyed, Beijing provided a pool of younger applicants, with more business experience and a higher net worth. The average PNW [Personal Net Worth] was $2,289,497.  The average age at application was 41. All applicants earned full points, and ages ranged from 34 – 49 All of the applicants had at least secondary and 43% [had] a 2-3 year post-secondary credential. 9% [had] a Masters or PhD.”

Taipei: “Taiwanese are comparable to other applicants from the same region in terms of how they scored on the selection grid. A large number of applicants (approx. 40%) already had children studying in Canada at the time of application. The average Personal Net Worth was $1,468,010. They are a younger group - average age at application was 46 and earned on average 9 points, out of a possible 10. The ages ranged from 32 - 59, with the largest group in their 40s (69%) […] and only 5% was 54 and over.Taiwanese applicants have a moderate level of education. There were a significant number of professionals applying through Taipei,  Many of these professionals were in the medical field.”

Seoul: The majority of applicants (82%) had dependents living in Canada at the time of application. Often the spouse and children were already taking up temporary residence. 23% of the sample qualified via the Management option. There were a significant number of medical professionals (15%) who qualified for business experience through sale proprietorship medical clinics. The average personal net worth  was $1,565,181.  The average age at application was 46The majority of applicants were in their 40’s at the time of applying (82%).

Islamabad: The average PNW was $3,071,729. This was a younger group – average age was 42 and average age points earned was 9. Ages ranged from 31- 57, with 88% of the sample earning full age. Education levels were lower through Islamabad.  56% of the sample had secondary or less, and 25% [had] a Bachelors and Masters.”

New Delhi: “The overall calibre of applicants applying through this Post was comparatively lower. The education level was low, language abilities were often noted as nil, and the majority were farm owners (67%) who were working on ancestral lands. New Delhi received a young group of applicants - average age was 39. New Delhi and Islamabad had the lowest average points for education. 20% had not completed secondary, while 47% had only completed secondary.”

Buffalo: “Buffalo processed Investors with the highest average net worth - $8,504,258, as well as the oldest Investors - average age of 52. All of the applicants in this sample applied as business owners.  Ages ranged from 29 - 71. 44% earned full age points, while the rest were 54 and above and earned 0 points. 55% [had] post-secondary studies.”

London: “They had a high net worth - $3,502,083 and there was a high intake of Managers (44%). This was an older group, comparatively speaking. The average age at application was 51 and average age points earned were 5. 44% were 54 or over and earned 0 points. The entire sample had completed at least secondary.  No applicants earned full education points.”

Cairo: “They had a high net worth - average of $3,429,493. Ages ranged from 28 - 52, with 86% of the sample earning the full 10 points available for age. There was a high level of education in Cairo.  No applicant (in sample studied)  earned less than 20 points for education.”

Moscow: “They were a young group, with high education and significant business experience. Their average net worth was $2,384,684. All of the Investors were business owners. The average age of the Russian Investor was 43. Education levels were high - average points earned were 22.

Berlin: “Their average net worth was $2,384,836. 25% of this group qualified via the Management option. The majority of applicants already had dependents living in Canada, and in some cases the principal applicant’s primary residence was also in Canada. There was a noticeable trend amongst those Investors already residing in Canada to have sold their businesses a year or two before applying. Age: The average age for this group was 51”.

Kuwait: “They had a high average net worth - $4,200,166. Average age at application for this group was 48. Kuwaitis had the lowest levels of education in this region.” “67% of the sample had only completed secondary.”

UAE: “Their average net worth was high $3,943,305.  39% were in their 40s’ and 33% were 50 and over when they applied. Education levels were lower in comparison to other countries in this region.”

Saudi Arabia: “Their average Personal Net Worth was $2,101,523. The average age at application was 43. 38% of applicants were 50 and over. All applicants had completed at least secondary.

Damascus: “Typically, Investors from this area were older, wealthier and did not fare as well on the selection grid. Their average PNW was $3,961,830. The average age at application was 50.”