If you can loosen your purse strings, emigrating can be easy

Many developed countries nowadays welcome immigrants who can invest, set up a business, and create jobs

Going abroad has always held a strong allure for Indians — both highly qualified professionals and those who are finding the going tough in their motherland. According to the World Migration Report 2018 by the International Organisation for Migration, India has over 15 million migrants — the highest, globally. While there are multiple reasons why people want to emigrate, most move abroad in search of a better quality of life, more lucrative career opportunities, better education options for their children, and so on. But becoming the permanent resident of a developed country is no walk in the park. Let us look at the routes you can take to emigrate to some of the most sought-after countries, such as the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand. 

 The US tops the list of destinations that Indians want to move to. The EB-5 visa is also known as the ‘golden visa’ as it is the quickest way to obtain permanent residency (or green card status) in the US. To apply for the EB-5 visa, an immigrant needs to invest a minimum amount of $500,000 (around Rs 34.2 million) in a new business or a development project in the US. 

The EB-5 visa can be obtained either through direct investment or by investing through a regional investment centre. When the immigrant invests directly, he has to set up his own business and employ 10 US workers within two years. The investment process may take up to two years.

Immigrants can also invest through regional investment centres. The regional centre invests the collective money in a development project in the US. "The process for obtaining the EB-5 visa by fulfilling the basic requirements is not difficult. The challenging part is to decide how and where to invest the money. After you invest it is critical to meet the criterion of creating 10 jobs through the investment," says Vivek Tandon, founder, and chief executive officer, EB5 Bricks. When you take the EB-5 visa route, the time taken to obtain a green card is much faster. When you apply through other visa programmes, you may have to wait for 10-30 years to get permanent residency.

Besides the EB-5 visa programme that costs a fortune, there are four other employment-based categories for obtaining permanent residency in the US. These are EB-1, EB-2, EB-3, and EB-4 visas. Going through these visa programmes will cost you around $10,000-$12,000, but the waiting period is longer. 

The EB-1 visa is for 'priority workers', which would include Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, Olympians and other award winners. Since these immigrants are highly esteemed individuals, they do not need a job offer to be considered for a visa.

The EB-2 is for 'professionals with exceptional ability'. To enter the US under this category, you need a formal job offer from an employer, and you also require advanced degrees or specialised knowledge in fields such as medicine, engineering, energy, leadership, and business. 

The EB-3 is for 'skilled or professional workers', who hold a degree and have at least five years of work experience. Requirements under EB-3 are less rigid but the processing time is much longer than under EB-2. 

The EB-4 is for 'religious workers', usually those associated with churches, synagogues, mosques, and other religious organisations.

Canada: Canada is another preferred destination, and many Indians apply for its Permanent Residency (PR) visa. It too has different immigration programmes, such as Express Entry System, Quebec Skilled Worker Programme (QSWP), Provincial Nominee Programmes (PNPs), Self-employed person programme, and Start-up visa programme.

Canada has a point-based immigration system where your selection for PR visa depends on the total points you score, based on your education, age, language skills and work experience. The maximum age of the applicant can't exceed 50 years. The minimum educational qualification is a diploma or a bachelor’s degree. Getting a PR visa for Canada can cost you anywhere between Rs 80,000 and Rs 300,000.

Express entry system, the popular immigration system of Canada, follows the point scoring system. If your point score is high enough, you will get an invitation to apply for Canada PR. However, if your CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score is low, you can apply in any of the Provincial Nominee Programmes (PNP) for Canada. Then there are entrepreneur immigrant programmes offered by various provinces of Canada. While most of them are conditional, they require low investments, and the processing time is quick. Canada also offers the advantage that children up to 22 years are allowed to go as dependants. 

 

Australia: Australia too has a points-based system and allots points for each criterion, such as age, education and work experience. It has various visa categories for a permanent residency visa, such as sub-class 186, 187, 188, 189 and 190. Of these, the popular one is Skilled Immigration visa sub-class 189. The maximum age for applying is 49 years, and the minimum educational qualification is a diploma or a bachelor’s degree. Minimum work experience required is three years.

The business visa requires you to have certain minimum personal assets, annual business turnover, or a minimum amount in venture capital funding. To apply you also need to be nominated by an Australian state or territory government agency. Skilled workers can also apply whose occupation is among those on Australia’s Skilled Occupations List. 

The Business Innovation and Investment visa allows you to own and manage new or existing business in Australia, or to invest in Australia. You must be nominated by a state or territory government or an Australian agency to be eligible to apply. Getting a PR of Australia through skilled immigration visa can cost you Rs 350,000-400,000.

United Kingdom: The UK business category visa offers two types of tier-1 visas — entrepreneur visa and investor visa. The UK also follows a point-based system. An investor needs to score 95 points altogether to be eligible for this category. 

For the tier-1 entrepreneur programme, immigrants need to be identified by UK Trade Investment (UKTI) as elite global graduate entrepreneurs who intend to establish one or more businesses in the UK. You must have access to at least GBP 50,000-200,000 (Rs 4.5 million-19 million) investment funds to apply for the entrepreneur visa. A former student holding tier-4 visa can also apply with GBP 50,000 funding. 

For the tier-1 investors programme, you have to invest GBP 1,000,000 or more of your own money in the UK; or you have to show GBP 2,000,000 or more in personal assets. An immigrant can obtain a UK visa under either of its tier-1 programmes within 8-16 weeks, eventually leading to permanent residency status after five years.

Immigrants should understand the terms and conditions properly before investing in a country. "Investors should be careful about the taxation aspect, as many countries tax worldwide income. Check with an international tax consultant of repute on the long-term ramifications of investing in that country," says Ajay Sharma, founder, Abhinav Immigration, and Outsourcing.