Ottawa's cancellation³ of the immigrant-investor⁴ program means that 65,000 pending⁵（未决定的） applications will be left unprocessed. The majority of these unprocessed visa appeals are from mainland Chinese.

 

So what's a poor rich Chinese to do now? The China Daily, the government's English-language mouthpiece（喉舌，代言人）, described Canada's cancelation as "unfair" in a Feb. 17 headline. But immigration agencies in Beijing, with their plush offices in the central business district, are hawking⁶ plenty of alternatives.

 

One option lies just south of the Canadian border. Chinese who invest as little as $500,000 and employ 10 people in a rural or struggling part of the US can secure EB-5 investor visa, which can lead to green cards. Two major emigration consultancies in Beijing, Globe Visa and Cansine Immigration, are recommending the US now that Canada's immigrant-investor option has shuttered.

 

Then there are the financial laggards⁷ of the EU that are so desperate for a bailout that they are basically selling residency to cash-endowed Chinese for as little as $100,000. Count nations like Latvia, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus in this distressed⁸ category. With less cash than it takes to buy a tiny apartment in the outskirts⁹ of Beijing, Chinese investors¹⁰ can acquire residency in one European locale, as well as eventual¹¹ freedom to roam most of the E.U. without a visa.

 

Even pricier destinations hold allure¹²（诱惑力）. A Cansine representative noted¹³ that Britain is proving fashionable this year, especially as nations like Australia tighten¹⁴ immigration restrictions¹⁵. Applicants¹⁶ for British permanent residency must invest £1 million ($1.7 million), 80% of which in treasury¹⁷ bonds and the remainder in either real estate or in a local savings¹⁸ account, according to Cansine. The catch? Program participants must spend at least half the year in Britain; Latvia, by contrast, requires just one day a year in the country to maintain residency. "Britain is very popular among our clients," says Cansine's Liu Jianping, "because the process is easy and it takes only a short time to get approval from the British government."

 

There are also the teeny countries that may be hoping to profit from their very nationhood: St. Kitts and Nevis, Vanuatu, Antigua and Barbuda -- all are targeting Chinese investors. Finally, don't forget Canada either. In its latest budget report, Canada's Ministry¹⁹ of Finance noted: "There is also little evidence that immigrant investors as a class are maintaining ties to Canada or making a positive economic contribution to the country." Instead, a new scheme may well require would-be immigrants to fully²⁰ invest in Canada, as opposed to simply providing a zero-interest loan for five years, as the previous program mandated²¹. "We can still help Chinese get to Canada," says Qu Bo, from the aptly named Go-to-Canada immigration agency in Beijing, which is offering lectures on the new Canadian policy this weekend.

 

Still, any emigration involves risks. Among them are shady brokers²² who operate with little legal oversight²³. Last year, the US Securities and Exchange Commission busted²⁴ an EB-5 scheme for investment in a Chicago convention center that the government agency says tried to defraud²⁵ more than $156 million in investments and fees from 250 people, many of whom were Chinese. Luckily, the investment money had been preserved in escrow. But $11 million in fees vanished -- along with scores of Chinese hopes for resettling in America.

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