East Asia’s investment-based residency programs have become more expensive and more demanding over the past two years. Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China all allow some form of investor-linked residence, but none offers a simple low-cost golden visa. Most routes now require active business activity, job creation, large fund deposits, portfolio investment, or long periods of residence before permanent status.
Japan
Japan’s Business Manager Visa was overhauled on October 16, 2025.
The minimum capital requirement increased from 5 million yen to 30 million yen, roughly $203,000. This was a sixfold increase.
The reason given was that only about 4% of Japan’s roughly 41,600 existing business manager visa holders had capital above 30 million yen. Officials found that some applicants were using shell companies or short-term rental operations with no genuine commercial purpose to qualify.
Capital is no longer enough on its own. Applicants now need:
- At least one full-time local employee from day one
- Three or more years of management experience, or a relevant master’s degree
- A business plan certified by a qualified professional, such as a CPA, licensed tax advisor, or SME consultant
- Japanese language proficiency at B2 level or above, either from the applicant or one full-time employee
Japan’s investor route is not passive. The applicant must operate a real, revenue-generating business that employs people.
Permanent residency through the standard route requires 10 years of continuous residence.
A faster route exists through Japan’s Highly Skilled Professional points system:
- 70 points: permanent residency after 3 years
- 80 points: permanent residency after 1 year
Points are based on salary, education, work experience, age, and language ability.
Citizenship requires five consecutive years of residence. Japan does not allow dual citizenship, so naturalization requires giving up the original passport.
For applicants who cannot yet meet the 30 million yen threshold, Japan’s Startup Visa offers a two-year runway to incorporate a company and build toward the full business manager requirements. Since January 2025, this option has been available nationwide, rather than only in selected cities such as Tokyo and Osaka.
Japan has also suggested a possible angel investor visa for venture capitalists, but details are limited.
South Korea
South Korea offers the widest range of investor visa routes in East Asia, including active business investment, passive public fund deposits, and real estate investment.
All major routes became more expensive in 2023.
D-8 Corporate Investor Visa
The lowest-cost route is the D-8 Corporate Investor Visa.
The minimum investment is 100 million won, approximately $75,000.
Applicants must:
- Invest in a Korean company
- Hold at least 10% of voting shares
- Actively participate in management, production, or technology operations
This is not a passive route, but it has the lowest capital threshold among the East Asian programs discussed.
Immigrant Investor Program for Public Business
South Korea’s closest passive golden visa equivalent is the Immigrant Investor Program for Public Business, or IISPB.
Applicants deposit funds into a public interest fund managed by the Korean Development Bank. The fund lends capital to Korean small and medium enterprises.
After five years, the principal is returned without interest.
In June 2023, the Ministry of Justice tripled the minimum investment from 500 million won to 1.5 billion won, roughly $1.15 million.
The reform also removed the retiree discount that had allowed investors aged 55 and older to qualify at 300 million won.
At the 1.5 billion won tier, applicants receive an F-2 residence visa with an initial three-year term. After five years, they may apply for F-5 permanent residency.
A higher tier of 3 billion won, about $2.3 million, grants immediate permanent residency without the five-year wait.
Physical presence requirements are light:
- F-2 holders need only one day of physical presence in Korea per year
- F-5 holders need one entry every two years
Real estate route
South Korea also has a real estate investment route, available since 2010.
It applies to qualifying tourism and leisure properties in designated zones, including:
- Jeju Island
- Parts of the Incheon Free Economic Zone
- Busan’s Haeundae District
The minimum investment doubled from 500 million won to 1 billion won, roughly $780,000, in May 2023.
The program has been extended only until April 30, 2026, and renewal beyond that date is uncertain.
Citizenship
South Korean citizenship requires at least five years of permanent residency, plus completion of the Korean Immigration and Integration Program, covering language and civics.
South Korea generally requires naturalized citizens to renounce their original nationality within one year, with rare discretionary exceptions.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong relaunched its Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, or CIES, on March 1, 2024, after a nine-year suspension.
The program requires HK$30 million, approximately $3.85 million, making it East Asia’s only large-scale passive investment immigration program at the ultra-high-net-worth level.
The investment is divided into two parts:
- HK$27 million in permissible financial assets or real estate
- HK$3 million into a government-managed portfolio overseen by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation
The government-managed portion invests in innovation, technology, and strategic sectors with a Hong Kong connection.
Permissible assets include:
- Equities listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange
- Debt securities
- Certificates of deposit, capped at HK$3 million
- Eligible collective investment schemes
- Limited partnership fund interests, capped at HK$10 million
- Real estate, capped at HK$15 million of the total
- Residential real estate, capped further at HK$10 million
In the program’s first two years, Hong Kong received 3,166 applicants, representing about HK$95 billion in anticipated investment.
The transcript notes that no applicant invested in residential real estate under the program. Almost all capital went into financial assets.
Applicants must show net assets of at least HK$30 million throughout the six months before applying. This rule was relaxed from the original two-year look-back period after enhancements in March 2025.
Since March 2025, jointly owned assets with family members may count toward the threshold.
Eligible applicants include:
- Foreign nationals
- Chinese nationals with permanent resident status in a foreign country
- Macau residents
- Chinese residents of Taiwan
Mainland Chinese nationals without foreign permanent residency cannot apply.
Permanent residency becomes available after seven years of continuous ordinary residence and ongoing portfolio compliance.
An annual review is required. A certified public accountant in Hong Kong must prepare a compliance report after each program anniversary.
