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Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)

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  1. #1

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    Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES)

    This is only a general question so I hope those not familiar with this scheme can chip in and give their opinion. A friend of mine needs some help filling in the application for a residence visa under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme (CIES). The forms are here in both English and Chinese, but he's going to use the English version:

    http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/id%28e%29967.pdf (English)
    http://www.immd.gov.hk/pdforms/id%28c%29967.pdf (Chinese)

    More specifically, page 4 of the form asks the applicant to report "personal liabilities/debt" and then calculate his net personal assets. From what I understand, it's not necessary to supply any proof that you're debt-free (if you are) and the HK immigration department should be able to carry out some kind of check on this. But what kind of liabilities or debt does the HKID have in mind? Would tax arrears come under this heading of personal liabilities/debt and is this something they would perform a background check on (e.g. contact tax authorities of applicant's country of domicile)? If he has no tax arrears, would he have to prove this and how? How about uncashed checks or money owed to friends and family? How would they check this?

    Those were his questions. I told him they would probably just dig up his credit report and if he doesn't owe anything to anyone (he didn't tell me if he does!), it's pretty straight forward, but he does want to "streamline the application process" as the HKID puts it, so I'm thinking it's better to enclose as many supporting documents as possible in the application, so HKID doesn't come back too many times to ask for more. I think he's tried to contact them a few times but they obviously weren't too helpful and the CIES hotline didn't even pick up the phone!

    So, any advice as to the questions above?


  2. #2

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    3 days to approve this thread and still no replies on the 4th - any help on the matter? The application needs to go out soon and we're not sure entirely what "personal liabilities/debt" covers and what proof we need to supply, if any. It would be nice to know in advance to save everyone time when and if HKID come around asking for more paperwork. Thanks in advance and sorry for double posting!!


  3. #3

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    Would tax arrears come under this heading of personal liabilities/debt and is this something they would perform a background check on (e.g. contact tax authorities of applicant's country of domicile)? If he has no tax arrears, would he have to prove this and how? How about uncashed checks or money owed to friends and family? How would they check this?
    If you are having trouble on this perhaps a top notch HK Visa consultant should be consulted. I see some company on Linkedin posting articles and links to their site. Don't know the costs or the firm at all.

    If there is a tax liability and it is not noted - ask yourself this question. Can you sign the form and say this is entirely accurate and fully disclosed? My sense is that this would not be a truthful submission and if caught out - you'd be screwed.

  4. #4

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    I don't believe the applicant has any liabilities/debt - but how does he prove this? It's just a matter of speeding up the application.

    His financial affairs are pretty straightforward, so he's not looking for any visa consultation. This is only a procedural question. He intends to be 100% truthful on the application, so that is not an issue at all.


  5. #5

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    JW87, it could be that no one here has applied for the CIES so you may not receive an adequate reply, which may in essence be a guess.


  6. #6

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    I guessed that much. Probably we'll give the immigration hotline another try since they take so long to answer emails. In the meantime, if anyone has any experience with the CIES and knows how to streamline the application (without engaging in a CPA, which we don't need), advice would still be appreciated.


  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by JW87:
    I guessed that much. Probably we'll give the immigration hotline another try since they take so long to answer emails. In the meantime, if anyone has any experience with the CIES and knows how to streamline the application (without engaging in a CPA, which we don't need), advice would still be appreciated.
    There is a very good Hong Kong visa information site which I tried hinting at and can't post here as they sell ads that could be of some assistance.

    Common sense says you would have to disclose tax liabilities as much as common sense says you would not be caught by not saying you owe your friends or family X dollars (but then that would be signing a false document meaning that if they did find the person out - denial of visa. How they'd find out the personal debt to family or friends - likely only if someone tipped them off if they were angry with the person and knew they were doing such an application.

    As far as tax treaty countries with the person in question, you could google that to see if there is some sort of tax treaty where they could get that information on any tax liabilities. If the person has no tax liabilities of consequence (other than settling up at tax time after income source deductions etc are done) it would likely be very hard to figure out the few dollars that might be owed. I doubt you have to prove it.

    Google that site in HK where he has stories and free tips. Maybe he has some replies to these questions that are more accurate on his site.
    Fiona in HKG likes this.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Football16:
    There is a very good Hong Kong visa information site which I tried hinting at and can't post here as they sell ads that could be of some assistance.

    Common sense says you would have to disclose tax liabilities as much as common sense says you would not be caught by not saying you owe your friends or family X dollars (but then that would be signing a false document meaning that if they did find the person out - denial of visa. How they'd find out the personal debt to family or friends - likely only if someone tipped them off if they were angry with the person and knew they were doing such an application.

    As far as tax treaty countries with the person in question, you could google that to see if there is some sort of tax treaty where they could get that information on any tax liabilities. If the person has no tax liabilities of consequence (other than settling up at tax time after income source deductions etc are done) it would likely be very hard to figure out the few dollars that might be owed. I doubt you have to prove it.

    Google that site in HK where he has stories and free tips. Maybe he has some replies to these questions that are more accurate on his site.
    Googled and found. Thanks Football16, great link to have at my fingertips

  9. #9

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    I applied for the cies in 2008. They don't really care about what you put there. You just need to print out bank/financial statements by month over the last 2 years. If it never dipped below 10 million (6.5 in my day) , you are fine.