Hong Kong’s CIES costs about three times South Korea’s immediate permanent residency fund route, but it offers access to a major financial center, a territorial tax system with no tax on foreign-sourced income for individuals, and a strong Asian travel document.
The seven-year permanent residency timeline is longer than many golden visas globally, but there is no minimum physical presence requirement during the initial visa period.
Taiwan
Taiwan structures investment immigration through three main routes, each aimed at a different type of applicant.
Standard investor visa
The standard investor visa requires $200,000 invested in a registered Taiwanese company.
Real estate purchases do not count.
Permanent residency becomes available after five years of continuous residence, with at least 183 days of physical presence per year.
Citizenship may become available after another five years.
Plum Blossom Card
Taiwan’s premium option is the Alien Permanent Resident Certificate, commonly called the Plum Blossom Card.
There are two qualifying investment routes.
The first route requires:
- NT$15 million, approximately $480,000, invested in a for-profit enterprise
- At least five full-time jobs created for Taiwanese nationals
- Jobs maintained for three years
- At least three years of prior Alien Resident Certificate holding before applying
The second route requires:
- NT$30 million, roughly $960,000, in Taiwanese central government bonds
- Bonds held for at least three years
- At least five years of prior ARC holding
The transcript states that the bond route has additional capital transfer requirements in practice, pushing the real cost above the headline figure. No applicant has reportedly been approved through the bond route alone.
The Plum Blossom Card grants open work rights and allows sponsorship of immediate family members for permanent residency.
Physical presence rules apply after issuance. If average annual residence does not reach 183 days over the most recent five years, the permit can be revoked.
Talent-based routes
Taiwan also offers talent-based pathways, including the Employment Gold Card and the newer Global Elite Card.
These target high earners and specialized professionals rather than capital deployment.
Citizenship
Taiwan generally requires applicants to renounce their original nationality before naturalization.
An exception exists for Plum Blossom Card holders who qualify through senior professional or special contribution streams.
Applicants also need Mandarin or Taiwanese proficiency and must pass a civics exam.
China
China does not operate a golden visa program.
Its investor-linked option is the Chinese permanent residency permit, often called the Chinese green card. The transcript describes it as one of the most difficult immigration documents in the world to obtain.
Between 2004 and early 2017, China issued just over 10,000 permanent residency permits. As of 2023, the total number of foreigners holding Chinese permanent residency was estimated at around 12,000.
Investor route
The investor route requires direct investment in an actual operating business, such as:
- Wholly foreign-owned enterprise
- Equity joint venture
- Cooperative joint venture
The investment must be maintained for at least three consecutive years, with a clean tax record.
Stock purchases, real estate, and fund investments do not count.
Thresholds vary by region. Shanghai’s standards are cited as a benchmark:
- $2 million or more in Eastern China
- $1 million in Central regions
- $500,000 in Western provinces or sectors listed in the foreign investment guidance catalog
The minimum investment must be maintained for the full three years.
High-earner employment route
China also has an employment route for high earners.
In Shanghai, this requires:
- Four consecutive years of qualifying employment
- Annual salary of at least 886,104 yuan
- Individual income tax payments of at least 177,221 yuan per year
- Employer sponsorship
- At least six months of residence per year
Beijing applies a similar formula.
Benefits and limits
Chinese permanent residency provides:
- Unlimited duration of stay
- Visa-free entry and exit
- Unrestricted employment without a work permit
- Public school enrollment for children
- Access to public health insurance
- Treatment similar to Chinese citizens for banking, insurance, and securities transactions
It does not provide a realistic path to citizenship for most foreign investors.
China does not permit dual citizenship under any circumstances. Naturalization is theoretically possible, but extremely rare.
For most foreign investors, permanent residency is the ceiling.
Regional comparison
All five East Asian investor residency systems are becoming more expensive and more demanding.
Japan raised its business capital threshold sixfold and now requires real operational substance, local employment, certified business planning, and language ability.
South Korea tripled its passive public fund route, increased real estate thresholds, and removed the retiree discount, though it still offers the region’s lowest active business threshold through the D-8 visa.
Hong Kong relaunched at an ultra-high-net-worth level, requiring around $3.85 million in qualifying assets and seven years to permanent residency.
Taiwan offers company investment and Plum Blossom Card routes, but requires long residence, job creation or bond investment, and often renunciation before citizenship.
China offers no golden visa and grants permanent residency only in limited cases involving substantial operating investment or high-income employment.
Practical decision criteria
Applicants should compare these programs based on:
- Active versus passive investment
- Capital threshold
- Whether real estate qualifies
- Whether the route leads to temporary residence, permanent residence, or citizenship
- Physical presence requirements
- Local employment or job creation requirements
- Language requirements
- Business plan or professional certification requirements
- Whether principal is recoverable
- Tax residency consequences
- Dual citizenship rules
- Processing uncertainty
- Renewal and compliance obligations
The main pattern is clear: East Asian governments increasingly expect foreign capital to produce real economic value. Jobs, operating businesses, public fund deposits, portfolio investment, and long-term residence matter more than simple passive capital placement.
The practical takeaway is that East Asia still offers investor-linked residency, but the region is moving away from low-cost or lightly supervised options. Japan and South Korea have tightened sharply, Hong Kong now targets ultra-high-net-worth investors, Taiwan requires long-term presence and substance, and China remains highly restrictive. Applicants should verify current thresholds and compliance rules before committing capital.
